What is a superlative12/10/2023 For example, the planet Saturn is big-more than 116,000 kilometers across. So we can always compare things that are similar as long as they are a little different. This confusing exception has to do with spelling and pronunciation changes in English during the Middle Ages.Ĭomparatives like these do not tell us too much about the degree of comparison. Nowadays, many people use farther and further interchangeably. Further refers to a distance that cannot be measured. “My house is farther from work than yours.”Īnother comparative form of far is further, as in “Her career has progressed further than his.” Traditionally, farther refers to a distance that can be measured. It seems logical that the comparative of far would be farrer. There are some common one-syllable adjectives that can be confusing. Watch out for irregular forms of comparatives. Listen for the comparative in this song by Steve Winwood. When the nouns that are being compared are not specifically stated, you can call it an empty comparison. The retail giant Wal-Mart has an advertisement that simply says, “live better.” Live better than whom? So if a laundry detergent advertisement claims to make colors brighter, you may ask, “brighter than what?” Other comparatives, especially in advertising, may not directly mention which two nouns are being compared. For example, “The test this week was more difficult than the one last week.” Instead, you use the adverb more before the adjective of comparison. If a word has more than two syllables, you do not use the suffix –er. There is a rule you can remember to help with comparatives. Instead, you say they are more beautiful. You cannot say a person or object is “ beautifuller” than another. This works for adjectives that have one or two syllables such as nice or pretty.īut when a word has three or more syllables, you cannot use the –er suffix to make a comparison. By adding –er to the adjective, you show the difference between two things-that one action or person is dumber than another. Here, the adjective form is dumb and the comparative form is dumber. In 1994, actors Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels made a comic film called “Dumb and Dumber.” Audiences saw the characters do increasingly “dumb” things for laughs. Sometimes, though, we want to know how two things compare to one another. Adjectives describe and add information about the people or things we see every day.
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