Often we face situations in which we want to compare things using gradable expressions. What are the words we can use to help us? They are called comparatives. This is the first of six High English grammar quizzes that focus on comparatives. Let's start with some examples:
‘Trupti is MORE BEAUTIFUL than Arpana.’
‘Arpana is not AS BEAUTIFUL AS Trupti.’
‘Arpana is CLEVERER than Trupti.’
'Arpana dances MORE GRACEFULLY than Trupti.’
In all these sentences we notice that a comparison is made between two girls. The words in capitals are the words that tell us about the comparison. We also notice that both adjectives (beautiful, clever) and adverbs (gracefully) are used to show the comparison. Such words are known as COMPARATIVES and they are used as gradable expressions to compare.