Degree of Comparison: Types, Rules, Examples, and Practise Exercises

Learning English grammar often comes down to understanding how words can change their meaning and form in different contexts. For example, learning about the degree of comparison rules. The degree of comparison helps us to compare places, people, things, or even ideas by showing whether a quality is present in a normal way, to a greater extent, or to the greatest extent. Learning these comparison rules is important to form correct sentences and for everyday communication. In this blog, you will understand the 3 degrees of comparison, the rules of comparison, and the examples. Towards the end, you will also get to complete the quiz on the topic!

Degree of Comparison: An Overview

Before understanding the degree of comparison rules, you must know what the degree of comparison is. In English grammar, it means forms of adjectives and adverbs that show different levels of quality or quantity. It allows us to describe something as it is, or even compare it with another, and show us the best in a group. Basically, it helps us know that a quality exists in a normal form (positive), to a greater extent (comparative), or to the greatest extent (superlative). For example,

1. Positive: The lake is deep.
2. Comparative: This lake is deeper than the pond.
3. Superlative: That is the deepest lake in the country.

Types of Degree of Comparison

Here is a clear distinction between the three types of degrees of comparison. Only by learning this can you get the degree of comparison rules. The three types are as follows:

Positive Degree of Comparison

The positive degree refers to describing a quality without comparing it to anyone or anything else. It just states how a person, place, or thing is. For example, saying “The garden is beautiful”. Here beautiful is the term that simply describes a garden without making any comparison whatsoever.

Comparative Degree

A comparative degree is when we compare the qualities of two people, places, or things. Often, such words end with “-er” for short adjectives like smaller or faster. Otherwise, it uses terms such as more or less before longer adjectives. For example,  more intelligent, less expensive. An example sentence would be: This movie is more interesting than the previous one.

Superlative Degree

A superlative degree showcases something of the highest or lowest level of a quality among 3 or more things, places, or people. Such words often end with “-est” like fastest, or smallest. It can also end with “most” or “least” for longer adjectives. For example, Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world.

Examples of Types of Degree of Comparison

The table below showcases examples of the three degrees of comparison: positive, comparative, and superlative. These examples will help you to better understand how to use them.

S.No	Positive	Example (Positive)	Comparative	Example (Comparative)	Superlative	Example (Superlative)
1	big	The box is big.	bigger	This box is bigger than that one.	biggest	This is the biggest box in the room.
2	good	The food is good.	better	This pizza is better than the last one.	best	This is the best pizza I’ve ever eaten.
3	beautiful	The flower is beautiful.	more beautiful	This flower is more beautiful than that one.	most beautiful	The garden has the most beautiful flowers.
4	busy	The street is busy.	busier	Today is busier than yesterday.	busiest	This is the busiest street in town.
5	bright	The room is bright.	brighter	This room is brighter than the other.	brightest	This is the brightest room in the house.
6	clean	The kitchen is clean.	cleaner	This kitchen is cleaner than the living room.	cleanest	The bathroom is the cleanest room in the house.
7	cheap	The pen is cheap.	cheaper	This pen is cheaper than that one.	cheapest	This is the cheapest pen in the shop.
8	expensive	The bag is expensive.	more expensive	This bag is more expensive than that one.	most expensive	That is the most expensive bag in the store.
9	close	The shop is close.	closer	This shop is closer than the other.	closest	This is the closest shop to my house.
10	dark	The night is dark.	darker	Tonight is darker than yesterday.	darkest	This is the darkest night of the month.
11	deep	The lake is deep.	deeper	This lake is deeper than the pond.	deepest	That is the deepest lake in the country.
12	dry	The towel is dry.	drier	This towel is drier than that one.	driest	This is the driest towel in the pile.
13	cool	The drink is cool.	cooler	This drink is cooler than the other.	coolest	This is the coolest drink I have ever had.

Also Read: Learn English Grammar from Scratch: A Beginner’s Guide 

7 Important Rules of Degree of Comparison (with Examples)

There are seven important rules for the degrees of comparison. These rules are provided below with examples. You can quickly go through the table to learn how to use comparatives, superlatives, and absolute adjectives correctly.

S.No	Rule	Correct Example	Wrong Example
1	Use comparative for comparing two people or things	Rita is smarter than Gita	Rita is more smarter than Gita
2	When comparing two different qualities of the same person or thing, use “more” for longer adjectives	He is more careful than he is patient	He is more carefuler than patient
3	Double comparatives or superlatives are not used	This box is heavier than that one This is the tallest building in the city	This box is more heavier than that one This is the most tallest building
4	Comparison must be between similar things	Her speed is faster than his speed	Her speed is faster than his height
5	With “as…as” for first- or second-person pronouns, the verb can be omitted; with third person, it is optional	I am as strong as you She is not as smart as her sister	She is not as smart as her sister is (optional, not wrong, but can confuse learners)
6	Certain words must be followed by “to”, not “than” (senior, superior, elder, junior, inferior, preferable, prefer)	He is senior to me	He is senior than me
7	Do not use “more” or “most” with absolute adjectives (unique, perfect, dead, universal, impossible)	This painting is unique	This painting is more unique

Degree of Comparison Rules: Practice Exercise

Now it’s time to practise what you have learned so far. Apply the degree of comparison rules, and try to solve these questions. The answers are given towards the end. Hence, you can compare your answers towards the end.

1. Please take the ———- of the two routes. A. Short B. Shorter C. Shortest 2. India is a —— country. A. Big B. More big C. Bigger 3. She is —— than her sister. A. Smart B. Smarter C. Smartest 4. Jahnvi is a —— girl. A. Nice B. Nicer C. Nicest 5. Ishika is the ——————– girl in her class. A. Most intelligent B. Intelligent C. More Intelligent 6. I am ——— than you. A. Smartest B. Smart C. Smarter. 7. This is the ———————– article I have ever read. A. Most interesting B. Interesting C. More interesting 8. He speaks German ——- A. Better B. Well C. Best Answers The answers to the above questions are given below: 1] B. shorter 2] A. big 3] B. smarter 4] A. nice 5] A.most intelligent 6] C. smarter 7] A. most interesting 8] B. well

Also Read: 50 Facts About English Language that will Surprise You      

Degrees of Comparison Quiz 

Now that you know the difference between positive, comparative, and superlative forms, and the degree of comparison rules, take this quiz below. You need to choose the correct answer for each question. The answer key is given towards the end. Let’s see how far you have learnt.

1. Which degree of comparison is used to compare two things?  A. Positive  B. Comparative  C. Superlative 2. Which degree of comparison is used to compare more than two things? A.Positive B. Comparative C. Superlative 3. What is the superlative form of the adjective “big”? A. Bigger B. Biggest C. Bigly 4. Which degree of comparison is used to describe a quality without comparison? A. Positive B.Comparative C. Superlative 5. What is the comparative form of the adjective “good”? A.Better B. Gooder C. Best Answers B) Comparative C) Superlative B) Biggest A) Positive A) Better

FAQs

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Idioms to Express Sadness	Synonyms of Ephemeral	Antonyms of Misogyny
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Idioms to Express Excitement	Synonyms of Huge	Antonyms of Victim
No Pain No Gain Meaning	Synonyms of Jovial	Antonyms of Lazy

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