The rules for changing English adjectives are not very difficult to understand, but they have many features that cause some difficulties. The fact is that individual words do not obey the general rules, as they are an exception. Let's discuss all possible constructions of a comparative degree of an adjective in English.
What is the comparative degree of an adjective?
Any adjective has three degrees: positive, comparative and excellent. The first degree is the word itself in its original form, and the other two are its modified versions. They are formed using two principles: analytical and synthetic. In the first case, additional words are used, in the second, all changes occur due to the addition of special suffixes. There are also words that can be compared using both of these methods.
Synthetic form
A simple comparative degree of adjectives is mainly used for monosyllables and usually does not cause learning difficulties. Changes occur with the help of two types of suffixes: “er” for comparative degree and “est” for superlative. Example:
- fast (thin) - faster (thinner) - fastest (the thinnest).
Using comparative momentum, it is necessary to pay attention to some points of spelling. If a monosyllabic word ends in a consonant that is preceded by a short vowel, then in the process of comparison on a letter, the last consonant is doubled:
- thin (thin) - thinner (thinner) - thinnest (the thinnest).
The simple comparative degree of adjectives has another nuance regarding words ending in the dumb letter “e”. When special suffixes are added, this letter disappears, since both of these suffixes begin with the letter “e”, and there is no sense in doubling it:
- huge (huge) - huger (more huge) - hugest (most huge).
Words ending with "y"
Although the synthetic comparative degree of the adjective ’s name is used to a greater extent for monosyllabic words, it can also work with some kinds of two-syllable words, in particular, ending with the vowel “y”.
If the word is preceded by a consonant in the word, then in the process of comparison the letter “y” changes to “i”, but the rule for its pronunciation remains the same:
- busy - busier (busier) - busiest (busiest).
In those cases when there is any vowel letter in front of “y”, the letter “y” does not change.
Analytical form
A composite comparative degree of adjectives is used for most two-syllable and polysyllabic words, since long words are already difficult to pronounce, and adding some suffixes to them is not at all convenient, moreover, English is very capacious and always strives for compactness and abbreviations. In such cases, four additional words are used for comparison: more, most, less and least. They are put before the adjective:
- aromatic (aromatic) - more aromatic (more aromatic) - most aromatic (the most aromatic);
- expensive (expensive) - less expensive (less expensive) - least expensive (the most inexpensive).
Suggestions for an example:
- It was the most difficult day this week - it was the most difficult day this week.
- This trip is less expensive - this trip is less expensive.
The article before adjectives
The comparative degree has one more important rule: any adjective in the superlative degree, whether it was created by means of an analytical construction, or synthetic, always has before it the definite article “the”. This rule is valid because any defining word in most cases denotes a noun that comes immediately after it. If there is no noun, then the use of a certain article is still an integral action, since the adjective in any case implies any person or object:
- My grandfather is the oldest man in his village - my grandfather is the oldest in his village.
- It was a very expensive restaurant, the most expensive which I saw - it was a very expensive restaurant, the most expensive I saw.
As can be seen from the second part of the second example, the superlative comparative degree of the adjective must have a definite article even without the presence of the noun that follows. In the example, the noun is not written, but it is understood: the most expensive (restaurant), which I saw.
The word "most" in other meanings
The word "most" is used not only in cases where a comparative degree of adjectives in English is used, but also for other tasks. In particular, it is used in the meaning of “extremely”, “very”, “very”. In such cases, when using the singular, the indefinite article “a” is used, and when using the plural, the article is not put at all:
- they are most polite people - they are pretty / very polite people.
Also, the word "most" is often used in combination with the preposition "of", creating a combination that translates into Russian as "most of ..." or "most of ...". Such a phrase is used in front of a certain group of people, objects and other things. In such a design, articles before “most” are not used, but are put directly before nouns or not at all:
- Most of people in Russia don`t know English - most people in Russia do not know English.
- Most of the students know this rule - most students know this rule.
Some nuances
It is worth noting that the English language is developing dynamically, and the rules of spelling and the compilation of certain verbal constructions also suffer some changes. Certain metamorphoses did not bypass the rule of using adjectives. The fact is that, by comparing some words, it is possible to change them, using a synthetic or analytical form, independence of how many syllables a given word has. That is, some vocabulary units do not obey the general rules. Let's try to figure it out more specifically.
There are monosyllabic adjectives that can be compared using two possible methods:
- true (true) - truer or more true (truthful) - truest or most true (the most truthful);
- hot (hot) - hotter or more hot (hot) - hottest or most hot (the hottest).
There are also monosyllabic words, which in most cases are used precisely in analytical forms. Here are examples of such words:
- right (true, correct) - righter (rarely used) / more right (or rather) - most right (most correct / true);
- real (real) - more real (real) - realest / most real (most real).
There are two-syllable words in English that are equally compared using the two above-mentioned methods, for example, clever, sincere and stupid. The words remote and polite, although they occur in two forms of comparison, are still more often changed by the analytical method.
If you are not sure which of the two comparative turns is more correct to apply to a particular word, then use the analytical one: in this case you risk making only a stylistic mistake, not a grammatical one.
Exception words
The comparative degree of the adjective works in a slightly different way for a group of fairly common words that use their unique ways of changing. There are few such words, so memorizing their forms will not take much time, but you need to know them. Conventionally, such words can be called "incorrect adjectives." These include words such as “bad” - bad (worse - worst), “little” - little (less - least), “much” - much \ many (more - most), “good” good (better - best ) An interesting fact is that such definitions are “incorrect” in a number of other languages, where their comparative degree of adjective also does not obey the general rules.
Do not get confused when working with the words little and small. In both cases, the comparative degree translates to “less,” but in the variant with little it is less, and in the variant with small it is smaller:
- I have less powers than you - I have less authority than you.
- I`m smaller than my brother - I am less than my brother.
The comparative degree of the adjective, which translates into Russian as “more”, also deserves special attention:
- You have more money than he - you have more money than him.
- My brother is bigger than you - my brother is bigger than you.
As you can see, these words are quite common, and everyone came across them in certain cases.
Afterword
In this article, we figured out how the comparative degree of adjectives works. The English language is rich in various nuances and exceptions, which cannot be placed in one article, but all the most basic rules were discussed above. It is worth recalling once again: if you are not sure of the correct use of a particular comparative turnover for adjectives, then use the analytical option. In this case, you will always remain understood, except that the stylistic side of the phrase, in which the adjective is used in the form of a comparative degree, will suffer.