DEGREES OF COMPARISON

The Degrees of Comparison in English grammar

are made with the adjectives to show how:
big or small
high or low
more or less
many or few
of the qualities, numbers and positions of the
nouns (persons, things and places) in comparison
to the others mentioned in the other part of a
sentence/expression.

Kinds of Degrees of Comparison

Kinds of
degrees of comparison

SUPERLATIVE DEGREE
POSITIVE DEGREE COMAPRATIVE DEGREE

Degree of equality

Degree of inequality

Progressive degree

Parallel degree

Positive Degree
Positive Degree

Degree of equality

Degree of inequality

POSITIVE DEGREE
No compare
General sense

John is a tall man.

Eifel tower is a tall man-made structure.

One noun with one quality tall adjective in positive form

Degree of equality
The adjective is in positive form showing
that two persons or things are the same
two nouns having the same quality.
The common conjunction used is asas.

Degree of equality: example

John is as strong as James.
strong adjective in positive form showing equality

Degree of inequality
The adjective is in positive form showing
that two persons or things are not the same
two nouns not having the same quality.

Degree of inequality: example

Peter is not as fast as Paul.

COMPARATIVE DEGREE
Two persons, things or places are being compared
with one adjective to show that one has more
quality or quantity of the adjective than the other.
The adjective takes r or er to its positive form
(short words with 1 syllable) or more (long
words), and is said to be in comparative form.
The conjunction than is used to connect the two
clauses.

Comparative Degree: example

A horse can run faster than a dog.

Degree of Comparison:

Comparative degree
Progressive Degree
Parallel Degree

Progressive Degree
Two adjectives are being compared to show
that one continues to increase (or decrease)
when the other increases (or decreases).
The adjective is in its comparative form with
the definite article the before it.

Progressive Degree: example

The steeper the hill, the more difficult it is to
push the rock up!

Parallel Degree
The quality or quantity of the adjective or
adverb continues to increase (or decrease)
as the time passes.
The adjective in its comparative form is
repeated using the conjunction and.

Parallel Degree: example

The days are getting hotter and hotter.
It is getting hotter and hotter day by day.

SUPERLATIVE DEGREE
Comparing one noun person, thing or place
with several others of its kind to show that this
particular noun has the highest degree of the
quality or quantity of the adjective being used to
compare.
The adjective takes the superlative form, ending
with st or est (short words) or most (long words),
with the definite article the before it.
The preposition of is used when the comparison is
among items, and in is used to specify the place,
position or area.

Superlative Degree:

example 1

The elephant is the largest of all land animals.

The giraffe is the tallest of all animals.

Superlative Degree: example 2

Susan is the most intelligent girl in the class.