Read
these sentences:
1. Rama’s
mango is sweet.
2. Hari’s
mango is sweeter than Rama’s.
3. Govind’s
mango is the sweetest of all.
In sentence
1, the adjective sweet merely tells us that Rama’s mango has the quality of
sweetness, without saying how much of this quality it has.
In sentence
2, the adjective sweeter tells us that Hari’s Mango compared with Rma’s has
more of the quality of sweetness.
In sentence
3, the adjective sweetest tells us that of all these mangoes Govind’s parison. They are called the three Degrees of
Comparison.
The Adjective
sweet is said to be in Positive Degree.
The
Adjective sweeter is said to be in the Comparative Degree.
The Adjective sweetest is said to be in the Superlative Degree.
The Positive Degree of an adjective is the Adjective in its
simple form. It is used to denote the mere existence of some quality of what we
speak about. It is used when no comparison is made.
The Comparative Degree
of an Adjective denotes a higher degree of the quality than the Positive, and
is used when two thing (or sets of things) are compared; as,
This boy is stronger
than that.
Which of these two pens is the better?
Apples are dearer than oranges.
The Superlative Degree of an Adjective denotes the highest
degree of the quality, and is used when more than two things (or sets of things)
are compared; as
This boy is the
strongest in class.
Note1- there is
another way in which we can compare things. Instead of saying ‘Rama is stronger
than Balu’, we can say ‘Balu is less
strong than Rama’. Instead of saying
‘Hari is the laziest boy in the class’, we can say ‘ Hari is the least industrious boy in the class’.
Note 2- The Superlative with most is sometimes used where
there is no idea of comparison, but merely a desire to indicate the possession
of a quality in a very high degree; as,
This is most unfortunate.
It was a most eloquent speech.
Truly, a most ingenious device!
This usage has been called the Superlative of Eminence, or
the Absolute Superlative.
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