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 5th 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. |
Idiomatic intensifiers. All the grammar rules are lavishly supplied with explanations and examples.
You can find all the linguistic terms and their Russian equivalents on pagecommon collocations.
The cake is rock hard!
He is bone idle and won’t do a stroke of work.
Ssh. The baby’s fast asleep at last!
She is fully conversant with the problems.
The boss has got a brand new car.
I slept like a log and now I’m wide awake.