Irregular Comparative and Superlative Forms
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
| Good | Better | (the) best |
| Bad | Worse | (the) worst |
| Little | Less | (the) least |
| Many /much | More | (the) most |
| Old | Older / elder | (the) oldest / eldest |
| Late | Later / latter | (the) latest / last |
| Far | Farther / further | (the) farthest / furthest |
| Near | nearer | (the) nearest / next |
Late: later – latest (refers to time)
latter – last (refers to position)
I haven’t heard the latest news.
Ours is the last house in the street.
Old: elder – eldest (for people only in the same family)
older – oldest (for people and things)
My father is the eldest in our family.
I get on well with my elder sister.
Elder is not used with than following; we use older instead:
I’m five years older than my brother.
Near: nearest (denotes distances)
next (denotes position)
This is the nearest post-office to our house.
My uncle lives in the next house.
Comparative Constructions with the Adjectives
| To compare things which are the same: as…as, the same…as, twice as…as, three times as…as | The adjective is used in the positive degree | She is as busy as a bee. Father is the same age as mother. Petrol is twice as expensive as it was a few years ago. |
| To compare things that are different: not as…as, not so…as | Positive degree | Italy is not so hot as Iraq. He isn’t as poor as I thought. |
| Than (than me / than I am) | Comparative degree | Your spelling is better than mine. |
| The…the | Comparative degree | The longer is the night, the shorter is the day. |
Note: words that can modify a comparative form are: much, a little, a bit, slightly, far, rather, no, a lot, even, etc.
The book is much more interesting than the film.
The son is much richer than his father.
The adjective has the following syntactical characteristics:
In a sentence the adjective may be used as an attribute or as a predicative.
That was a very difficult task. (attribute)
The task was difficult. (predicative)
Substantivized adjectives
The substantivization of adjectives is a kind of conversion. Adjectives, when substantivized, lose all or part of the characteristics of the adjectives and acquire all or part of the characteristics of the noun. Adjectives in English may be fully or partially substantivized.
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Fully substantivized adjectives have acquired all the characteristics of the noun: they have the plural and the possessive and are associated with the definite and indefinite articles.
Here belong the following groups of words:
2. Words denoting classes of persons, such as: a native, a relative, a savage, a progressive, a conservative, a criminal, a black, a white, etc.
3. Words denoting nationalities: an American, a German, an Italian, a Greek, etc.
4. Words denoting periodicals: daily, weekly, monthly.
Partially substantivized adjectives take only the definite article, but they do not have any other characteristics of the noun. Here belong:
1. Words denoting classes of persons who represent some feature of human character, condition or state. These adjectives are used in a generic sense: the good/bad, poor/rich, healthy/sick, etc. These words are used as plural nouns and are followed by a plural verb. If we wish to denote a single person we must add a noun: The old receive pensions. But: An old man usually receive a pension.
2. Words denoting nationalities ending in –sh and –ch: the English, the French, the Scotch, the Irish, the Welsh, the Dutch, etc.
3. Words denoting abstract notions: the good, the beautiful, the useful, the contrary, the impossible, the unknown, the opposite, etc. These words are always singular. A number of such words are used in prepositional phrases: in the negative, on the contrary, on the whole, for the better, in the main, at large, in particular, in short, all of a sudden, etc.
4. Words denoting things: goods, sweets, valuables, etc. They are always plural.
Some difficulties in the use of the Adjective:
Degrees of Comparison
| Formation | Examples |
| Two-syllable words form degrees of comparison with –er/-est or more/most: ending –le: ending –ow: | simple – simpler/more simple - simplest/most simple narrow – narrower/more narrow – narrowest/ most narrow Similarly: common, cruel, handsome, happy, lively, lovely, obscure, pleasant, quiet, shallow, sincere, solid, stupid, true |
| With more/most only: predicative a-series: participles: other: | afraid – more afraid – most afraid worried – more worried – most worried ancient – more ancient – most ancient Similarly: antique, careful, certain, complex, foolish, frequent, hostile, modern, modest, public, private |
| When two or more adjectives are used together, even a one-syllable adjective may use more/most: | She is more kind and gentle than her mother. |
| Less can be used with one-syllable adjectives but more, most and least are not normally used in this way. | less big |
| More is occasionally used with one-syllable adjectives: | It is more true to say that British English is influenced by American, rather than the other way round. |
| Little and a little are used with (singular) uncountables. Little (like few) is negative, suggesting ‘hardly any at all’ and is often used after very. In everyday speech – not much or hardly any preferable: a. ‘not as much as was expected’: b. in idiomatic ‘negative’ phrases such as little point, little sense, little use, etc.: ! A little and a bit (of), in very informal contexts, are positive, suggesting ‘some, a (small) quantity’: | He has very little hope of winning this race. He hasn’t much hope of winning this race. He has hardly any hope of winning this race. We climbed all day but made little progress. There is little point in trying to mend it. I’d like a little/a bit of time to think about it. How many eggs are there in the fridge? – There are a few/ plenty. How much milk is there in the fridge? – There is a little/plenty. |
| Good – well Do not use an adverb (well) after a linking verb: The old man could not hear well. Use an adverb when the verb is modified. | The food was/smelled/tasted good. The little boy is good. (well-behaved) The little boy is well. (in good health) |
| Far farther farthest further furthest Farther/further and farthest/furthest are interchangeable when the meaning relates to distance: BUT: further can mean ‘extra/more/additional’: | I can’t walk any farther/further. The farthest/furthest house is theirs. Are there any further questions? |
| Late later latest COMPARE: late – latter – last The latest means the newest or most recent; the last means final in a sequence; the latter refers to the last-mentioned: | She always dresses in the latest fashion. What time does the last bus leave? When given a choice of traveling by ship or plane, most people choose the latter. |
| Next, the next The next means coming immediately after smb/smth in order, space or time (наступний, найближчий): Next (used without the) referring to time: next time – наступного разу | the next name/house/train/thing, etc. Next Monday/week/summer/year means майбутній |
| Adjectives after nouns are used in fixed phrases; BUT: before a noun present refers to time; after a noun it means ‘here/there’, ‘not absent’ | Secretary General; court martial(= military court);the present members (=those who are members now); the members present (=those who are/ were at the meeting) |
| Comparison of absolutes Do not compare things or ideas that are either true or not true. To show a state near an absolute state use nearly, barely, or almost: | The dog that was hit by a car is barely alive. After studying all night, Tom felt nearly dead. |
| Old older oldest elder eldest Elder/eldest are used with reference to family relationship, but only in attributive position: The noun is often deleted after the eldest/ youngest: Old/older/oldest are used attributively and predicatively with reference to people and things; in predicative position when than can follow: | His elder daughter is a student. I’m the eldest and Pam’s the youngest. I’m the elder. My brother is older than I am. Tim is the oldest in our family. |
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