Degrees of Comparison (Positive, Comparative, Superlative)
Degrees of Comparison (Positive, Comparative, Superlative) MCQ Questions
1.
"He is ___ than his brother." (Fill in the blank)
Approach
This question tests knowledge of degrees of comparison in English grammar. Specifically, it requires identifying the correct comparative form of the adjective "good" when comparing two entities.
Step-by-step
- The sentence structure "He is ___ than his brother" indicates a comparison between two people: "he" and "his brother".
- When comparing two things or people, the comparative degree of an adjective is used.
- The adjective in question is "good". The comparative form of "good" is "better".
- The word "than" is a key indicator that a comparative form is required.
- Therefore, the correct word to fill the blank is "better".
Correct Option: C) better — The word "better" is the comparative form of the adjective "good". It is used correctly here to compare the quality of "he" with "his brother". The presence of "than" confirms the need for a comparative adjective.
Incorrect Options
- A) good — "Good" is the positive degree of the adjective. It is used when there is no comparison or when describing a single entity. It cannot be used with "than" to compare two things.
- B) best — "Best" is the superlative degree of the adjective. It is used when comparing three or more entities and indicating the highest degree among them (e.g., "He is the best among all his brothers"). It is not appropriate for comparing only two people.
- D) more good — While "more" is used to form the comparative degree for some adjectives (e.g., "more beautiful"), "good" is an irregular adjective. Its comparative form is "better", not "more good". "More good" is grammatically incorrect.
2.
Which is the superlative form of "happy"?
Approach
This question tests knowledge of degrees of adjectives, specifically identifying the superlative form of the adjective "happy." Adjectives have three degrees: positive, comparative, and superlative.
Step-by-step
- Understand Adjective Degrees: Adjectives describe nouns and pronouns. They can show different degrees of comparison.
- Positive Degree: Describes a quality without comparison (e.g., happy).
- Comparative Degree: Compares two things (e.g., happier).
- Superlative Degree: Compares three or more things and indicates the highest degree of a quality (e.g., happiest).
- Forming Superlatives: For most one-syllable and some two-syllable adjectives ending in 'y' (like 'happy'), the superlative is formed by changing 'y' to 'i' and adding '-est'. For longer adjectives, 'most' is used before the positive form.
- Apply to "happy": The word "happy" is a two-syllable adjective ending in 'y'. To form its superlative, we change 'y' to 'i' and add '-est'. This results in "happiest."
Correct Option: C) Happiest — This is the correct superlative form of the adjective "happy." It follows the rule for adjectives ending in 'y', where 'y' is changed to 'i' and '-est' is added.
Incorrect Options
- A) Happier — This is the comparative form of "happy," used to compare two things (e.g., "She is happier today than yesterday.").
- B) Most happy — While "most" is used for superlatives of longer adjectives (e.g., "most beautiful"), it is not typically used with "happy" because "happiest" is the standard form.
- D) More happy — This is the comparative form of "happy" using "more." While sometimes used informally, "happier" is the grammatically preferred comparative form. It is not the superlative form.
3.
"This is the ___ movie I've ever seen."
Approach
The question requires us to choose the correct degree of comparison for the adjective "good" to complete the sentence "This is the ___ movie I've ever seen." The phrase "I've ever seen" indicates that we are comparing the movie to all other movies the speaker has seen, implying a superlative degree.
Step-by-step
- Identify the context: The sentence structure "This is the ___ movie I've ever seen" clearly indicates a comparison of one item (this movie) against all others in a group (all movies seen).
- Understand degrees of adjectives: Adjectives have three degrees of comparison:
- Positive degree: Describes a quality without comparison (e.g., good).
- Comparative degree: Compares two items (e.g., better).
- Superlative degree: Compares three or more items, indicating the highest or lowest degree of a quality (e.g., best).
- Apply to the sentence: Since the movie is being compared to all other movies the speaker has ever seen, it requires the superlative form of the adjective "good".
- Recall irregular adjectives: "Good" is an irregular adjective. Its comparative form is "better," and its superlative form is "best."
- Check for articles: The superlative degree is almost always preceded by the definite article "the," which is present in the sentence ("This is the ___ movie..."). This further confirms the need for a superlative adjective.
Correct Option: C) best
The word "best" is the superlative form of "good," which correctly completes the sentence to mean that out of all the movies seen, this one is superior to all others.
Incorrect Options
- A) better — "Better" is the comparative form of "good" and is used when comparing two things (e.g., "This movie is better than that one."). It is incorrect here because the comparison is among many movies.
- B) good — "Good" is the positive form of the adjective and is used to describe a single item without comparison (e.g., "This is a good movie."). It does not fit the comparative context of the sentence.
- D) most good — While "most" is used to form the superlative degree for many longer adjectives (e.g., "most beautiful"), "good" has an irregular superlative form, "best." Therefore, "most good" is grammatically incorrect.
4.
Identify the positive degree:
Approach
This question tests the understanding of degrees of adjectives in English grammar. Adjectives have three degrees: positive, comparative, and superlative. The task is to identify the sentence that uses an adjective in its positive degree.
Step-by-step
- Understand the degrees of adjectives:
- Positive Degree: The simplest form of an adjective, used to describe a single noun or pronoun without comparing it to anything else. (e.g., tall, big, beautiful)
- Comparative Degree: Used to compare two nouns or pronouns. It usually ends in "-er" or uses "more" before the adjective. (e.g., taller, bigger, more beautiful)
- Superlative Degree: Used to compare three or more nouns or pronouns, indicating the highest or lowest degree of the quality. It usually ends in "-est" or uses "most" before the adjective, often preceded by "the". (e.g., tallest, biggest, most beautiful)
- Analyze each option based on these definitions:
Correct Option:
B) She is tall
The word "tall" is in its basic form, describing the subject "She" without any comparison. This is the definition of the positive degree.
Incorrect Options
- A) She is taller — "Taller" is the comparative degree of the adjective "tall". It is used to compare two individuals, implying a comparison even if the second person is not explicitly mentioned (e.g., "She is taller than him").
- C) She is the tallest — "Tallest" is the superlative degree of the adjective "tall". It is used to compare three or more individuals, indicating the highest degree of height among a group. The use of "the" before "tallest" is also characteristic of the superlative degree.
- D) She is more tall — While "more" is used for comparative degrees, it is typically used with longer adjectives (e.g., more beautiful, more intelligent). For short adjectives like "tall," the "-er" suffix is used to form the comparative degree ("taller"). "More tall" is grammatically incorrect in standard English.
5.
"Ravi runs ___ than Raju."
Approach
The question requires us to choose the correct comparative form of the adverb "fast" to complete the sentence. The sentence structure indicates a comparison between two individuals, Ravi and Raju.
Step-by-step
- Identify the comparison: The sentence "Ravi runs ___ than Raju" clearly indicates a comparison between Ravi's running speed and Raju's running speed. The word "than" is a key indicator of a comparative structure.
- Recall degrees of adjectives/adverbs: Adjectives and adverbs have three degrees: positive, comparative, and superlative.
- Positive degree: Describes a single item or action (e.g., fast, slow, good).
- Comparative degree: Compares two items or actions (e.g., faster, slower, better).
- Superlative degree: Compares three or more items or actions, indicating the highest degree (e.g., fastest, slowest, best).
- Apply to the sentence: Since we are comparing Ravi and Raju (two individuals), the comparative degree of the adverb "fast" is required. The comparative form of "fast" is "faster".
- Form the complete sentence: Substituting "faster" into the blank yields: "Ravi runs faster than Raju."
Correct Option: B) faster — This is the correct comparative form of the adverb "fast" used to compare two entities (Ravi and Raju).
Incorrect Options
- A) fast — This is the positive degree of the adverb. It would be used if there were no comparison (e.g., "Ravi runs fast."). It is incorrect because the sentence structure includes "than", indicating a comparison.
- C) fastest — This is the superlative degree of the adverb. It is used when comparing three or more entities (e.g., "Ravi runs the fastest among all runners."). Since only two people are being compared, it is incorrect.
- D) more fast — While "more" is used to form the comparative degree of some adverbs (especially those ending in -ly, like "more quickly"), "fast" is an irregular adverb that forms its comparative by adding "-er". "More fast" is grammatically incorrect.
6.
Choose the comparative degree of "bad".
Approach
This question tests knowledge of degrees of adjectives, specifically irregular adjectives. The adjective "bad" has irregular comparative and superlative forms, meaning they do not follow the standard rules of adding "-er" or "-est" or using "more" or "most".
Step-by-step
- Recall the three degrees of adjectives: positive, comparative, and superlative.
- Identify the positive degree given in the question, which is "bad".
- Determine the comparative degree of "bad". For irregular adjectives, these forms must be memorized.
- The comparative form of "bad" is "worse".
- The superlative form of "bad" is "worst".
Correct Option: A) Worse
Incorrect Options
- B) Badder — This is an incorrect formation. "Bad" is an irregular adjective and does not form its comparative by adding "-er".
- C) Baddest — This is the incorrect superlative form. The correct superlative form is "worst".
- D) More bad — While "more" is used for some comparative adjectives (especially longer ones), "bad" is an irregular adjective and does not use "more" to form its comparative degree. The correct form is "worse".
