comparative degree
- noun
- /kəmˈpærətɪv dɪˈɡri/
- Specialized
:
grado comparativo
- Students often confuse the comparative degree with the superlative when learning English.
Examples
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The term comparative degree refers to adjectives that compare two entities.
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The teacher explained how to form the comparative degree using 'more' for longer adjectives.
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In English, the comparative degree of 'happy' is 'happier.'
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In English, the comparative degree is often formed by adding '-er'.
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In English, the comparative degree of the adjective 'tall' is 'taller', which compares the height of two people.
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The comparative degree of the adverb 'quickly' is expressed as 'more quickly', allowing us to compare the speeds of two actions.
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When comparing two cars, the phrase 'the Honda is more fuel efficient than the Toyota' illustrates the comparative degree.
Synonyms
1
3.7
A form of a word that shows more of a quality, often made with -er or with more
How Comparative
- Specialized
- Specialized
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
Both constituents have straightforward, relevant meanings: 'comparative' denotes a form indicating greater degree and 'degree' denotes an amount or level. The noun phrase simply combines these senses to mean the form expressing a higher degree in comparison, a compositional grammatical concept found across many languages, so a B1 learner who knows the words should be able to infer the meaning.
Etymology
Comparative degree may come from the image of a small staircase: the word comparative is about 'comparing' and degree means a 'step' or level, so the comparative sits one step above the normal form but below the top form. That's why comparative degree means the adjective or adverb form used to compare two things, like 'happier' or 'more careful'.