1.
Degrees of
Comparison
Definition
Degrees of
comparison refers to
adjectives being written in different forms to compare one, two or more nouns which are
words describing persons, places and things. The three different forms of comparison are the positive, the comparative and
the superlative.
The Degrees of
Comparison in English grammar are made with the Adjective and Adverb words to
show how big or small, high or low, more or less, many or few, etc., of the
qualities, numbers and positions of the nouns (persons, things and places) in
comparison to the others mentioned in the other part of a sentence or expression
Degrees of Comparison are used when we compare one person
or one thing with another.
There are three Degrees of Comparison in
English.
They are:
1. Positive degree.
2. Comparative degree.
3. Superlative degree.
Kinds of comparison:
1. POSITIVE DEGREE: Tom is tall a boy.
In this sentence the word ‘tall’ is an adjective telling
us how Tom is. There is no other person or thing in this sentence used to
compare Tom with, but it is the general way of saying about persons, animals
and things that they have some quality (here ‘tallness’) above average in
general sense. The adjective word ‘tall’ is said to be in the “positive
form”.
This comparison is called “positive degree”
comparison.
There are two more comparisons with the ‘positive
form’ of the adjective words. They are:
(i) Degree of Equality: This comparison
is used to compare two persons, animals or things to tell us that they are
equal – having the same quality.
There are
two cats with the same height and weight, and look the same except for
the colour.
Therefore we
say:
The brown cat is as beautiful as the
grey cat. (= Both the cats are the same.)
The word “beautiful” is an adjective in the ‘positive
form’, and with the conjunction as…as it expresses the ‘degree of
equality’.
(ii) Degree of Inequality: This
comparison is used to compare two persons, animals or
things to tell us that they are not equal – not having
the same quality.
The brown cat is not so beautiful as the
black & white cat. (= They arenot the
same.)
The word “beautiful” is an adjective in the ‘positive
form’, and with the conjunction so…as (and the negative ‘not’) it
expresses the ‘degree ofinequality’
2. COMPARATIVE DEGREE:
Tom is a tall
boy.
Tom is taller than his sister.
In the second sentence the word ‘taller’ is an
adjective used to compare the ‘tallness’ of these two persons – Tom and his
sister – and to tell us that Tom has more of the quality of ‘tallness’.
Therefore, an adjective word which shows the
difference of quality between two groups of persons,
animals or things is said to be in the ‘comparative form’. persons, animals or
things, or
This comparison is called “Comparative Degree”.
There are
two more degrees of comparison with the ‘comparative form’ of an adjective.
They are:
(i) Parallel Degree: This comparison is
used to show that the qualities of two items (adjectives or adverbs) talked
about in the given sentence go parallel, i.e. if one quality (adjective or
adverb) increases, the other quality (adjective or adverb) increases, and if
one quality decreases, the other quality also decreases.
The bigger the box, the heavier it
is.
(ii) Progressive Degree: This comparison
is used to show that the quality of a thing (adjective or adverb) talked about
in the given sentence increases as the time passes, for example:
MON
TUE
WED
THU
FRI SAT
SUN
25° → 27° → 30° → 33°→ 35° → 38° → 40°
It’s getting hotter and hotter day
by day. [as the time passes the temperature increases] OR The days are
getting hotter and hotter.
3. SUPERLATIVE DEGREE:
A musk ox is a large animal.
An elephant is larger than
a musk ox.
The blue whale is the largest of
all animals.
The blue whale is the largest of all
animals in the world.
In this sentence the word (the) ‘largest’
is an adjective used to compare the “largeness” of the blue whale and to tell
us that the blue whale has the most quality of ‘largeness’.
This comparison is used to compare one person, animal
or thing with more than two persons, animals or things (the
rest of the group of more than two), and to say that the particular one has the
highest degree of that particular quality
(here the comparison is between the blue whale and the rest of the animals,
more than two). The adjective ‘large’ is said to be in the ‘superlative form’.
This comparison is called “Superlative Degree”.
Examples:
1. This is the biggest house in this street. (Superlative)
1. This is the biggest house in this street. (Superlative)
This house is bigger than any other house in this street. (Comparative)
No other house in this street is as big as this one. (Positive)
2.
This flower is the most beautiful one in this garden. (Superlative)
This flower is more beautiful than any other flower in
this garden. (Comparative)
No other flower in this garden is as beautiful as this one. (Comparative)
No other flower in this garden is as beautiful as this one. (Comparative)
3.
He is the most
intelligent in this class. (Superlative)
He is more intelligent than other boys in the class. (Comparative)
No other boy is as intelligent as this boy. (Positive)
4.
He is the
tallest student in this class.
(Superlative)
He is taller than other students in this
class. (Comparative)
No other
student is as tall as this student.
(Positive)
5.
Jupiter is the largest planet of all. (Superlative)
Earth is larger
than Mercury. (Comparative)
Mercury is
a large planet.
(Positive)
2.
Question Words
An
interrogative word or question word is a function word used
to ask a question,
such as what, when, where, who, why and how. They are sometimes called wh-words,
because in
English most of them start with wh- (compare Five Ws).
such as what, when, where, who, why and how. They are sometimes called wh-words,
because in
English most of them start with wh- (compare Five Ws).
We use question words to ask certain types of questions (question word questions). We often refer to them as WH words because they include the letters WH (for example WHy, HoW).
question word
|
Function
|
example sentence
|
What
|
asking for
information about something
|
What is your name?
|
asking for repetition
or confirmation
|
What? I can't hear
you.
You did what? |
|
what...for
|
asking for a reason,
asking why
|
What did you do that
for?
|
When
|
asking about time
|
When did he leave?
|
Where
|
asking in or at what
place or position
|
Where do they live?
|
Which
|
asking about choice
|
Which colour do you
want?
|
Who
|
asking what or which
person or people (subject)
|
Who opened the door?
|
Whom
|
asking what or which
person or people (object)
|
Whom did you see?
|
Whose
|
asking about
ownership
|
Whose are these keys?
Whose turn is it? |
Why
|
asking for reason,
asking what...for
|
Why do you say that?
|
why don't
|
making a suggestion
|
Why don't I help you?
|
How
|
asking about manner
|
How does this work?
|
asking about
condition or quality
|
How was your exam?
|
|
how + adj/adv
|
asking about extent
or degree
|
see examples below
|
how far
|
Distance
|
How far is Pattaya
from Bangkok?
|
how long
|
length (time or
space)
|
How long will it
take?
|
how many
|
quantity (countable)
|
How many cars are
there?
|
how much
|
quantity
(uncountable)
|
How much money do you
have?
|
how old
|
Age
|
How old are you?
|
how come (informal)
|
asking for reason,
asking why
|
How come I can't see
her?
|
3. Find 5W+1H in English Newspaper
Five dead, one missing after boat
sinks off Jakarta
Jakarta
Posted: Sat, May 7 2016 | 08:33 pm
Posted: Sat, May 7 2016 | 08:33 pm
Five tourists were found dead and
another is still missing on Saturday as their boat sank in waters off the
Thousand Islands, an official says.
“We have sent victims' bodies to a public hospital,” said the
head of Thousand Islands’ Fire and Rescue Office, Edi Rudianto, as reported by kompas.com,
adding that police were identifying the bodies.
A 16-member team from the Fire and Rescue Office helped
by police and Transportation Office personnel were still deployed to find
another missing passenger, said Edi
Edi explained that he got information from boat owner Abdul
Wahab at 4 a.m. on Saturday about a missing boat.
“Soon after receiving the information, we began searching for
its passengers. We found one had survived,” said Edi, adding that his name was
Kristian, a resident of Taman Sari, West Jakarta.
Kristian said he and six other residents of Taman Sari hired
Abdul's boat on Friday at 5 p.m. The names of the other six on board were Doni
Marcel, Giok Sun, Giok Liong, Fahrul Majid, Sonson and OK.
"The surviving passenger is being treated at a Panggang
Island health center. He is in shock but police are still trying to question
him,” Edi said, also adding based on Kristian's explanation, the incident
occurred at 2 a.m. on Saturday.
Kristian said he survived because he had been able to swim to
Panggang Island. ( bbn )
Analyze 5W+1H :
WHAT :
What is the topic ?
Sinking boat in Thousand
Islands Regency.
WHEN :
When the incident happened?
The incident occurred at 2 a.m. on
Saturday.
WHERE :
Where is the incident
happened?
The incident happened in
waters off the Thousand Islands,Jakarta.
WHO :
Who is the victims of the
incident?
The victims is Kristian, Doni
Marcel, Giok Sun, Giok Liong, Fahrul Majid, Sonson dan OK.
WHY :
Why the incident could happened?
The cause of the incident is still
uncertain, Edi said that A 16-member team from the Fire and Rescue Office
helped by police and Transportation Office personnel were still deployed to
find another missing passenger.
HOW :
How the incident happened?
Edi explained that he got information
from boat owner Abdul Wahab at 4 a.m. on Saturday about a missing boat. Soon
after receiving the information, they are began searching for its passengers.
they found one had survived,adding that his name was Kristian, a resident of
Taman Sari, West Jakarta. Kristian said he survived because he had been able to
swim to Panggang Island.
Source :
https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/wh-question-words.htm
