Significance of the Study

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.