Forms of degrees of comparison of adjectives examples. The adjective name of the degree of comparison of adjective names is a simple form of the comparative degree of adjectives, the basis of the initial form -ee(s)-e-she

Comparative and superlative adjectives are used very often both in speech and in writing. And this applies not only to the Russian language. Today we are interested in foreign vocabulary, namely the comparative and superlative degree in English language. Nowadays, there is more and more need to communicate on it. In order to speak correctly, and to be understood correctly by the surrounding foreigners, you need to study the rules for the formation of these degrees.

What is an adjective

Before we talk about how the comparative and superlative degrees are formed in English, let's take a quick look at the adjective itself. What is this part of speech? In a nutshell, an adjective is used when we need to describe a certain object, person or process. Answering questions what?, what?, what?, what?, this part of speech helps us not only describe them, but also compare them with each other, and also declare the superiority of one or another object or character.

We live in this big home for a very long time.
Old the park looks a lot better early in the morning.
We are the youngest experts in this area.

The highlighted words clearly show what function the adjective performs in the sentence. This function is a definition. And in this sense there is no difference between Russian and English.

Degrees of comparison: rule

Comparative and superlative adjectives are two of the three forms in which this part of speech can be used. There are three levels of comparison:

Positive - here the adjective has its initial form, for example: white, fat, tall, good, etc.
Comparative - this form is used when we want to compare something with something, show the advantage of something over something, for example: better, taller, fatter, smarter, smaller, etc.
Excellent - we use this option when we want to show that someone or something has the highest degree of quality, for example: the highest, the most expensive, the best, the least, etc.

The choice of the variant of the word also depends on what idea you want to convey to the interlocutor. We will consider all possible rules for the formation of both degrees separately.

comparative

In the grammar of the English language, there are rules by which both comparative and superlative degrees are formed. Exercises to check the understanding of this topic are aimed at ensuring that you correctly form this or that degree with any adjective. First, let's look at the comparative form. In order to form a comparative form from any adjective, you need to follow these rules:

If the word is one-syllable or two-syllable, but the stress falls on the first syllable, then we add the suffix "er" to it: smart (smart) - smarter (smarter); hard (heavy) - harder (harder).

If the word has the ending "e", one letter "r" is added to it: large (large) - larger (larger); polite (polite) - politer (more polite).

If a monosyllabic word ends with a consonant letter preceded by a short vowel, then the last letter doubles when a suffix is added: big (big) - bigger (more); hot (hot) - hotter (hotter).

If the adjective ends with the letter "y", when a suffix is added, it changes to "i": noisy (noisy) - noisier (more noisy); easy (simple) - easier (easier).

If an adjective has more than two syllables, no suffix is added to it. We put the comparative adverb “more” before this adjective, which means “more” in Russian: beautiful (beautiful) - more beautiful (more beautiful); interesting (interesting) - more interesting (more interesting).

If it is necessary to indicate that the quality is lower than that of another object, then instead of the aforementioned word, we take “less”, translated as “less”: beautiful (beautiful) - less beautiful (less beautiful); interesting (interesting) - less interesting (less interesting).

Thus, we can easily form sentences where we want to compare the qualities of different objects.

Superlatives

Comparative degree and superlative degree are very easily formed by Russian-speaking users, since the concept of comparison and superiority is very similar to what we know in Russian. So, for the formation of the last degree, we need to apply concepts such as “most, most / least”. But here there are certain rules that must be followed:

If the word has one syllable, we add the suffix “est” to such an adjective, while the article “the” will stand before the newly formed word: smart (smart) - the smartest (smartest); hard (heavy) - the hardest (the hardest).

If there is an “e” ending at the end of the word, we will use only the “st” suffix: large (large) - the largest (largest); polite (polite) - the politest (the most polite).

If a word ends in a consonant preceded by a short vowel, we double in writing last letter. In speech, this does not manifest itself in any way: big (big) - the biggest (largest); hot (hot) - the hottest (hottest).

If the last place in the word is the letter y, when adding a suffix, we change it to i: noisy (noisy) - the noisiest (noisiest); easy (simple) - the easiest (simplest).

For long polysyllabic words, there is another way of formation. We put the adverb “the most” before the word, which translates as “the most, the most, the most”: beautiful (beautiful) - the most beautiful (most beautiful); interesting (interesting) - the most interesting (most interesting).

If it is necessary to indicate that the quality is the lowest, then instead of the word “most”, we take “the least”, translated as “least”: beautiful (beautiful) - the least beautiful (least beautiful); interesting (interesting) - the least interesting (least interesting).

There are words that have two components. In this case, we also put the indicated adverbs in front of them: easy-going (sociable) - more easy-going (more sociable) - the most easy-going (most sociable); easy-going (sociable) - less easy-going (less sociable) - the least easy-going (least sociable).

Comparative and Superlative: Exception Words

There are words that, despite all existing rules, form degrees in their own way. These words need to be learned by heart. The comparative degree and superlative degree of such words are listed in a separate table.

	Positive	Comparative	excellent


small

		farther, further	the farthest, the furthest
			the oldest, the oldest
			the latest, the last

When using a word consisting of two components, one of which is an exception, it is necessary to use its form: good-looking (beautiful) - better-looking (more beautiful) - the best-looking (most beautiful).

Set phrases

Both the comparative degree and the superlative degree are used in sentences as part of special designs. Most often these options are:

The “the… the…” construction. The more I read, the more I know. The more I read, the more I know.
The “as… as…” construction. He is as tall as his brother. He is as tall as his brother.
The “not so… as…” construction. She is not so fit as me. She's not as skinny as me.

These are the most common variants of sentences in which we use the mentioned degrees of comparison.

Degrees of comparison are variable morphological trait quality adjectives. There are forms of positive, comparative and superlative degrees: new - newer - newest; warm - more/less warm - the warmest.

The initial form is a positive degree, naming a feature without correlating it with homogeneous features of other objects ( new house); from it, by adding inflectional suffixes or auxiliary words, simple and compound forms of comparative and superlative degrees are formed.

Comparative degree indicates that the indicated feature is characteristic of this subject to a greater extent than for another subject (or for the same subject, but in a different period of time): Our apple tree is taller than the neighbor's; Today this girl was more talkative than yesterday.

simple form comparative degree is formed by adding the inflectional suffixes -ee / -ee, -e, as well as the unproductive suffix -she to the base of the adjective: warm - warmer, warmer (colloquial); loud - louder; thin - thinner. In the form deeper (from deep), the suffix -zhe is used. If there is a suffix -k- or -ok- at the end of the stem, then it is often truncated: low - lower; distant - farther. From adjectives, small, bad, good forms of the comparative degree are formed with a change in the root: less, worse, better. AT colloquial speech the prefix is often added to the simple form of the comparative degree, meaning the incompleteness of the manifestation of the attribute (`a little`): older - older, less - smaller.

Often the formation of a simple form of the comparative degree is prevented by lexical meaning the words; for example, it is not formed from adjectives with an "absolute" qualitative meaning such as deaf, bald, dead, blind, or from adjectives denoting the speaker's subjective assessment of a feature: enormous, blue.

The compound form of the comparative degree is formed with the help of auxiliary words more, less: more beautiful, less loud. The meaning of this form is broader than the meaning of forms of the louder type, since not only a greater, but also a lesser degree of intensity of the feature is expressed (the simple form of the comparative degree indicates only a greater degree of the feature).

Syntax functions composite form also wider than the simple form of the comparative degree. The simple form is usually part of compound predicate: This essay was more meaningful than the previous one. The compound form can perform the functions of not only a predicate, but also a definition: This time the student wrote a more meaningful essay. The compound form can be formed from almost any qualitative adjective, however, it is perceived as a somewhat bookish form and is used less commonly in colloquial speech than simple form comparative degree.

The superlative degree of adjectives indicates that the attribute of the object indicated by this form is presented in its maximum manifestation, in the highest degree compared to the same attribute in other compared objects: the smartest of the students in the class, the brightest room, or this object in other periods of its existence: Today, workers received the highest salary in six months.

Superlatives can also be simple or compound. A simple form is formed by adding the inflectional suffix -eysh- to the base of the adjective: beautiful - the most beautiful or -aysh- (the last suffix is added only to the bases on k, g, x): thin - the thinnest. The prefix nai- is often added to this form: the most beautiful, the thinnest. From adjectives small, bad, good shape superlatives is formed with a change in the root: smaller, worse, better.

The compound superlative form is formed in several ways:

1) adding to the form of the positive degree of the auxiliary word most: the most intelligent;

2) adding to the form of a positive degree of auxiliary words most, least: most intelligent, least capable;

3) adding to the simple form of the comparative degree of the auxiliary word everything (if the characterized object is inanimate) or all (if the characterized object is animate): The investigation conducted by a private detective was the smartest of all; The most capable of all was the student Ivanov.

The most common compound form of the most intelligent type, used as both a predicate and a definition. Forms like smartest of all / all are used only as a predicate. Forms of the most/least capable type have the broadest meaning, denoting both the highest and the lowest degree of manifestation of the trait, however, these forms are used mainly in book speech (in business, scientific, newspaper and journalistic styles).

Modern Russian literary language/ Ed. P. A. Lekanta - M., 2009

The adjective is the very part of speech without which our language cannot exist. And the point here is not only the need to give imagery. Even a banal concretization of objects is impossible without adjectives. If we do not know the exact features of an object, we cannot represent it and, therefore, we can hardly predict what actions we can perform with respect to this object.

We all understand that objects cannot be the same. One of them is larger, the second is smaller, the third is heavier, and the fourth is generally darker in color. So how to describe something that differs from other objects in its features? How to emphasize this difference? This is what the comparative degree and the superlative degree of comparison of adjectives are for. Let's try to figure out what it is.

And for what?

As mentioned above, comparative is needed in order to identify an object by comparing it with another object. Usually, one of the objects is initially named so that a person can imagine what he will have to compare with, and only then the signs of a new object relative to the original are listed, so that, by comparing, we can get an idea of what we still do not know.

Comparative and superlatives are indeed necessary in education to help the learner to better understand the nature of the subject, which, of course, contributes to the successful assimilation of the material. At the same time, our everyday speech would become much more meager if it did not contain these very comparisons - then in a number of situations we simply could not express our thoughts! Forming a comparative and superlative and adverbs (which will be discussed later) is not at all difficult. The main thing is to be able to apply them correctly.

From what do we form?

First of all, you need to understand that the comparative and superlative degree of adjectives is a phenomenon that is characteristic only for qualitative parts of speech. for example, which indicate that an object belongs to someone, cannot form something similar: the ball, for example, cannot be more Tannin than Sashin, and the tail is more fox than wolf. The same can be said about a table more wooden than a chair? Nonsense!

So be sure to remember that only a comparative degree and a superlative degree are available.

Comparative - synthetics

Let's start with the comparative degree of the adjective. First, you need to understand that it can be simple and compound, that is, it is formed either with the help of special suffixes, or by adding certain words that emphasize the difference between objects. prime degree, it is also called synthetic, as mentioned above, it is formed with the help of formative suffixes, which are added to The choice of a suffix depends on what sound this very basis ends with. For most consonants (except for a few exceptions, which will be discussed below), the suffixes -ee- and -ee- are suitable: light - lighter, hot -hot, and so on.

The suffix -e- is used in such cases:

When the adjective ends in g, x, d, t (expensive - more expensive, dry - dry, rich - richer, young - younger). By the way, here, as you have already noticed, there is also an alternation of the consonant sound at the root of the word, which is also an important point.
When the adjective ends with the suffix -k- (high - higher, low - lower).
In cases, exceptions, which, unfortunately, do not lend themselves to any logic (cheap - cheaper).

And the last group of suffixes -she- and -zhe- are also used in isolated cases, more like exceptions (thin - thinner, deep - deeper).

In addition, it is impossible not to mention that there is a certain amount of words in which the root itself changes during the formation of the comparative and superlative forms (good - BETTER, bad - WORSE).

Everyday speech allows adding the prefix -po- to an adjective already in a comparative degree in order to soften this difference a little (light - lighter - lighter, expensive - more expensive - more expensive). In a sentence, this form of an adjective is most often part of a compound nominal predicate. Moreover, it does not change by gender, number and case.

Comparative - analytics

Let's move on to the compound-analytical form of the comparative degree of the adjective. Everything is much simpler here: the words "more" and "less" are used before the adjective (risk - more risky, educated - less educated). In a sentence, the analytical form fully corresponds to the functions of the usual adjective.

Superior - Synthetics

The superlative degree of comparison demonstrates, as the name implies, the absolute superiority of some feature, the highest degree of its manifestation. It also has synthetic (simple) and analytical (composite) forms.

"Synthetics" is formed using a series of suffixes -eysh-, -aysh-, -sh- (simple - simplest, quiet - quietest). Besides, literary style allows the use of the prefix -nai-, which is added to the adjective in a comparative degree (small - the LEAST, simple - the EASIEST). There is already a change in gender, number and case, in contrast to the comparative degree.

Excellent - analytics

With the compound form, everything is as simple as with the comparative degree. Here, the words "most", "most / least", inherent in most of the book style (MOST successful, LEAST rational, MOST simple), and "all / all" in combination with an adjective in a comparative degree, which are used in colloquial speech, are usually added. (smarter than ALL, more interesting than ALL).

Degrees of comparison of adverbs

And now let's move on to another part of speech - the adverb. Its necessity and usefulness are undeniable. Basically, they have a lot in common. Comparative and superlative degree of adverbs - the rule, in comparison with the adjective, is much less voluminous and much easier.

First, it should be noted that the degrees of comparison form only adverbs ending in -o, -e, which are based on quality adjectives(simple, quiet, deep).

Secondly, we still have the same two forms: comparative and superlative with the division in the first case into simple and compound. To form a simple comparative degree, the suffixes -ee-, -he-, -e- and -she- are used, added to the adverb without this characteristic -o, e: simple - simpler, funny - funny. Whereas the compound form is created using the already known words "more / less" and the original form of the adverb - LESS loudly, MORE freely. With the superlative degree of the adverb it is even much simpler: there is no synthetic form here, and the analytical form is formed by adding a short "everyone" to the comparative degree of the adverb (quiet - quieter - quieter than ALL, boldly - BOLDER - bolder than ALL).

Generalizing

We studied comparative and superlative degrees. A table that will help summarize and repeat all of the above material is presented below.

Adjective
	Synthetic	Analytical	Synthetic	Analytical
Comparative	Suffixes: her, her, e, k, she, same Prefix: by (bolder, more expensive)	more/less Adjective (more daring less expensive)	Suffixes: her, her, e, she (quieter, faster)	more/less (more loudly)
excellent	Suffixes: eish, aish, sh Prefix: nai Comparative synthetic (bravest, best)	most, all/all, most/least Adjective (the most daring, the most expensive)		Comparative synthetic (the prettiest of all)

Conclusion

The comparative degree and the superlative degree are, in principle, an elementary topic. It is enough to know a few suffixes in order to successfully perform numerous grammar exercises. By the way, this feature of adjectives and adverbs is characteristic of many languages. Here, for example, English: a comparative and superlative degree in this language is formed by adding either a suffix to monosyllabic words, or amplifying words to polysyllabic ones. Everything here is even easier than here! If you wish, you can master this rule without difficulty. Practice, practice and more practice!

Qualitative adjectives have degrees of comparison: positive(original form), comparative(comparative) and excellent(superlative). Grammar category degrees of comparison acts as a grammaticalized core of the functional-semantic category of graduality, the meaning of which is realized by multi-level language means. The meaning of the degrees of comparison lies in the fact that the comparative degree conveys the intensity of a feature compared to the same feature in another object .

Scientific discussion

From Aristotle to the present, words that convey gradual value (measures, degrees, magnitudes of a sign, process, phenomenon, object), have been the object of study by many researchers 3 . M. V. Lomonosov in his "Russian Grammar" considered the degree of comparison of the category subjective assessment. Russian grammarians of the 19th century. these aspects are brought together. Two categories of quality grades have been established − non-relative(old, old, old) and relative(the oldest of ..., one is older than the other) .

Without naming the presented phenomena by the term gradient, which is used by modern scientists, linguists have described a number of linguistic phenomena that correspond to the very essence of graduality. All theories and descriptions of various quality levels from historical point of view represented an important perspective in the study of gradients. Starting from the XV century. in Russian there are all kinds of forms with a graduated meaning.

Attribute, procedurality, objectivity in a certain way (to a greater or lesser extent) correlate with the concepts degree, measure. Most of the words of the modern Russian language express changeable and measurable ( qualitative) sign: degrees of comparison (adjectives); formations with suffixes magnifying and diminutive (nouns); ways of verbal action with the meaning of measure; gradual oppositions in the lexical system of the language; gradational syntactic constructions; using gradation as a stylistic method. As graduated and graduated units, such words are considered that, due to their semantic and grammatical features, are capable of expressing one or another degree (measure) of the manifestation of a sign: “In everyday language, “compare” means to express one’s attitude, “evaluate”, “measure”, guided by our feelings and our passions."

Graduality– functional-semantic category with the meaning measures, degrees of manifestation sign, process, phenomenon, state, expressed by multi-level linguistic means. Comparative degree ( comparative) denotes such mutable feature, which may appear in an object to a greater or lesser extent than in another object. Wed: This question more difficultthe previous one. – This question more difficult,than the previous one. excellent degree ( superlative) denotes such a variable feature that manifests itself in an object to the greatest or least extent than in another object: it most difficulttopic under study. - It the most difficulttopic under study.

Comparative and superlative forms can be simple(synthetic) and complex(analytical).

Simple the form comparative degree has indicators - suffixes -her(s), -e: tall – highere(alternating s//w at the root of the word + truncation of the stem - suffix -ok-), strong – strongher (strong-her) etc. From adjectives good, bad, small suppletive forms of comparative degree are formed: good is better, bad is worse etc. The simple superlative degree is formed by adding suffixes -eysh-, - aish-: highaishwow, strongeyshuy etc. For example: Leo Tolstoy is a geniuseyshuy fromwriters of the 20th century.

Complex the form comparative degree is formed by additional words more/less+ positive degree: more (less)high (kind).

Complex the form excellent degrees are formed in several ways:

a) with the help of an additional (auxiliary) word (particles) most: most difficult, highest etc.;
b) with the help of additional (auxiliary) words most, least: least difficult etc.;
c) the combination "simple form comparative degree + pronoun in the genitive case Total(or all)": the most difficult (of all) and etc.;
d) the combination "amplifying particle all + simple form of the comparative degree": The pain in my heart became allhote(M. Sholokhov).

In a sentence, a simple form usually performs a function predicate, and the composite can be like predicate, so definition. Wed: She is was more beautifulhow he imagined her(L. Tolstoy).

A complex form of comparative and superlative degrees is formed from almost all qualitative adjectives. The simple form has limitations.

Forms of a simple comparative degree are not formed from adjectives:

– with an absolute qualitative value: bald, blind, lame, mute, barefoot, deaf etc.;
– based on [ sh"], [and]: poor, hefty and etc.;
- with suffix -sk-: friendskoh, enemyskuy etc.;
- from some verbal adjectives with a suffix -to-: padtouh, movetouh, shattouy etc.;
- with suffix -ov-/-ev-: badovoh, boevoh etc.;
- with suffix -l-: unyloh, mouthlth etc.;
- from individual adjectives that stand apart for historical reasons, for example proud, young and etc.

Simple superlative forms are not formed from adjectives:

- with suffix -sk-: friendskuh, tragicskoh, enemyskuy etc.;
- with suffix -k-: bastardtoooh, thundertoooh, ringingtouy etc.;
- with suffix -ov-/-ev-: rowovoh, stroevoh, boevoh and etc.;
- from adjectives proud, young etc.

excellent degree has two types of meaning:

1) manifestation of a sign in the highest degree compared to other items superlative): oldest ofworkers etc.;
2) expression extreme degree manifestations of a trait regardless of other objects (regardless of great measure sign - elative): Got into stupidestposition, it raresthappening etc.

AT grammatical regarding complex shapes comparative and excellent degrees are no different from positive(initial) degree. Simple forms of the comparative degree are invariable, cf .: House(s) (pine(s), building(s)) above,how...

Syntactic(syntagmatic) terms the use of morphological heterogeneous formations in the Russian language is characterized by the following features.

1. Expressing the relative degree of presence of a feature, adjective in comparative or excellent degree is used as a gradual syntactic member - predicate or definitions. Wed:

So, reasoning, Selifan wandered at last into the most remote abstraction. Perhaps this prompted him another, more significant reason more serious, closer to the heart ... But the reader will learn about all this gradually and in due time, if only he has the patience to read the proposed story, which is very long, having after that to move apart wider and more spacious as it approaches the end, crowning the case (N. Gogol).

These are complex, analytical formations. The exponent is the word more(comparative degree) and words most or most(in superlatives). Superlative most stylistically neutral, and the word most is bookish. Wed:

Most typical cases; most simple question. - Disdainful of the prudent comfort of castling, he sought to create the most unexpected, the most bizarre correlation of figures (V. Nabokov).

2. Adjectives in comparative degrees, acting as definitions, can express the result of a subjective assessment.

The nuance of the meaning of a subjective assessment can be conveyed by lexical means, for example: elderly person (as opposed to old). Combined with the word more The adjective is used both in full and in short form: this question is more important: important(compound form); this question is more important: more important(simple form). short form more important conveys a state conceivable in time: At the moment this question more important.

Typical for the Russian language is a simple (synthetic) form of the comparative degree in -her, -her, -ee. It is homonymous with the form of the comparative degree of the adverb. Wed: he is modest(adv.); his demands are more modest(adj.).

excellent the degree of the adjective, acting as a nominal predicate, has three forms similar to the forms of the comparative degree: this question is the most (important): most (important): more important than all (everything). If the superlative expresses quality inanimate or animate object, then preference is given to the forms "most + long form adjective":

This suitcase the heaviest; His job the best.- Vronsky is one of the sons of Count Kirill Ivanovich Vronsky and one of the very best examples of gilded youth (L. Tolstoy).

3. Comparative degree in a function predicate-predicate is used in special comparative constructions in which the object of comparison is expressed in one way or another. It is formed in two ways:
1) by combining a simple form of a comparative degree with a genitive comparison: Wilson is more important than other birds(V. Mayakovsky);
2) by combining the compound form of the comparative degree, consisting of the word more and the short form of the positive degree, and the union Than: Wilson is more important than any other bird.

The first method should be considered the most common, because the use of "forms of the comparative degree is not limited to simple morphological rules. The types of formation and functioning of degrees of comparison in the Russian language should be studied and assimilated in close connection with the syntactic and semantic conditions of their use" .

All qualitatively evaluative and most qualitative adjectives form degrees of comparison expressing different degrees quality. But in some cases they do not have degrees of comparison due to their semantics: adjectives like dumb, barefoot etc. designate absolute quality and logically do not allow a comparative or superlative degree. It is important to note that the comparative and superlative degrees denote different meanings as opposed to meaning positive degrees:

"She's in two meetings at once..."

(V. Mayakovsky)

Forms of the comparative degree with a prefix smarter, more fun, cheaper etc.), acting as a predicate, acquire a shade of "softened" comparative degree: He is younger than me; He will be smarter than all of us. -

And the man, from he was quick-witted,

He set off on a bear,

He planted a horn in her

What taller navel, lower liver

(meaning "slightly higher/lower").
(A. Pushkin)

Adjective forms in -her, -e, -she with prefix on- indicate the predominance of some quality in one of the compared objects: (book) more interesting; (boy) smarter etc.

Combined with the genitive case of definitive pronouns Total or all(which, but in essence, have become formants, indicators of superlatives) the comparative degree acquires the meaning of the superlative. Such stable combinations carry the meaning of the highest degree of quality by comparative opposition anything to other items in the aggregate and not from the same category. This is a complex form of the elative, which is not combined with the forms on -eysh-, -aysh-. For example:

Most of all, he was struck by the fact that from Monday he would be Luzhin (V. Nabokov); And the geese screamed, / Disappearing in the sky, / What is dearest of all / The native side ... (M. Isakovsky).

All three degrees are a gradation series: rough: rougher: roughest; coarse: coarser: coarsest etc.

In russian language comparative degree is often used to mean excellent. This usage distinguishes genitive of the second element with a comparative degree. It can also be used with superlatives: the best, the richest. In some cases, you can notice the "limited" meaning of superlatives - better (...) all others except one (two...).

Based on the system of degrees of comparison of Otto Jespersen, which excludes from consideration the superlative degree as a kind of comparative, we single out the degrees of graduation:

1.Superiority (>) more dangerous (better) than...
2. Equality(=) with just as dangerous (good) as...
3. lower degree(less dangerous (good) than... etc.

It's obvious that first and third steps are closely related because

in both cases is expressed inequality. There are two ways of expressing with the opposite meaning, which make it possible to change the relationship of the first and third steps to the reverse: worse than = less good than. Based on this, the following can be established equality: older than = less young than. Wed:

Levin himself did not remember his mother, and his only sister was older than him, so that in the house of the Shcherbatskys, for the first time, he saw that very environment of the old noble, educated and honest family, which he was deprived of by the death of his father and mother (L. Tolstoy).

Comparison Levin's sister is older than him does not mean that Sister is old and the comparative degree can therefore mean lesser degree than positive in the expression Sister is old. Similar offer Sister older than Levin says nothing about Levin's old age; on old age Levin will be implied if you add the adverb more: The sister is even older than Levin. We see that this use of the word more is not self-evident.

When negating a step superiority (1) Sister is not as old as Levin get the value either equality(2) or lower degree(3). When negating a step equality(2) get the value lower degree (3): less old than; younger than. Wed: And as old as V. The objection to this statement would be: Oh no, not as old as B, but much older.

There are designs proportional fit, in which the determining element represents a period of time, but does not have an explicit expression. In such sentences, the following meanings and features of their expression are revealed:

a) repetition of the comparative degree form:

Became getting darker and darker (= the longer it has continued, the darker became). He became more and more impatient; Heartache getting hotter(M. Sholokhov);

b) formant all together with the comparative degree forms a superlative degree: He said increasingly unintelligible.

V. V. Vinogradov pointed out that adjectives in - the most / - the most can have three meanings in modern Russian:

1) regardless of the large measure (limiting degree) attribute (elative value):

He smartest person; The weather is wonderful. - He began to tear out leaves and flowers in his hearts and sneezed from the smallest dust (V. Nabokov).

Some forms of the superlative degree break away from the paradigm and act in the meaning of the elative, i.e. in the sense of an absolutely greater degree of quality: the greatest scientist(does not mean the greatest) ,

2) excellent degrees: truest of friends greatest poet ,
3) comparative degree (meaning almost lost in modern Russian, but left traces in phraseology): upon closer inspection.

The most common is the use of forms on -most / -most in an elative sense. Such forms in free combinations are evaluative. Wed:

I got into the stupidest position; This is the rarest case, etc. - It the smartest, the most decent and the most talented man (N. Gogol); But nothing of the kind happened, he listened calmly, and when his father, who was trying to pick up most curious, most attractive(= "evaluative character") details, said, among other things, that, as an adult, he would be called by his last name, the son blushed, blinked, leaned back on the pillow, opening his mouth and shaking his head ... (V. Nabokov).

Gradual-evaluative value of the superlative form on -most / -most implemented in combination with the preposition from:the most ingenious of (musicians), oldest of (employees) etc. For example:

And as in my wagon ... there was a bed with clothes and linen, then in my misfortunes I honored myself happiest of mortals (A. Pushkin).

The elative value is very close to the category of subjective evaluation. Elative forms express a gradual meaning and serve to express the ultimate degree of quality without indicating a relationship to other objects: Tiny specks of dust floated in the air; Found a rare specimen.

Therefore, the formal means of expressing the meanings of measure and degree (gradation) in the field of qualitative adjectives (and qualitative adverbs) is morphological a level concerning the properties of morphemes and cases of analytic formation. As a grammaticalized core gradualism the category corresponding to it degrees of comparison - comparative, superlativeandelative

Cm.: Kolesnikova S. M. The semantics of gradualness and ways of its expression in modern Russian. M., 1998; Her own. Functional-semantic category of gradualness in modern Russian. M., 2010. S. 78-86.
See additional: Falev I. A. On the question of degrees of comparison in modern Russian // Language and thinking. Issue. 9. M.; L. 1940; Nikulin A.S. Degrees of comparison in modern Russian. M.; L., 1937; Knyazev Yu.P. On the semantics of degrees of comparison of adjectives // Uchenye zapiski Tartu gos. university T. 524: Problems of intrastructural functional description language. Tartu, 1980; Kolesnikova S. M. Degrees of comparison of adjectives and the intensity of the feature expressed by them // Russian language at school. 1998. No. 5.
Wed: Galich G. G. Gradual characteristics of qualitative adjectives, verbs and nouns of modern German language: autoref. dis.... cand. philol. Sciences. L., 1981; Kharitonchik Z. A. Turansky I. I. Semantic category of intensity in modern English. M., 1990; Novikov L. A. Antonymy in Russian. M., 1973; Arutyunova N. D. Language and the human world. M., 1999; Apresyan Y.D. Lexical semantics. Synonymous means of language. M., 1974; Wolf E. M. Functional semantics of evaluation. M., 1985; Ubin I.I. Lexical Means of Expressing Intensity (on the Material of Russian and English Languages): Abstract of the thesis. dis.... cand. philol. Sciences. M., 1974; Turansky I.I. Semantic category of intensity in English. M., 1990; Vorotnikov Yu. L. Degrees of quality in modern Russian. M., 1999; Norman V. Yu. Gradation in Russian // Qnantitat und Graduierungals kognitiv-semantische Kategorien. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz verlg, 2001, pp. 381-403. Sapir E. Graduation: a semantic study // New in foreign linguistics. M., 1986. S. 43; Khalina N. V. Category of gradualness in word and text. Barnaul, 1993; Krzhizhkova E. Quantitative determination of adjectives in Russian (lexico-syntactic + analysis) // Syntax and norm. M., 1974. S. 122-144; Bolinger D. Degree words. Paris: Mouton, 1972; Studia gramatyezne Bulgarian-Polish. T. 3: Ilosc, gradaeja, osoba. Wroclaw, 1989; Kolesnikova S. M. Graduality: linguistic description (on the basis of the Russian language) // Akademiai Kiado. Budapest, 2011; Repashi D., Sekey G. On Graduality in Comparative Aspect // Vestnik MGOU. Ser. "Russian Philology". Issue. 5. M., 2010. S. 110-117; Kolesnikova S. M. Functional-semantic category of gradualness in modern Russian // Modern Nyelvoktatas: A Magyar Alkalmazott Nyelveszek es Nyelvtanarok Egyesfiletenek folyoirata. XVI. 2010. S. 116-118; Sjostrom S. Spatial relations: Towards a theory of spatial verbs, prepositions, a pronominal adverbs in Swedish. Goteborg: Dept. of linguistics, 1990.
Kartsevsky S. O. Comparison // Questions of linguistics. 1976. No. 1. S. 112.
Isachenko A.V. The grammatical structure of the Russian language in comparison with Slovak. Bratislava, 1965. S. 201.
Cm.: Espersen O. Philosophy of Grammar: Per. from English. M., 1958.

Adjectives in Russian. They are indispensable when it is necessary to compare one characteristic of an object or phenomenon with another. Let's try to understand the intricacies of this topic.

Adjective

Before you start studying the topic "Degrees of comparison of adjectives in Russian", you need to find out how this part of speech differs from all others. And she really has a lot of features. It is hard to imagine our speech without this colorful, graceful group. With the help of adjectives, we describe appearance (short, handsome, unsightly), character (kind, grouchy, difficult), age (young, old). However, not only human qualities, but many other things can be represented with their help. For example, none piece of art does not do without the use of adjectives. And even more so the lyrics. Thanks to this part of speech, stories, poems, novels acquire expressiveness and figurativeness.

Helps to form artistic means, as epithets (dazzling beauty, wonderful morning), metaphors stone heart), comparisons (looks like the happiest; the sky is like an azure watercolor).

A distinctive feature of adjectives is their ability to form short forms. The latter always play the role of a predicate in a sentence, which gives this part of speech another advantage - to give any text dynamics.

What is a degree?

Anyone who studies the Russian language faces this question. The degree of comparison of adjectives is a characteristic that helps to compare one object with another.

For example, we have two balls in front of us. They are exactly the same, only one of them is slightly different in size. We need to compare them with each other and conclude: one ball more another. We can approach this issue from a different angle and note that one ball less than the second one. In both cases, we used a word that characterizes the degree of comparison of these objects.

Now let's add to our objects one more of the same, but much larger. We need to distinguish it from others. How are we going to do it? Of course, use comparison. Only now you need to indicate that the third ball is different from the first and second at once. In this case, we say that he the biggest among them.

It is for this that we need. We will describe each of their types in detail below.

comparative

When we have an adjective in front of us, which no one compares with anything, then it is characterized by a positive degree. But if one object needs to be compared with another, then we will use the comparative degree of the adjective.

It has two subspecies. The first is called simple, or suffixal. This means that the word used in this degree has a suffix characteristic of it.

For example: This table chic. Neighbor's table smarter ours.

In the first case, the adjective is in the positive degree. In the second, the suffix "her" was added to it and with the help of this they compared one table with another.

The second type is the composite degree. As the name implies, its formation does not occur with the help of morphemes, but with the use of special words.

For example: This project is very successful. The last project was more successful.

The word "more" helps us compare one project to another.

Another example: We have valuable information. The previous one turned out less valuable.

Now, with the help of the word "less", we indicated a sign that manifested itself to a lesser extent.

It is worth remembering that the degrees of comparison of adjectives in Russian, regardless of varieties, are formed only from possessive or relative ones that do not have this ability.

Superlatives

In some situations, we need not only to compare one object or phenomenon with another, but to distinguish it from all similar ones. And here we will also come to the aid of the degree of comparison of adjectives in Russian. This degree of comparison is called excellent, which already implies the highest limit.

Like comparative, it has two varieties.

With the help of suffixes, a simple degree is formed.

For example: Ivanov strongest of all the athletes on the team.

The word "strong" with the suffix -eysh- formed and singled out the athlete Ivanov among other members of the team.

Next example: New tulle the most beautiful from what I have seen.

In this case, the auxiliary word "most" gave this sentence the same meaning as in the previous example. This form is called composite.

Sometimes it can be accompanied by the prefix nai- to enhance: the most beautiful.

Peculiarities

In some cases, the forms of degrees of comparison of adjectives have exceptions.

These include the words "good" and "bad". When we begin to compare objects with their help, we will encounter some difficulties.

For example: We have good evening. Let's try to form a chain of degrees of comparison.

In a simple comparison, we will see that the word "good" does not exist. He is replaced by "better". And for the word "bad" let's choose "worse". Such a phenomenon in Russian is called suppletivism of the foundations. This means that the word needs to change dramatically in order to form a comparative degree.

Conclusion

Thus, we managed to find out not only the basics, but also some nuances on the topic "Degrees of comparison of adjectives in Russian".

Now this rule will not cause you any difficulties, since it is quite simple.