CHAPTER II THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
A. Degrees of Comparison of Adjective
1. Definition of Comparison of Adjective
Before we know the definition of comparative of adjective we are supposed to know the definition of adjective. According to Paul Roberts “Adjective is a word that
modifies a noun or pronoun.”
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Marcella Frank says “the adjective is a modifier that has the grammatical property of comparison. It is often identified by special
derivational endings or by special adverbial modifiers that precede it. Its most usual position is before the noun it modifies, but it fills other positions as well.”
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To determine exactly what is meant by “comparative” A.S Hornby says in English Language Teaching
, Summer 1953, p. 140: “The comparative is used when one object or group is compared with another and separate object or group. The
superlative is used when we refer to one object or group that forms a part of a larger group or collection.”
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According to Martin Parrott in Grammar for English Language Teachers “Comparatives are adjectives and adverbs that end in –er e.g. bigger, richer, faster
and superlatives are adjectives and adverbs that end in –est e.g. biggest, richest,
fastest.”
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From the definitions above, comparison is a process for comparing thing, person, or places through the level of quality, quantity, or relation and it is formed
from adjective.
9
Paul Roberts, Understanding Grammar, New York: Harper Row publishers, 1954 p.91.
10
Marcella Frank, Modern English, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.,1972, p.109.
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R.W. Zandvoort and J. A. Van Ek, A Hand book of English Grammar, London: Longman Group Limited, 1980, Seventh Edition, p.188.
12
Martin Parrott, Grammar for English Language Teachers, USA: Cambridge University Press, 2000 p.68.
Furthermore the positive degree is not really a degree of comparison because no comparison is indicated when the positive degree is used. The positive degree is
the simple form of the adjective. It shows that the quality is present, but it does not
show a comparison with anything else. The comparative degree of the adjective is used when a comparison is made between two persons or things. The comparative
degree shows that the quality expressed by the adjective exists to a greater or to a lesser degree in one of the two persons or things that are being compared. The
comparative degree of almost all adjectives of one syllable is formed by adding er to the positive degree or to the simple form of the adjective. The superlative degree of
the adjective is used when more than two persons or things are compared. The superlative degree indicates that the quality is possessed to the greatest or to the least
degree by one of the persons or things included in the comparison.
2. Form of Degrees of Comparison of Adjective
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