Page 48 - English_Spark_5
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Language Ladder GRAMMAR Language Skills
Degrees of Comparison
Gulliver is a tall man who landed on the small
island called Lilliput. People living there are
smaller than Gulliver. Gulliver is the tallest
among all people there.
In each of these sentences, an adjective is used to describe the people but in different
degrees to show comparison among them.
Positive Comparative Superlative
small smaller smallest
tall taller tallest
The word smaller is being used to compare people between two.
The word tallest is being used to compare all the people of the island.
We add –er to make comparative degree and –est to make superlative degree. We use
than when making the comparison. We use the before the superlative degree.
Positive : When there is only one person or thing and there is no comparison.
Example : She is tall.
Comparative : When there are two persons or things and comparison is between the two.
Example : She is taller than me.
Superlative : When there are more than two persons or things and the comparison is
between more than two things. Example: She is the tallest girl in class.
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