Comparative Degree of Comparison
Adjectives : Comparative Degree of Comparison
Adjectives
An Adjective is a word used to qualify a Noun or a Pronoun as….
He is a good man.
They are wise.
Explanation : To qualify means here to limit the meaning of a thing to express some of its qualities. An adjective generally denotes some quality belonging to an object. It describes the object. It serves to show the difference between things having the same name as good boy & bad boy and sweet apple & sour apple.
Exercises :
You have a pretty book. What part of speech is book?
What word is used here to qualify or describe your book?
What part of speech is pretty?
What is an adjective?
Name three other words that you can put before the word book telling what kind of a book it is.
Put a qualifying word in the blank space before each of the nouns in the following sentence.
I saw…….. a boy with a…….knife cutting a………stick. What are these three qualifying words? What is an adjective?
Note : The adjective does not always stand immediately before the noun which it qualifies or describes. Thus I may say, The studious girl or The girl is studious. In either ease, the word studious qualifies girl.
What adjective is there in each of the following sentences?
Jane has a new dress.
The lesson is not difficult.
They went home by the wrong road.
The bird was thought to be beautiful.
How hot you have made the fire.
Note : In each case, after the scholar has named the adjective, ask which word it qualifies, and then ask for the definition of an adjective.
Name the nouns, articles and adjectives in the following sentences.
This new slate is broken into many pieces.
I had a beautiful dream last night.
Wicked men do not have good thoughts.
A merry heart maketh a glad countenance.
The old window is so dirty that you cannot see the new houses on the hill.
Use the following adjectives to describe or qualify a noun or pronoun : fast rich, bad, new, wise, black, first, clean, happy, old, beautiful, industrious, troublesome, soft, plentiful, hungry.
Name (or write) five sentences each containing an article, an adjective and a noun.
Note : Nouns become adjectives when they are used to express some quality of another noun as ….. gold ring, sea water. Note : Adjectives are sometimes used as nouns and admit of number and case as : our superior, his betters, by fifties and for twenty's sake.
Numeral Adjectives
Adjectives which express number are called Numerals.
Numeral Adjectives arc of three kinds, CARDINAL, ORDINAL and MULTIPLICATIVE.
The Cardinal Adjectives denote how many as one, two, three, four, etc.
The Ordinal Adjectives denote in what order as first, second, third, fourth, etc.
The Multiplicative Adjectives denote how many fold as single, double, triple, etc.
Comparison of Adjectives
Adjectives are varied by COMPARISON.
The Degrees of Comparison are three : POSITIVE, COMPARATIVE and SUPERLATIVE.
The Positive expresses the quality as small, wise.
The Comparative expresses the quality in a higher or lower degree as smaller, wiser.
The Superlative expresses the quality in the highest or lowest degree as smallest, wisest.
Regular Comparison of Adjectives
The Comparative is formed by adding ER and the Superlative by adding EST to the Positive as great, greater, greatest.
Adjectives of more than one syllable are generally compared by prefixing to the Positive the words more and most, less and least as numerous, more numerous, most numerous and less numerous, least numerous.
Note : Some adjectives form the Superlative by adding most to the end of the word as upper, uppermost.
Note : Dissyllables ending in Y or E are generally compared by adding ER and EST as happy, happier, happiest and able, abler, ablest.
Irregular Comparison of Adjectives
Positive......Comparative.......Superlative
bad, ill or evil......worse......worst
far......farther......farthest
fore......former......foremost or first
fore......further......furthest
good......better......best
hind......hinder......hinder most
late......later, latter......latest, last
little......less......least
many......more......most
much......more......most
near......nearer......nearest, next
near......nether......nethermost
Compare the following adjectives.
large, small, straight, high, long, wide, deep, heavy, happy, wealthy, lovely, lonely, beautiful, beloved, foolish, troublesome, unhappy, little, good, bad.
Parsing Exercises :
Parse WISE in the sentence : Solomon was a wise king. Model : Wise is an adjective. It is used to qualify the noun king. It is in the positive degree, compared ‘wise, wiser, wisest.”
Note : In parsing a numeral adjective, you state that it is an adjective and what word it qualifies and that it is a numeral adjective and not compared.
Parse all the nouns, articles and adjectives in the following sentences.
A wise son maketh a glad father.
William wanted a sweeter orange.
A large vessel came to New York.
Comparative Degree of Comparison :
Elementary English Grammar Index
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