Hello hey ho, fellas! Still following our previous discussion on ‘participial adjective’, we will talk about stating degrees of comparison.
Degrees of comparison are used when we compare one thing/person with another. There are three degrees of comparison:
- positive,
- comparative, and
- superlative.
Comparative degree of comparison
Let’s start with the comparative degree. The comparative degree is used to compare
two persons or things having the same quality.
To form the comparative degree of adjectives, we usually add -er to adjective with two or less syllables. Example:
- Taller
- Lighter
- Nicer
However, when forming the comparative degree of participial adjectives, we use the
word ‘more.’ Example:
Participial adjective |
Comparative |
Boring |
More boring |
Bored |
More bored |
Tiring |
More tiring |
Tired |
More tired |
Alarming |
More alarming |
Alarmed |
More alarmed |
More example:
Participial adjective |
WRONG |
Comparative |
Relaxing |
|
more relaxing |
Relaxed |
|
more relaxed |
Interesting |
|
more interesting |
Interested |
|
more interested |
Confusing |
|
more confusing |
Confused |
|
more confused |
Superlative degree of comparison
Moving on to the superlative degree of adjective. Superlative degree denotes the existence of the highest degree of the quality. The superlative degree of adjective is used to single out one person or thing from all the rest.
To form the superlative degree of adjectives, we usually add ‘-est’ to adjective with
two or less syllables. Example:
- Tallest
- Lightest
- Nicest
However, when forming the superlative degree of participial adjectives, we use the
word ‘most.‘
Example:
Participial adjective |
Superlative |
Boring |
Most boring |
Bored |
Most bored |
Tiring |
Most tiring |
Tired |
Most tired |
Alarming |
Most alarming |
Alarmed |
Most alarmed |
More example:
Participial adjective |
WRONG |
Comparative |
Relaxing |
|
Most relaxing |
Relaxed |
|
Most relaxed |
Interesting |
|
Most interesting |
Interested |
|
Most interested |
Confusing |
|
Most confusing |
Confused |
|
Most confused |
That’s a wrap, fellas! I hope the explanation was clear enough. However, if you have any question on the topic, feel free to leave a message in the comment box.
Compiled and written by @miss_qiak for @EnglishTips4U on Saturday, April 8, 2017
Related post(s):
- #EngClass: Degrees of comparison
- #EngClass: Participial adjective (2)
- #EngClass: Participial adjective (3)
- #EngQuiz: Participial adjective
- #EngClass: Degree words
^MQ