Degrees of comparison

The first question which arises is how many degrees of comparison has the English adjective? If we take, for example, the three forms of an English adjective: large, larger, (the) largest, we may say that they are, all three of them, degrees of comparison. In that case we ought to term them positive, comparative, and superlative. Or we may say that only the latter two are degrees of comparison (comparative and superlative) whereas the first (large) does not express any idea of comparison at all. The first form may be described as the basic form.

Both views have found their advocates in grammatical theory.

A more complex problem in the sphere of degrees of comparison is that of the formations “more difficult, (the) most difficult” – The question is this: is “more difficult” an analytical comparative degree of the adjective “difficult”? In that case the word “more” would be an auxiliary word serving to make up that analytical form, and “more difficult” belongs to the sphere of morphology. Or is “more difficult” a free phase, not different in its essential character from the phrase “very difficult” or “somewhat difficult”? In that case the adjective “difficult” would have no degrees of comparison at all while the phrase would be a syntactical formation. The traditional view held both by practical and theoretical grammars until recently was that phrases of this type were analytical degrees of comparison. Recently, however, the view has been put forward that they do not essentially differ from phrases of the type “very difficult” which, of course, nobody would think of treating as analytical forms.

Thus, considerations of meaning tend towards recognising such formations as analytical forms, whereas strictly grammatical considerations lead to the contrary view.

Now it is well known that not every adjective has degrees of comparison. Since degrees of comparison express difference of degree of the same property, only those adjectives admit of degrees of comparison which denote properties capable of appearing in different degree. Thus, it is obvious that, for example, the adjectives “blind, deaf dead”, etc. have no degrees of comparison. As it was pointed out above some qualitative adjectives and all relative adjectives have no degrees of comparison. However, this should not be taken too absolutely. Occasionally we may meet with such a sentence as this “You cannot be deader than dead” in a novel by E. Hemingway.

Practically most grammarians believe that there are two degrees of comparison; the comparative and the superlative, in contrast to which the adjective expressing the simple quality without comparison is said to be in the positive degree.

The adjective in the positive with the conjunction as... as expresses an equal degree: I am as happy as you are.

In a corresponding negative sentence not so... as is used: My room is not so large as hers.

Comparison of superiority is expressed by the comparative or the superlative degree of the adjective; the comparative is followed by the conjunction than: quicker than.

To express an inferior degree of quality the adjective is connected with the adverb “little” in a comparative or superlative degrees (less, least) which is a free syntactical word-combination: This book is less interesting.

But in spoken language this combination is usually replaced by the negative of the comparison of equality: It is less cold than it was yesterday. It is not so cold as it was yesterday.