The rules for changing English adjectives are not very difficult to understand, but they have many features that cause some difficulties. The fact is that individual words do not obey the general rules, as they are an exception. Let's discuss all the possible constructions of the comparative degree of the adjective in English.
What is the comparative degree of an adjective?
Any adjective has three degrees: positive, comparative and superlative. The first degree is the word itself in its original form, and the other two are its modified versions. They are formed using two principles: analytical and synthetic. In the first case, additional words are used, in the second, all changes occur due to the addition of special suffixes. There are also those words that can be compared using both of these methods.
Synthetic form
The simple comparative degree of adjectives is used mainly for monosyllabic words and usually does not cause learning difficulties. Changes occur with the help of two types of suffixes: "er" - for the comparative degree and "est" - for the superlative. Example:
fast (thin) - faster (thinner) - fastest (thinnest)
When using comparative turns, it is necessary to pay attention to some points of spelling. If a monosyllabic word ends in a consonant sound preceded by a short vowel, then in the process of comparison in writing, the last consonant letter is doubled:
thin (thin) - thinner (thinner) - thinnest (thinnest)
The simple comparative degree of adjectives has another nuance regarding words ending in the silent letter "e". When adding special suffixes, this letter disappears, since both of these suffixes begin with the letter “e”, and there is no point in doubling it:
huge (huge) - huger (more huge) - hugest (the biggest)
Words that end in y
Although the synthetic comparative adjective is used more for monosyllabic words, it can also work with some types of two-syllable words, in particular those ending in the vowel "y".
If this vowel is preceded by a consonant in a word, then in the process of comparison the letter "u" changes to "i", but the rule of its pronunciation remains the same:
busy (busy) - busier (busier) - busiest (busiest)
When before"y" is a vowel, the letter "y" does not change.
Analytical form
The compound comparative degree of adjectives is used for most disyllabic and polysyllabic words, since long words are already difficult to pronounce, and adding some suffixes to them is not at all convenient, besides, the English language is very capacious and always strives towards compactness and contraction. In such cases, four additional words are used for comparison: more, most, less and least. They are placed before the adjective:
- aromatic (fragrant) - more aromatic (more aromatic) - most aromatic (most fragrant);
- expensive (expensive) - less expensive (less expensive) - least expensive (most inexpensive).
Example sentences:
- It was the most difficult day this week
- This trip is less expensive - this trip is less expensive.
Putting an article before adjectives
The comparative degree has another important rule: any adjective in the superlative degree, whether it is created by means of an analytical construction or a synthetic one, always has the definite article “the” in front of it. This rule works because any defining word in most cases denotes the noun that comes immediately after it. If there is no noun, then the use of the definite article is still an essential action, sinceadjective in any case implies a person or thing:
- My grandfather is the oldest man in his village - my grandfather is the oldest in his village.
- It was a very expensive restaurant, the most expensive which I saw - it was a very expensive restaurant, the most expensive I saw.
As seen in the second part of the second example, the superlative comparative of an adjective must have a definite article even without a noun following it. In the example, the noun is not spelled, but it is implied: the most expensive (restaurant) I have ever seen.
The word "most" in other meanings
The word "most" is used not only in cases where the comparative degree of adjectives in English is used, but also for other tasks. In particular, it is used in the meaning of "extremely", "very", "very". In such cases, when using the singular, the indefinite article “a” is used, and when using the plural, the article is not put at all:
they are most polite people - they are pretty/very polite people
Also, the word "most" is often used in combination with the preposition "of", creating a combination that translates into Russian as "most of …" or "most of …". Such a phrase is used in front of a certain group of people, objects and other things. In such a construction, articles before “most” are not used, but are already placed directly before nouns or are not putgeneral:
- Most of people in Russia don`t know English - most people in Russia do not know English.
- Most of the students know this rule
Some nuances
It is worth noting that the English language is developing dynamically, and the rules of spelling and the composition of certain word structures also undergo some changes. Certain metamorphoses did not bypass the rule of using adjectives. The fact is that when comparing some words, it is possible to change them using a synthetic or analytical form, regardless of how many syllables this or that word has. That is, some vocabulary units do not obey the general rules. Let's try to understand more specifically.
There are one-syllable adjectives that can be compared in two possible ways:
- true (true) - truer or more true (more true) - truest or most true (most true);
- hot (hot) - hotter or more hot (hot) - hottest or most hot (hottest).
There are also those monosyllabic words that in most cases are used precisely in analytical forms. Here are examples of such words:
- right (correct, correct) - righter (rarely used) / more right (or rather) - most right (most correct / correct);
- real (real) - more real (more real) - realest/most real (most real).
There are disyllabic words in English that are equally compared using the above twoways, such as clever, sincere and stupid. The words remote and polite, although they occur in two forms of comparison, are still more often changed by means of an analytical method.
If you are not sure which of the two comparative turns is more correct to apply to a particular word, then use the analytical one: in this case, you risk making only a stylistic mistake, not a grammatical one.
Exclusion words
The comparative adjective works in a slightly different way for a group of fairly common words that use their own unique ways of changing. There are few such words, so memorizing their forms will not take much time, but you need to know them. Conventionally, such words can be called "wrong adjectives." These include words such as "bad" - bad (worse - worst), "little" - little (less - least), "many" - much / many (more - most), "good" good (better - best). An interesting fact is that such definitions are "incorrect" in a number of other languages, where their comparative degree of the adjective also does not follow the general rules.
Don't get confused with little and small. In both cases, the comparative degree is translated as “less”, but in the variant with little it is less, and in the variant with small it is smaller:
- I have less powers than you - I have less powers than you.
- I`m smaller than my brother - I'm smaller than my brother.
Also deserves special attention is the comparativeadjective degree, which translates into Russian as "more":
- You have more money than he - you have more money than him.
- My brother is bigger than you - my brother is bigger than you.
As you can see, these words are quite common, and everyone has come across them in one way or another.
Afterword
In this article, we figured out how the comparative degree of adjectives works. The English language is rich in various nuances and exceptions that cannot be contained in one article, but all the most basic rules have been discussed above. It is worth recalling once again: if you are not sure about the correct use of one or another comparative phrase for adjectives, then use the analytical option. In this case, you will always remain understood, except that the stylistic side of the phrase, which uses an adjective in the form of a comparative degree, will suffer.
