Ed Swick explains in English Verbs and Essential Grammar for ESL Learner that adjective can be transformed to the comparative and superlative
forms. While the comparative gives a comparison between two people or things, the superlative gives the greatest degree of the meaning of the adjectives.
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Therefore, the degrees of comparison are divided into three types. They are positive, comparative, and superlative degrees. Each type has different form and
usage. The forms of adjective comparison degree are not simply described. Their forms are also divided into the forms of comparison degrees of regular adjectives
and the forms of comparison degrees of irregular adjectives that would be discussed next.
2. Types and Usage of Degrees of Comparison
Degrees of Comparison have three types. They are positive, comparative, and superlative degree. Actually, only the comparative and superlative show degrees.
We use comparative for comparing two things and the superlative for comparing three or more things. In leveling these types of words, some of them change
regularly regular comparison and some change irregularly irregular comparison. Here are the types of comparison degrees with regular adjective
forms.
a. Positive Degree
Positive degree is the most basic form of the adjective. It is called as positive because it does not relate to any superior or inferior qualities of other things.
Positive refers to the quality of one person or thing. It is used the simply adjective form. Positive is also used to compare two nouns or verbs that are equal or almost
equal equality.
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We can use as + adjective + as for comparing two persons or things that have similarity of quality or quantity. For example:
1 My mother is as old as my father.
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Ed Swick, English Verbs and Essential Grammar for ESL Learner, New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2010, p.95.
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Ruth Pierson and Susan Vik, Making Sense in English, USA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1987, p.77.
2 My uncle is as handsome as brother. 3 Health is as important as money.
For negative comparison, to talk about two things which is different in some way, we use not + as + adjective + as. For example:
1 Her book is not as thick as mine. 2 My school is not as large as my house.
b. Comparative Degree
Comparative degree denotes a greater amount of a quality relative to something else. R. W. Zandvoort and J. A. Van Ek said in their book that the comparative is
used when one object or group is compared with another and separate object or group.
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Comparative degree is used to compare two persons, places, or things. We can use suffix –er + than or more + adjective + than for comparing two persons
or things that have greater or less of quality or quantity. For example: 1 I am taller than you.
2 Rosita is slimmer than you. 3 Tom Cruise is more handsome than Aamir Khan.
4 Raisa Andriana is more beautiful than Suriyatmi.
c. Superlative Degree
Superlative Degree is used to stress the highest degree of quality for more than two objects compared. It is the highest degree or the lowest degree of quality
when more than two persons or things are compared. The superlative degree is used to compare one member of a group with the whole group including that
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R. W. Zandvoort and J. A. Van Ek, A Handbook of English Grammar, London: Longman Group Limited, 1980, p. 188.
member.
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We can use affixes the + –est + noun to denote that it is the highest degree of quality. For example:
1 Farras is the tallest boy in the class. 2
Kalimantan is the biggest island in Indonesia. 3 Justin Bieber is the most handsome singer from Canada.
4 Harry Potter is the most interesting book I’ve ever read.
3. Forms of Degrees of Comparison
