We have already completed part one in this series on Adjectives and we are now starting our second part under the title of Uses Of Adjectives in English – 02.We are attaching the link of the first part which we have already learned.
https://edusham.com/uses-of-adjectives-in-english/
To understand part two clearly, first learn part one clearly and after learning this, if you learn part two it will be very easy to understand part two.
Degree Of Comparison In English – Uses Of Adjectives in English – 02
There are three types of Degree Of Comparison.
01. Positive / Absolute Degree
02. Comparative Degree
03. Superlative Degree
01. Positive Degree / Absolute Degree
* Positive Degree describes one person / one thing.
Sentence Pattern Of Positive Degree / Absolute Degree.
Subject + Verb + Positive Degree
He is beautiful
She is tall
You are good
02. Comparative Degree
* Comparative Degree describes two people / two things.
Sentence Pattern Of Comparative Degree
Subject + Verb + Comparative Degree + Than + Object
I am better than you.
She is more beautiful than her.
You are taller than him.
03. Superlative Degree
* A superlative degree is used to describe more than two people or two things.
Sentence Pattern Of Superlative Degree
S + Verb + the + Superlative Degree + Object
I am the best student in my classroom.
She is the most beautiful among her sisters.
Colombo is the biggest city in Sri Lanka.
Formation Of Comparative Degree and Superlative Degree
We have to follow certain conditions to form comparative degree and superlative degree from positive degree adjective.
01. One syllable adjectives
Adjectives that sound like they are in one syllable when we pronounce them. They are called one syllable adjectives.
Thus, to convert adjectives in one syllable to comparative degree we have to add “er’ and to convert them to make superlative degree we have to add ” east” with positive degree.
Let us see some examples for this.
Positive Comparative Superlative
Degree Degree Degree
Strong Stronger Strongest
High Higher Highest
Loud Louder Loudest
Bright Brighter Brightest
Small Smaller Smallest
Warm Warmer Warmest
Clear Clearer Clearest
Dark Darker Darkest
02. in an adjective with three letters , or sometimes with four letters, when the first letter is a consonant, the second letter is a short vowel, and the third letter is again a consonant, to make it a comparative degree, the last letter should be doubled and “er” added to it, and to make it superlative degree, the final letter should be doubled and “est” added to it.
(When it ends in four letters, there must be a vowel before the last letter)
Consonant + Short Vowel + Consonant
Positive Comparative Superlative
Degree Degree l Degree
Hot Hotter Hottest
Big Bigger Biggest
Thin Thinner Thinnest
Fat Fatter Fattest
03. When an adjective ends in the letter “e” , we should add “r’ to the end to make it a comparative degree. Also we need to add ” st” at the end to convert it to superlative degree.
Positive Comparative Superlative
Degree Degree Degree
Large Larger Largest
Brave Braver Bravest
Safe Safer Safest
Wise Wiser Wisest
Simple Simpler Simplest
04. When an adjective ends in the letter “Y” we have to remove the y and add “IER’ to make it a comparative degree, and we have to remove the y and add “IEST” to make it a superlative degree.
Positive Comparative Superlative
Degree Degree Degree
Happy Happier Happiest
Busy Busier Busiest
Merry Merrier Merriest
05. When an adjective ends in three or more syllables we need to add the word “more” before the adjective to make it a comparative degree and to make it a superlative degree we need to add the word “most” before the adjective.
Positive Comparative Superlative
Degree Degree Degree
Creative More Creative Most Creative
Popular More Popular Most Popular
Expensive More Expensive Most Expensive
Beautiful More Beautiful Most Beautiful
Wonderful More Wonderful Most Wonderful
06. There are some adjectives which we call irregular adjectives which do not follow this type of condition and we can replace them like this.
Positive Comparative Superlative
Degree Degree Degree
Good Better Best
Bad Worse Worst
Little Less Least
Much More Most
Many More Most
Far Further Furthest
Old Older Oldest
Order Of Adjectives – Uses Of Adjectives in English – 02
01. Numbers / Articles
One , Two , Three , Four , Five , A , An , The
02. Quality / Opinion
Best , Good , Standard , Terrible , Bad , Beautiful
03. Size
Small , Big , Tiny , Tall , Short , Huge
04. Shape
Straight , Round , Square , Oval, Flat
05. Age
Old , Young , New , Ancient , Youthful
06. Color
Red , Pink , Green , Blue , Yellow
07. Nationality /Origin
American , Sri Lankan , Japanese , Canadian , Spanish
08. Material
Wooden , Plastic , Glass , Brass , Metal
09. Purpose
Writing , Cooking , Running , Dancing , Singing
01. A small red suitcase is here.
02. The new red silk shirt was lost.
03. Am ugly wooden chair was broken.
04. This round new kitchen table was sold.
05. A comfortable new velvet dress was washed.
06. This lovely old ceramic mug was there.
07. That beautiful German sports car is mine.
08. Those amazing round red balloons are my sister’s.
09. A wonderful old French clock hangs on the wall.
10. The two small young white cats walked across the street.
We will now learn how to do the questions related to adjectives.
Fill in the blanks in the questions given below with suitable adjectives.
01. English is …………….. (easy) than History.
Answer:- Easier
That is, a word “than” is used after the blank.When “than’ comes, it compares two things so it must be a comparative adjective.
02. Who is …………………. (good) tennis player in this class.
Answer:- the best
This question asks who is the best tennis player in this class. That means there will be more than two students in the class. So when we compare more than two things we should use superlative adjective.
We must always use “the” before the superlative adjective.
03. He is ………………. (famous)
Answer:- Famous
Here, the sentence comes normally. There is no word “the” and there is no word “than” and there is no word to compare with others. so the positive adjective should come here.
04. Gold isn’t ………………….. (expensive) than platinum.
Answer:-More Expensive
That is, a word “than” is used after the blank.When “than’ comes, it compares two things so it must be a comparative adjective.
05. Lion is the ………………… (dangerous) animal in this forest.
Answer:- Most Dangerous
That is, in the questions related to adjectives, if there is a space after the word ” the” , a superlative adjective must come in that space.
06. Your watch is …………………. (cheap) than me.
Answer:- cheaper
That is, a word “than” is used after the blank.When “than’ comes, it compares two things so it must be a comparative adjective.
07. Colombo is ………………. (beautiful) city in sri Lanka.
Answer:- The most beautiful
This question tells Colombo is the most beautiful city in Sri Lanka. That means there will be more than two cities in Sri Lanka. So when we compare more than two things we should use superlative adjective.
We must always use “the” before the superlative adjective.
08. Coconut tree is ……………… ( tall) than mango tree.
Answer:- Taller
That is, a word “than” is used after the blank.When “than’ comes, it compares two things so it must be a comparative adjective.
09. My sister is ………………. ( Clever)
Answer:- Clever
Here, the sentence comes normally. There is no word “the” and there is no word “than” and there is no word to compare with others. so the positive adjective should come here.
10. The aeroplane is the ………………. (fast) in the world.
Answer:- Fastest
That is, in the questions related to adjectives, if there is a space after the word ” the” , a superlative adjective must come in that space.
So we have now completed Uses Of Adjectives in English – 02 . We have already posted part – 01 on adjectives. Its link is given above.
When you learn these two parts together, you can gain a complete knowledge of adjectives.
So please post your valuable comments regarding our series of classes in our comment box.
