adjectives or adverbs which indicates the positive, comparative and superlative degree.
R.W. Zandvoort and J. A. Van Ek said in their book “When two persons or things or two groups of persons or things are compared or contrast as bearers of
a certain quality, we use the form –er, the so-called COMPARATIVE, with reference to the persons or things that excels e.g: John is cleverer than
Peter . When a person or thing is compared or contrasted with a group of persons
or things, we use comparative if the person or thing that excels is represented as excluded
from the group John is cleverer than the other boys, the form in –est, the so called SUPERLATIVE, if he or it is represented as included in the group
John is the cleverest of the boys”.
3
According to Martin Parrot 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”.
4
Meanwhile, Gorell and Laird stated in their book “The degrees of comparison are known as degrees of modifiers. We recognize three degrees of
modifiers, as follows: Positive, implying no comparison fast car, beautifully landscape
; comparative, implying that one exceeds another The boulevard is a faster street than the highway and more beautifully landscaped
; and the superlative which implies the highest degree, at least within the certain limitations
The boulevard is the fastest road out of town, and the most beautifully landscaped”.
5
According to the definitions stated above, the writer can conclude that Degrees of Comparison is the form of adjective or adverb which is inflected by –
er or –est for one or some of two syllables, and added by more- or most- for three
syllables or some of two syllables. There are three kinds of Degrees of Comparison in English: positive, comparative and superlative degree. Each kind
has different form and usage. The explanation of those three kinds of degrees of comparison will be clearly discussed as follows:
3
R.W. Zandvoort and J.A. Van Ek, A Handbook of English Grammar, London: Longman Group Limited, 1980, 7
th
edition, p.188
4
Martin Parrot, Grammar for English Language Teachers
,
USA: Cambridge University Press, 2000, p.68
5
Gorell and Laird, Modern English Handbook, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc, 1964, 3
rd
edition, p. 371.
2. The Usage of Degrees of Comparison
As it is stated above, there are three kinds of Degrees of Comparison in English, they are: positive degree, comparative degree and superlative degree
which is used for comparing two and more people or things through the level of quality, quantity or relation.
a. Positive Degree As it is said before that positive degree implies no comparison. It means
that positive degree is used to compare two peoples or things which have no difference each other. According to Martin Hewings “we
use as + adjectiveadverb + as to say that something or someone is like something or
someone else, or that one situation is like another, and the negative forms of sentence can use either not as or not so.
6
For example:
I came round as quickly as I could.
The gap between the sides is not asso wide as it was. b. Comparative Degree
The comparative form of degree is used to compare the quality or quantity of two persons or things on condition that one exceeds another. For example:
Amir is taller than Amar
My car is more expensive than your car.
Leopard can run more quickly than buffalo
c. Superlative Degree Superlative degree is used to stress the highest degree of quality or
quantity of group of persons or things on condition that one excluded from the group. For example:
Amazon is the longest river in the world.
Amira is the most beautiful of all students in her class.
6
Martin Hewings, Advanced Grammar in Use, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2005, 2
nd
edition, p. 146
3.
The Forms and Patterns of Degrees of Comparison
a. The Forms of Degrees of Comparison To form the degrees of comparison we need to know the inflection or
addition ways of adjective and adverb. Whether it is added by –er or –est at the end of the adjective or adverb, or preceded by more- or most- before it. It depends
on the length of adjective and adverb word and also its last syllable. Besides, there is also the irregular form of degrees of comparison, such as the word bad positive
degree, worse comparative degree and worst superlative degree. For further explanation about the form of degrees of comparison the writer
has some formulas as stated below. 1 Positive Degree:
it has the simplest form of all and it uses the base form of adjective or adverb. We just need to put or add as before and after the
adjective or adverb, and for the negative sense add not before as.
Table 2.1 Positive form
Adjective and Adverb
Rule The words
Positive form All adjective
forms
All adverb forms
Add “as” before and after the
word Add “as” before
and after the word
interesting, expensive,
high soon, quickly,
seldom as interesting
as, as expensive as,
as high as
as soon as, as
quickly as, as
seldom as
2 Comparative Degree: regular adjectives and adverbs make their
comparative form in one of two ways: a By addition of the suffix –er sometimes with modification in the
spelling of the stem: bigger, larger, sillier, etc.
