English grammar: 100 main rules

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Positive Degree of Adjectives

1. Description

abusystreet, acleverdog, adullday, anexpensivering, agoodattitude, a jealous man, animportantsignal, aweakaccent,youngpeople

Note

Qualitative adjectives can be modified by adverbs of degree.

adreadfullydull day,extremelyhot weather, afairlylarge message, ahugelyimportant signal, animmenselyfamous picture,incrediblyuseful advice, anintenselybusy street, alittle/a bitexpensive ring, arathergood attitude, areasonablyweak accent,quitean interesting list, aslightlysomber event, atoojealous husband, anunusuallyclever dog,veryyoung people

2. Comparison

1) Equality

as + adjective + as

The white kitten isas cute asthe grey one.

Playing games isas important asstudying.

2) Inferiority

not so+adjective (+ as)

His idea isnot so stupid.

The view didnotturn to beso splendid aswe had expected.

half as + adjective (+ as)

Jimmy ishalf as tall asJonny.

Our house ishalf as big asthe neighbours'.

3) Superiority

twice (three times) as + adjective (+ as)

The way wastwice as long asyesterday.

Olivia's typing speed isthree times as fastas Andrew's.

Comparative Degree of Adjectives

The comparative degree demonstrates the difference between two objects.

1) Superiority

– Most one- and two-syllable adjectives form the comparative degree by adding – er ending.

adjective + – er

clever – cleverer,dull – duller,large – larger,weak – weaker,young – younger

Apple juice issweeterthan orange juice.

These tickets arecheaperthan those ones.

Note

– Adjectives ending in – y change the – y into – i and add – er.

busy – busier,pretty – prettier,lazy – lazier, funny – funnier, juicy – juicier

Cf.: shy – shyer,sly – slyer,grey – greyer

– One-syllable adjectives with a short vowel followed by a consonant double this consonant and add – er.

big – bigger,hot – hotter,fat – fatter,thin – thinner

– Several two-syllable adjectives and all three- (and more) syllable adjectives form the comparative degree with more.

more + adjective

moreexpensive,morefamous,moreimportant,moreinteresting,moreprofitable,moresomber,moreuseful

The new hairdo makes Andrewmore handsome.

Time ismore valuablethan money.

2) Inferiority

less + adjective

lessbusy,lessclever,lesshot,lessexpensive,lessfamous,lessimportant,lessinteresting

This way isless easythan the way Andrew offers.

I preferless dangerousdriving.

Note

Use certain adverbs to enhance the meaning of comparative adjectives.

far/much/a lot

slightly/a little/a bit

Olivia isfar prettierthan her sister.

This will sounda bit morepolite.

Note

It is possible to use the double comparison of adjectives combined with change-of-state verbs.

adjective-er + and + adjective-er

more adjective + and + more adjective

The days are gettingshorter and shorter.

The word is becomingmore and more ridiculous.

Note

Use the following combination to emphasize the inevitable consequence in degree change of comparative adjectives.

The adjective-er, the adjective-er

The more adjective, the more adjective