Intensifiers of Adjectives

Patterns of Comparison

Apart from morphological ways of denoting gradation of quality, there are some sentence patterns in which comparison is expressed.

MEANING	PATTERN	EXAMPLE
P O S I T I V E D E G R E E
Equality	as… as	If a stupid woman marries a smart man she will become as sharp as he is.
Inequality	not as… as	Her car is not nearly as economical as mine
	not so… as	She is not so tall as he is. He is not so clever.
	twice as… as	A mile is just one and a half times as long as a kilometer.
excess	too + Adj [+ Inf]	The grass is too short [to cut / for me to cut it].
sufficiency	Adj + enough [+ Inf]	He’s rich enough [to own a car / for me to marry him].
C O M P A R A T I V E D E G R E E
parallel increase/ decrease	the –er… the -er	The more dangerous it is the more I like it.
	… -er as…	He became more cautious as he grew older.
		The less I study the less I know.
inferiority	less + Adj… than	John is less naughty than his sister
superiority	… -er than	She is quieter than he is.
	twice –er than	This task is twice easier than that one. The tower is 3 times taller than the house.
	-er than it is + Adj	The room is longer than it is wide.
	the –er of the two Of the two… the -er	Jack is the taller of the two. Of the two boys, John behaves the more politely.
S U P E R L A T I V E D E G R E E
inferiority	the least… of/…	She is the least tolerant person I’ve ever met.
superiority	the –est of/in/ever/ that…	Edward is the youngest of all / in the family / ever elected president / that I’ve ever taught.
	Of the three… the -est	Of the three boys, Bob behaves the most politely.
	the second –est of	Ann is the second oldest ofthe children.

Note the following patterns introduced by “more of a”, “as much of a”, “less of a”, etc.:

He is more of a sportsman than his father.

It was as much of a success as I expected (it would be).

You are less of a fool than I thought (you were).

He was enough of a man to tell the truth.

He is too much of a coward to go there.

Pay attention to the following set expressions:

a change for the better (for the worse) ― перемена к лучшему (худшему)

so much the better (the worse) ― тем лучше (хуже)

·· none the worse for ― ничуть не хуже от…

if the worst comes to the worst ― в худшем случае

· to go from bad to worse ― становиться все хуже и хуже

· as best as ― в полную меру старания

· at best, at worst ― в лучшем случае, в худшем случае

· none the less ― тем не менее

· in the near future ― в ближайшем будущем

· the younger generation ― молодое поколение

· In the last / past few days / weeks / months / years ― за последние дни / недели / месяцы / годы

· with every passing day / year / month ― с каждым днем / годом / месяцем

EMPHASIZERS with	EXAMPLE
POSITIVE DEGREE
Very	It’s very awkward.
ever so	The book is ever so interesting.
Too	Everybody would be only too glad to see you.
far too	It’s far too expensive.
Most	“Yes”, she thought, “everybody’s been most kind.”
a most	The 5^th Symphony by Tchaikovsky is a most beautiful piece of music.
That	Are things that bad with you?
repetition of the intensifier or the Adj	I agree with every word you’ve said ― every single word. You bad, bad boy. It’s very, very bad.
COMPARATIVE DEGREE
much, a lot, lots	My brother is much younger than myself He thought how much more advanced the young were.
a great / good deal, a good bit	The performance proved to be a great deal better than I could ever expect.
Still	The first edition is good, the new one is still better.
Ever	Environmental issues acquire an ever greater scope.
Far	I’ve been with good people, far better than you.
Adj + by far	He is funnier by far.
No	This method is no better than the one we’ve been using.
none the + Adj	He was none the wiser for that answer, but he didn’t try to analyse it.
all the + Adj	His remorse was all the more painful because of the irony of his mistake.
Adj + and + Adj	The sound grew fainter and fainter.
SUPERLATIVE DEGREE
by far	“The Swan Lake” is by far the best ballet we have.
Adj + possible	It’s difficult to go about in the wrongest way possible.
the very	She put on her very best dress.