Degree of Comparison
In
English, degree of comparison is used when we compare one person or one thing
with another. There are three degrees of comparison:
1.
Positive degree
2.
Comparative Degree
3.
Superlative Degree
1.
Positive degree:
Positive degree is the simplest form of the
adjective. It is used when we talk about only one person or one thing. For
example:
(a) This house is big.
(b) You are intelligent.
(c) This book is small.
2.
Comparative Degree:
Comparative Degree is used when we compare two
persons or two things. For example:
(a) This house is bigger than that.
(b) You are more intelligent than Ramesh.
(c) Moon is smaller than earth.
3. Superlative
Degree:
Superlative Degree is used when more than two persons or things are compared.
For example:
(a) This is the biggest house in my colony.
(b) You are the tallest boy in the class.
(c) This book is the smallest of all.
Things to remember:
1. Adjectives that
express shape or material or time or the highest or lowest degree of quality, cannot
be compared. For example : round, square, earthen, golden, daily, annual,
perfect, extreme, eternal, chief, complete, supreme, unique, universal, dead,
empty, ,etc.
2. The comparatives –
inferior, prior, superior, senior, junior are followed by “to” not by “than”.
For example:
·
Rahil
is senior to you.
·
She
is superior to you.
·
He
is junior to me.
3. The comparatives –
elder, former, upper, outer, utter, latter, inner, etc. are neither followed by
“than” nor by “to”. They are followed by “of” when selection is implied. For
example:
·
Surjeet
is a member of the upper of
the two chambers.
·
Aashutosh
is a former member of this
school.
·
She
got the upper hand.
4. Superlatives are
generally preceded by “the” and followed by “of”, except when they arew
qualified by possessive pronouns or when they qualify the vocative case. For
example:
·
Kiran
is the cleverest of all the
sisters.
·
Rakhi
is my closest firend.
·
Dearest friend, please help me.
5. Don’t
use the comparative degree after the word “Comparatively”, which in itself
expresses the idea of comparison. For example:
·
I
am comparatively well (not
better).
·
She
is comparatively rich.
6. Adjectives
of different degrees cannot be joined by “and”. For example:
Rajan is very
tall and strongest
boy in the class. (Incorrect)
Rajan is the
tallest and strongest boy in the class. (Incorrect)
7. Double comparatives
and superlatives should not be used. For example:
·
She
is more happier than me. (Incorrect)
·
She
is happier than me. (correct)