It is no doubt that the English Language is the most crucial part of most of the entrance exams in India. It forms a significant part of the High School syllabus too and is needed in many competitive exams like banking, SSC, CLAT, CAT, GMAT and proficiency tests. Students often consider English to be the easiest part of any entrance. Well, it can be so if practised smartly. The degree of Comparison is one of the most scoring parts of the English syllabus and it is always advised that students practise it sincerely to do well in their exams. Here, we shall discuss the Degree of Comparison rules.
This Blog Includes:
Forms of Adjective
Adjectives have three forms to be used for comparison : positive, comparative and superlative.
I. In the case of one item or person, the positive is used.
II. In the case of two items or persons, the comparative is used.
III. In the case of three or more than three items or persons, the superlative is used.
Test Your English Proficiency with this Editing Quiz!
Rules of Degree of Comparison
Let’s now have a look at the basic rules of Degree of Comparison.
Rule 1
When the comparison is of a single entity between two people, more or most is to be used.
For eg:
Rita is smarter than Gita – Incorrect
Rita is more smarter than Gita – Correct
Rule 2
When the comparison is between two different qualities of one person or entity, more is used.
For eg:
He is wiser than shrewd – Incorrect
He is more wiser than shrewd – Correct.
Rule 3
Double comparatives or superlatives are not used anymore for comparison.
Rule 4
Comparison must be between two similar things.
For instance:
If we are comparing speeds, the comparison must be between the speeds of either a single entity or two or more entities.
Rule 5
In the case where ‘than’ or ‘as’ is followed by a first person/second person pronoun, the verb can be omitted, but not in the case of third person.
Example:
She is not as smart as her sister – Incorrect
She is not as smart as her sister is – Correct
Also Read: Top 30 Commonly Confusing Words in English!
Rule 6
Superlative degree should be used for comparing three or more, whereas comparative degree should be used for comparing two.
Rule 7
Two adjectives in different degrees of comparison when being used in the same sentence, must be complete in themselves.
Rule 8
A list of words mentioned below must be followed by ‘to’ and not by ‘than’.
- Senior
- Superior
- Elder
- Junior
- Inferior
- Preferable
- Prefer
For eg: She is junior to me.
Also Read: English Vocabulary: Tips to Improve
Rule 9
We can’t use ‘More’ or ‘Most’ for adjectives that make absolute sense in themselves. For words like unique, parallel or universe.
These were the rules of degree of comparison. Now let’s have a look at the various examples:
POSITIVE | COMPARATIVE | SUPERLATIVE |
big | bigger | biggest |
Small | smaller | smallest |
good | better | best |
brief | briefer | briefest |
Beautiful | More beautiful | Most beautiful |
Busy | Busier | Busiest |
bright | brighter | brightest |
clean | cleaner | cleaner |
Cheap | cheaper | cheapest |
expensive | More expensive | Most expensive |
close | closer | closest |
clear | clearer | clearest |
dark | darker | darkest |
deep | deeper | deepest |
dry | drier | driest |
dense | denser | densest |
Cool | cooler | coolest |
Degree of Comparison Rules: Exercises
Now let’s take a look at our progress by solving a few questions.
1. Please take the ———- of the two routes.
- Short
- Shorter
- Shortest
2. India is a —— country.
- Big
- More big
- Bigger
3. She is —— than her sister.
- Smart
- Smarter
- Smartest
4. Jahnvi is a —— girl.
- Nice
- Nicer
- Nicest
5. Ishika is the ——————– girl in her class.
- Most intelligent
- Intelligent
- More Intelligent
6. I am ——— than you.
- Smartest
- Smart
- Smarter.
7. This is the ———————– article I have ever read.
- Most interesting
- Interesting
- More interesting
8. He speaks German ——-.
- Better
- Well
- Best
Answers:
- B. shorter
- a . big
- B. smarter
- A. nice
- A. most intelligent
- C. smarter
- A. most interesting
- B. well
Practice Grammar with Leverage Edu
- Learn All About Adjectives in English Grammar!
- Best English Grammar Books
- English Grammar Tenses Rule with Examples
- Improve your English Vocabulary for IELTS Writing and Speaking
The Ultimate Checklist for English Speaking Books 2021!
So, this was all about the degree of comparison rules. Hope you found it to be helpful and informative. For more such content, stay connected to Leverage Edu!
-
Excellent video…for our students…
-
It is very usefull to understand the degree of comparisons in a simplest way.. I like it….
-
Thanks Aravind, Check out some more blogs here:
https://leverageedu.com/blog/adjectives/
https://leverageedu.com/blog/online-degree-vs-studying-abroad/
https://leverageedu.com/blog/sentence-correction-questions/
-
9 comments
Excellent video…for our students…
It is very usefull to understand the degree of comparisons in a simplest way.. I like it….
Thanks Aravind, Check out some more blogs here:
https://leverageedu.com/blog/adjectives/
https://leverageedu.com/blog/online-degree-vs-studying-abroad/
https://leverageedu.com/blog/sentence-correction-questions/
It is nice to I can understand it it is nice way learn this It’s a very good Formula to teach.I like this formula
Hey Priyanshu,
We are glad that you liked our content. Stay tuned for more such informative blogs. Here are a few that you may check out:
https://leverageedu.com/blog/tenses-rule/
https://leverageedu.com/blog/sentence-correction-questions/
https://leverageedu.com/blog/nouns/
Very important i like it thankyou
Thank you for reading!
You can further read: Rules and List of Conjunctions
Must-Know GMAT Sentence Correction Rules
Article Rules
It is very useful and makes our Learning better
It is very useful information to English learners.