Forms of degrees of comparison of adjectives online. Degrees of comparison of adjectives in English

Quality adjectiveshave degrees of comparison. They express a greater or lesser degree of quality in a given subject compared to another subject.
For example: (My house is more beautiful than your house). sometimes the comparison takes place within the same object (increase or decrease) in different periods of its development, i.e. at the present moment, compared to its past state.
For example: (Demand for a product has become higher than last year).

Adjectives have two degrees of comparison:
comparative;
excellent.

1.comparative adjective means that some feature is manifested to a greater or lesser extent in one subject than in another.
For example: I am happier than you. Your briefcase is heavier than mine. My dog ​​is smarter than yours.

The comparative degree is:
A) simple
B) complex

BUT) Simple comparative degree formed with suffixes:
"her" (s): For example: beautiful - more beautiful, smart - smarter, cold - colder;
"e" (with alternation of the last consonant of the stem or without alternation):
For example: big - more, short - shorter, sweet - sweeter;
"she": For example: old - older, young - younger.
Sometimes, when forming the comparative degree of an adjective, a different root is used.
Good is better, bad is worse, small is less.
Adjectives in the form of a simple comparative degree do not change and do not have endings!

B) Compound Comparative is formed from the full form of the positive degree of the adjective with the help of particles more and less.
Big - more (less) big, beautiful - more (less) beautiful.

2) Superlative adjectives.
The superlative degree shows that some feature is manifested in the given subject to the greatest extent, in comparison with the same feature in other homogeneous subjects.
This one is mine Best game; He is the smartest boy in the class.

Superlatives are:
A) simple
B) complex
The superlative degree of an adjective can change by gender, number, and case.
(We approached the highest mountains).

BUT) simple superlatives formed with the help of suffixes "eysh", "aysh".
For example: stupidest, deepest, rarest, closest
Sometimes, when forming the superlative degree of an adjective, a different root is used.
For example: Good is the best, bad is the worst.
B) Compound Superlative is formed from the full form of the positive degree of the adjective using the particles most, most and least.
For example: Small - the smallest, the smallest, the least small, smart - the smartest, the smartest, the least smart.

Adjectives in the superlative degree, like the full forms of the positive degree of adjectives, change in gender, number and case.

Publication date: 01/28/2012 17:58 UTC

• Morphological analysis of the adjective in Russian.
• Full and short forms of adjectives. Declension and spelling of case forms of adjectives in Russian.
• The concept of an adjective. Morphological features of adjectives. Classes of adjectives in Russian.

Degrees of comparison are a variable morphological feature of quality adjectives. There are forms of positive, comparative and superlative degrees: new - newer - newest; warm - more/less warm - the warmest.

The initial form is a positive degree, naming a feature without correlating it with homogeneous features of other objects (new house); from it, by adding inflectional suffixes or auxiliary words, simple and compound forms of comparative and superlative degrees are formed.

The comparative degree indicates that the indicated feature is more characteristic of this object than for another object (or for the same object, but in a different period of time): Our apple tree is taller than the neighbor's; Today this girl was more talkative than yesterday.

A simple form of the comparative degree is formed by adding the inflectional suffixes -ee / -ee, -e, as well as the unproductive suffix -she to the base of the adjective: warm - warmer, warmer (colloquial); loud - louder; thin - thinner. In the form deeper (from deep), the suffix -zhe is used. If there is a suffix -k- or -ok- at the end of the stem, then it is often truncated: low - lower; distant - farther. From adjectives, small, bad, good forms of the comparative degree are formed with a change in the root: less, worse, better. AT colloquial speech the prefix is ​​often added to the simple form of the comparative degree, meaning the incompleteness of the manifestation of the attribute (`a little`): older - older, less - smaller.

Often the formation of a simple form of the comparative degree is prevented by lexical meaning the words; for example, it is not formed from adjectives with an "absolute" qualitative meaning such as deaf, bald, dead, blind, or from adjectives denoting the speaker's subjective assessment of a trait: enormous, blue.

The compound form of the comparative degree is formed with the help of auxiliary words more, less: more beautiful, less loud. The meaning of this form is wider than the meaning of forms of the louder type, since not only a greater, but also a lesser degree of intensity of the feature is expressed (the simple form of the comparative degree indicates only a greater degree of the feature).

The syntactic functions of the compound form are also wider than those of the simple form of the comparative degree. A simple form is usually part of a compound predicate: This essay was more meaningful than the previous one. The compound form can perform the functions of not only a predicate, but also a definition: This time the student wrote a more meaningful essay. The compound form can be formed from almost any qualitative adjective, however, it is perceived as a somewhat bookish form and is used less commonly in colloquial speech than simple form comparative degree.

The superlative degree of adjectives indicates that the attribute of the object indicated by this form is presented in its maximum manifestation, in the highest degree compared to the same attribute in other compared objects: the smartest of the students in the class, the brightest room, or this object in other periods of its existence: Today, workers received the highest salary in six months.

Superlatives can also be simple or compound. A simple form is formed by adding the inflectional suffix -eysh- to the base of the adjective: beautiful - the most beautiful or -aysh- (the last suffix is ​​added only to the bases on k, g, x): thin - the thinnest. The prefix nai- is often added to this form: the most beautiful, the thinnest. From adjectives small, bad, good shape superlatives are formed with a change in the root: lesser, worse, better.

The compound superlative form is formed in several ways:

1) adding to the form of the positive degree of the auxiliary word most: the most intelligent;

2) adding to the form of a positive degree of auxiliary words most, least: most intelligent, least capable;

3) adding to the simple form of the comparative degree of the auxiliary word everything (if the characterized object is inanimate) or all (if the characterized object is animate): The investigation conducted by a private detective was the smartest of all; The most capable of all was the student Ivanov.

The most common compound form of the most intelligent type, used as both a predicate and a definition. Forms like smartest of all / all are used only as a predicate. Forms of the most/least able type have the broadest meaning, denoting both the highest and the lowest degree of manifestation of the trait, however, these forms are used mainly in book speech (in business, scientific, newspaper and journalistic styles).

Modern Russian literary language/ Ed. P. A. Lekanta - M., 2009

(good, yellow, interesting).

adjectives in English language do not change either by gender, or by numbers, or by cases. Adjectives in English can only change in degrees of comparison.

Adjectives are simple and derivative. Simple names adjectives have neither prefixes nor suffixes. Derived adjectives have suffixes or prefixes, or both at the same time.

Adjectives form, as in Russian, two degrees of comparison: comparative and superlative. The basic form of the adjective does not express comparison and is called the positive degree.

Adjective

An adjective is a part of speech that is used to denote a feature of an object.

• a clever boy (smart boy)
• an English book (English book)
• good butter (good butter)
• a cold winter (cold winter)

An adjective in English has three forms of degrees of comparison:

• positive (positive degree)
• comparative (comparative degree)
• superlative (superlative degree).

Degrees of adjectives

Formation of degrees of comparison of adjectives (Degrees of comparison of adjectives)

The basic form of the adjective is the positive degree. The forms of comparative and superlative degrees are usually formed from the form of a positive degree in one of two ways:

The first way to form degrees of comparison of adjectives. If the form of an adjective in a positive degree consists of one syllable, the form of its comparative degree is formed using the suffix -eg, and the superlative form - using the suffix -est, which are added to the base of the form of a positive degree.

The second way of forming degrees of comparison of adjectives. From adjectives whose positive form consists of three or more syllables, the comparative degree is formed using the word more, and the superlative degree - using the word most, which are placed before the positive form of the adjective.

From two-syllable adjectives, comparative and superlative forms are also formed using the words more and most.

Sometimes there are forms of two-syllable adjectives formed with the suffixes -er and -est. Most often these are adjectives, the positive form of which ends in -y, -er, -ow.

From some adjectives, the forms of degrees of comparison are formed especially, and these adjectives must be memorized immediately in all forms.

The adjective old forms degrees of comparison in two ways. In most cases, the suffix -eg or -est is added to the base form of the positive degree.

However, in those cases when they talk about members of the same family - “elder brother”, “the oldest of the brothers”, they use the form elder (senior) or eldest (the eldest).

For the correct spelling of the forms of degrees of comparison of adjectives, you need to know that when the suffixes -er and -est are added, the final letters of the adjective in the form of a positive degree change as follows:

• y changes to i after a consonant and does not change after a vowel: dry dry (dry) - drier - driest But: gay (cheerful) - gayer - gayest
• e omitted: nice (good) - nicer - nicest
• the consonant doubles in monosyllabic adjectives after a short vowel: big (big) - bigger - biggest

The use of the adjective

The adjective is usually used in a sentence as a definition to a noun and stands before the word being defined. An adjective can also be a nominal member of a compound nominal predicate (predicate) and in this case stand after the linking verb to be.
Not is a clever boy. He is a smart boy. (Clever is the definition.) .Not clever. He is smart. (Clever is a nominal member of a compound nominal predicate.)

Not all adjectives are used in these two functions. adjectives alive (alive), afraid (scared), asleep (sleeping), awake (awake), ill (sick) and some others are used only as a nominal member of a compound nominal predicate.

To denote a lower or lowest degree of quality of one item compared to another, the adjective is usually preceded by the word less (less, less) or least (least of all).

Additional material.

Degrees of comparison of adjectives and adverbs.

In English, as well as in Russian, adjectives and adverbs have three degrees of comparison:

1. positive
2. comparative
3. excellent.

In English, there are two ways to construct degrees of comparison.

1. For short (one-syllable) words:

Notes:

with the superlative degree of the adjective, the definite article is often used; When constructing degrees of comparison of adjectives in writing:

1. the final consonant with the preceding short vowel is doubled: big (bigger ((the) biggest
2. if the final -y is preceded by a consonant, then -y becomes -i:
   easy (easier ((the) easiest; early (earlier ((the) earliest
3. when -er u -est is added, the final -e is omitted: (see large above). The spelling does not affect pronunciation.

2. For long (consisting of two or more syllables) words:

It doesn't make sense to lengthen the word even further, so another short word is added in front in English:

• beautiful
• more beautiful
• easily
• more easily
• most easily

To pass values least and least (least) the words less and least are used respectively:

• less beautiful
• least beautiful

Note:

Sometimes monosyllabic words form degrees of comparison with more / less or most / least, and vice versa, words consisting of more than one syllable have -er / -est at the end; it depends only on the sound - if some form is perceived by ear better than the other, it is put into a sentence: crisp - more crisp - (the) most crisp sounds better than crisp - crisper (the) crispest.

The forms of degrees of comparison of some adjectives and adverbs in English are not formed according to the rule:

Note: The word little can be either an adjective or an adverb; in this case it is used only as an adverb little; if you need to build degrees of comparison from the adjective small, use the word small (see above).

Note: elder / eldest forms are used more often when the speaker is talking about members of his family:

• My father is elder than my mother. My father is older than my mother.
• This is my eldest son. This is my eldest son.

In most other cases, the degrees of comparison of adjectives are formed according to method 1:

old old er old est

The word most with the indefinite article (a most) is not a degree of comparison, but it matters very much: a most beautiful girl is a very beautiful girl.

The word most can come before a noun or a pronoun in plural(often with the preposition of) and has the meaning of many / most:

The definite article is preserved before the superlative form even if there is no noun: Not is the best. He is the best.

To indicate the comparative degree of the adjective, the word than is used (than; at the same time, in order to avoid repeating the same noun, it is often put word one as a substitute for this noun or a possessive pronoun in the absolute form:

• My car is bigger than their one / theirs. My car is bigger than theirs.
• These cigars are stronger than those ones. These cigars are stronger than those.

In the second part comparative designs you can use pronouns in both the objective case (colloquial variant) and the accusative case (literary variant, usually with an auxiliary verb):

• She reads more than him / he does. She reads more than he does.
• You are taller than me / I am. You are taller than me.
• Did not come earlier than them / they did. He came before they
• I know him better than her. I know him better than her.
• I know him better than she does. I know him better than she does.

When comparing the same quality, the combination as ... as (same (same) ... as (and) / so (same) ... as (and) is used: She is as beautiful as my mother.(She is as beautiful as my mother.

When comparing quality in a negative form, the combination not so ... as is more often used (not the same ... as: I am not so beautiful as her / she is.(I'm not as pretty as she is.

When comparing with a multiple effect, a combination of as ... as with numerals is used; the second as may be omitted if no other comparison object is mentioned in the situation:

• My sister is twice as beautiful (as yours).(My sister is twice as beautiful as (your).
• His car is about three times as big (as my car).(His car is three times bigger (mine).

The word half in such cases has a value half as much:

Sometimes the comparison can be strengthened with the help of additional words, more often than others much (much) is used for this: much more / less beautiful much more / less beautiful;

The Russian version than..., the... is translated into English the + comparative degree of the adjective... the + comparative degree of the adjective:

• The faster you come the more you will get. The sooner you arrive, the more you get.
• The sooner you do it the better. The sooner you do this, the better.

Comparative and superlative adjectives are used very often both in oral and in writing. And this applies not only to the Russian language. Today we are interested in foreign vocabulary, namely the comparative and superlative degree in English. Nowadays, there is more and more need to communicate on it. In order to speak correctly, and to be understood correctly by the surrounding foreigners, you need to study the rules for the formation of these degrees.

What is an adjective

Before we talk about how the comparative and superlative degrees are formed in English, let's take a quick look at the adjective itself. What is this part of speech? In a nutshell, an adjective is used when we need to describe a certain object, person or process. Answering questions what?, what?, what?, what?, this part of speech helps us not only describe them, but also compare them with each other, and also declare the superiority of one or another object or character.

• We live in this big home for a very long time.
• Old the park looks a lot better early in the morning.
• We are the youngest experts in this area.

The highlighted words clearly show what function the adjective performs in the sentence. This function is a definition. And in this sense there is no difference between Russian and English.

Degrees of comparison: rule

Comparative and superlative adjectives are two of the three forms in which this part of speech can be used. There are three levels of comparison:

• Positive - here the adjective has its initial form, for example: white, fat, tall, good, etc.
• Comparative - this form is used when we want to compare something with something, show the advantage of something over something, for example: better, taller, fatter, smarter, smaller, etc.
• Excellent - we use this option when we want to show that someone or something has the highest degree of quality, for example: the highest, the most expensive, the best, the least, etc.

The choice of the variant of the word also depends on what idea you want to convey to the interlocutor. We will consider everything possible rules education of both degrees separately.

comparative

In the grammar of the English language, there are rules by which both comparative and superlative degrees are formed. Exercises to check the understanding of this topic are aimed at ensuring that you correctly form this or that degree with any adjective. First, let's look at the comparative form. In order to form a comparative form from any adjective, you need to follow these rules:

• If the word is one-syllable or two-syllable, but the stress falls on the first syllable, then we add the suffix "er" to it: smart (smart) - smarter (smarter); hard (heavy) - harder (harder).

• If the word has the ending "e", one letter "r" is added to it: large (large) - larger (larger); polite (polite) - politer (more polite).

• If a monosyllabic word ends with a consonant letter preceded by a short vowel, then the last letter doubles when a suffix is ​​added: big (big) - bigger (more); hot (hot) - hotter (hotter).

• If the adjective ends with the letter "y", when a suffix is ​​added, it changes to "i": noisy (noisy) - noisier (more noisy); easy (simple) - easier (easier).

• If an adjective has more than two syllables, no suffix is ​​added to it. We put the comparative adverb “more” before this adjective, which means “more” in Russian: beautiful (beautiful) - more beautiful (more beautiful); interesting (interesting) - more interesting (more interesting).

• If it is necessary to indicate that the quality is lower than that of another object, then instead of the aforementioned word, we take “less”, translated as “less”: beautiful (beautiful) - less beautiful (less beautiful); interesting (interesting) - less interesting (less interesting).

Thus, we can easily form sentences where we want to compare the qualities of different objects.

Superlatives

Comparative degree and superlative degree are very easily formed by Russian-speaking users, since the concept of comparison and superiority is very similar to what we know in Russian. So, for the formation of the last degree, we need to apply concepts such as “most, most / least”. But here there are certain rules that must be followed:

• If the word has one syllable, we add the suffix “est” to such an adjective, while the article “the” will stand before the newly formed word: smart (smart) - the smartest (smartest); hard (heavy) - the hardest (the hardest).

• If there is an “e” ending at the end of the word, we will use only the “st” suffix: large (large) - the largest (largest); polite (polite) - the politest (the most polite).

• If a word ends in a consonant preceded by a short vowel, we double the last letter in the letter. In speech, this does not manifest itself in any way: big (big) - the biggest (largest); hot (hot) - the hottest (hottest).

• If the last place in the word is the letter y, when adding a suffix, we change it to i: noisy (noisy) - the noisiest (noisiest); easy (simple) - the easiest (simplest).

• For long polysyllabic words, there is another way of formation. We put the adverb “the most” before the word, which translates as “the most, the most, the most”: beautiful (beautiful) - the most beautiful (most beautiful); interesting (interesting) - the most interesting (most interesting).

• If it is necessary to indicate that the quality is the lowest, then instead of the word “most”, we take “the least”, translated as “least”: beautiful (beautiful) - the least beautiful (least beautiful); interesting (interesting) - the least interesting (least interesting).

• There are words that have two components. In this case, we also put the indicated adverbs in front of them: easy-going (sociable) - more easy-going (more sociable) - the most easy-going (most sociable); easy-going (sociable) - less easy-going (less sociable) - the least easy-going (least sociable).

Comparative and Superlative: Exception Words

There are words that despite everything existing rules, form degrees in their own way. These words need to be learned by heart. The comparative degree and superlative degree of such words are listed in a separate table.

When using a word consisting of two components, one of which is an exception, it is necessary to use its form: good-looking (beautiful) - better-looking (more beautiful) - the best-looking (most beautiful).

Set phrases

Both the comparative degree and the superlative degree are used in sentences as part of special constructions. Most often these options are:

• The “the… the…” construction. The more I read, the more I know. The more I read, the more I know.
• The “as… as…” construction. He is as tall as his brother. He is as tall as his brother.
• The “not so… as…” construction. She is not so fit as me. She's not as skinny as me.

These are the most common variants of sentences in which we use the mentioned degrees of comparison.