DEGREES
OF COMPARISON
Degrees
of Comparison maybe constructed in two ways :
a. er
/ est
b. more
/ most
A. er / est are used for
:
a)
Monosyllable
adjectives / adverbs.
example
: long, large, low, high, strong, big,
etc.
b)
Adjectives
/ adverbs of two syllable ending in :
·
le → simple, gentle.
·
er → clever, tender.
·
ow → narrow, shallow.
·
y → lazy, happy.
·
some → handsome.
c)
Adjectives
/ adverbs of two syllables if the stress falls on the second syllables.
·
Polite
·
Profound ( deep )
·
Sincere ( faithful )
B.
More and most are used
for :
a.
Adjectives
of two syllables if the stress falls on the first syllable.
example
: descent, recent, modest, compact.
b.
Adjectives
/ adverbs of three or more syllables.
example
: difficult, important, interesting,
complicated.
c.
Adjectives
with ly ending.
example : happily,sadly,etc.
IRREGULAR
DEGREES OF COMPARISON
1.
Good
Better – best
Well
2. Bad
Worse – worst
Ill
3.
Far farther – farthest
Further –
furtherst ( use in figurative sense )
4.
Near nearer – nearest (
distance )
Nearer - Next ( order )
5.
Old older – oldest ( only age
)
Elder – eldest (
age class + family range )
6.
Late latter – last ( used in
order )
Later –
latest ( used for time )
7. Many ( countable )
More - most
Much
( uncountable )
8.
Little not much = less – least
Not big ( small )
= smaller - smallest
Example
:
1. Bob and John are my friend, the former ( Bob ) comes from
Bali and the latter ( John ) from Bogor.
2. Let’s hope that the last war will be the latest.
