Adjectives and Adverbs: Comparative and Superlative Forms, Lecture notes of Piano

Download Adjectives and Adverbs: Comparative and Superlative Forms and more Lecture notes Piano in PDF only on Docsity! Adjectives and Adverbs-Comparisons Handout 002 (March 2014; ASC Eng/Read) Page 1 Grammar Handout 002 Adjectives and Adverbs: Comparative and Superlative Forms There are three forms of adjectives and adverbs. The positive, which you just studied, is simply the basic adjective or adverb. This form serves only to modify, not compare. Positive Adjective Form Positive Adverb Form Mary is a smart girl. Tom runs quickly. Mary is beautiful. He got a beautifully even suntan. In addition to their simple or positive forms, adjectives and adverbs have two other forms, the comparative and superlative, that are used for making comparisons. The comparative form of adjectives and adverbs compares two people, places or things. With adjectives, add er to the positive form With most adverbs, place more of most one-syllable words and some two- before the positive form. syllable words. For other words, place more before the positive form. Comparative Adjective Form Comparative Adverb Form Mary is smarter than Jill. BUT Tom runs more quickly than I do. Mary is more beautiful than Jill. He got a more beautifully even suntan than I did. The superlative form of adjectives and adverbs compares three or more people, places, or things. With adjectives, add est to the positive form With most adverbs, place most of most one-syllable words and some two- before the positive form. syllable words. For other words, place most before the positive form. Superlative Adjective Form Superlative Adverb Form Mary is the smartest of all. BUT Tom runs most quickly of the three. Mary is the most beautiful of all. He got the most beautifully even suntan of all. **Note: Do not make double comparisons. Never use more or most with er or est endings. 002 Adjectives and Adverbs-Comparisons Handout 002 (March 2014; ASC Eng/Read) Page 2 Procedure for Choosing the Correct Adjective Form 1. Look to see if a comparison is being made. If it isn’t, choose the positive form of the adjective. (No er, est ending or more, most word). Example: Jim is __________ . a. upset b. more upset c. most upset Solution: Jim is not being compared to anyone. Therefore, you need the positive form of the adjective. Immediately eliminate choices B and C because they contain comparison words – more, most. Choice A is the positive form of the adjective. 2. If a comparison of two people, places, or things is being made, choose the comparative form of the adjective. Look for the choices that have and er ending or more word. Example: Of the two men, Jim is __________ . a. upset b. more upset c. most upset Solution: A comparison of two people (Jim and another man) is being made. Therefore, you need the comparative form of the adjective. Consider only those choices with an er ending or more word. Immediately eliminate choices A and C – neither has an er ending or more word. Choice B is the comparative form of the adjective. 3. If a comparison of three or more people, places, or things is being made, choose the superlative form of the adjective. Look for the choices that have an est ending or most word. Example: Of all the men, Jim is the __________ . a. upset b. more upset c. most upset Solution: A comparison of three or more people (Jim and some other men) is being made. Therefore, you need the superlative form of the adjective. Consider only those choices with an est ending or most word. Immediately eliminate choices A and B – neither has an est ending or most word. Choice C is the superlative form of the adjective. Adjectives and Adverbs-Comparisons Handout 002 (March 2014; ASC Eng/Read) Page 5 14. My friend’s ____________ disposition makes her fun to be with. A. sunny B. sunnier C. sunniest D. most sunniest 15. Mom bakes the ____________ pies in the whole world. A. juicy B. juicier C. juiciest D. most juiciest 16. Her ____________ manner endears her to everyone. A. friendly B. friendlier C. more friendlier D. friendliest 17. That was the ____________ game I’ve ever watched. A. great B. greater C. greatest D. most greatest 18. Ted is the ____________ person on the team. A. heavy B. heavier C. heaviest D. most heaviest 19. Sue’s the ___________ of the twins. A. sweet B. sweeter C. more sweeter D. most sweetest 20. Of everyone in class, Gina’s English skills are the ____________ . A. weak B. weaker C. weakest D. most weakest Adjectives and Adverbs-Comparisons Handout 002 (March 2014; ASC Eng/Read) Page 6 Procedure for Choosing the Correct Adverb Form 1. Look to see if a comparison is being made. If it isn’t, choose the positive form of the adverb. (Exclude choices with more, most words.) Example: Bob sang ____________ . A. loudly B. more loudly C. most loudly Solution: Bob’s singing is not being compared to anyone else’s singing. Therefore, you need the positive form of the adverb. Immediately eliminate choices B and C because they contain comparison words – more, most. Choice A is the positive form of the adverb. 2. If a comparison of two people, places, or things is being made, choose the comparative form of the adverb. Look for the choices that have a more word. Example: Bob sang ____________ than Ted did. A. loudly B. more loudly C. most loudly Solution: A comparison of two things (Bob’s singing and Ted’s singing) is being made. Therefore, you need the comparative form of the adverb. Consider only those choices with a more word. Immediately eliminate choices A and C – neither has a more word. Choice B is the comparative form of the adverb. 3. If a comparison of three or more people, places, or things is being made, choose the superlative form of the adverb. Look for the choices that have a most word. Example: Bob sang ____________ of all. A. loudly B. more loudly C. most loudly Solution: A comparison of three or more things (Bob’s singing and other people’s singing) is being made. Therefore, you need the superlative form of the adverb. Consider only those choices with a most word. Immediately eliminate choices A and B – neither has a most word. Choice C is the superlative form of the adverb. Adjectives and Adverbs-Comparisons Handout 002 (March 2014; ASC Eng/Read) Page 7 Directions: For each sentence, decide which adverb form is needed – positive, comparative or superlative. Write the letter of your choice next to its corresponding number. * Hint: Look for key words and phrases that may signal comparisons. 1. Of the two, of the twins, between Bob and Ted, and the word than can signal comparisons of two people, places or things. You need the comparative form with a more word. 2. Of all, in the world, in school, on the team, on the job, ever seen, ever heard, and other similar phrases can signal comparisons of three or more people, places or things. You need the superlative form with a most word. 1. Mary behaved ____________ at the party. A. nicely B. more nicely C. most nicely 2. Charles sang ____________ of everyone in the choir. A. loudly B. more loudly C. most loudly 3. The patient’s illness was ____________ painful. A. unbelievably B. more unbelievably C. most unbelievably 4. My dog barked ____________ than her dog. A. fiercely B. more fiercely C. most fiercely 5. Of the three men, the ____________ exhausted one collapsed. A. thoroughly B. more thoroughly C. most thoroughly 6. They are the ____________ married couple of anyone I know. A. happily B. more happily C. most happily 7. I am ____________ coming to the conclusion that you are right. A. slowly B. more slowly C. most slowly Adjectives and Adverbs-Comparisons Handout 002 (March 2014; ASC Eng/Read) Page 10 You are left with only two choices now. Choice B: brightest – the superlative adjective Choice D: most brightly – the superlative adverb To help you decide if you want the adjective or adverb, remove the word the from in front of the blank and remove the comparing words. Go back to the positive forms of the adjective and adverb. Tom is adjective . A. bright B. brightly Obviously, bright, the adjective is correct because the adjective is following a linking verb and is modifying the word Tom on the other side. Therefore, if you want an adjective when no comparing words are present, you still want an adjective when comparing words are added. The only difference is that now you need the superlative form of the adjective, which is Choice B. Of all the people, Tom is the brightest. Example: The ____________ performed piano solo of the two was Mary’s. A. expertly C. most expertly B. more expert D. more expertly Solution: Of the two signals that a comparison of two is being made. Therefore, you need the comparative form of either an adjective or adverb. Consider only those choices with an er ending or more word. Immediately eliminate choices A and C – neither has an er ending or more word. You are left with only two choices now. Choice B: more expert – the comparative adjective Choice D: more expertly – the comparative adverb To help you decide if you want the adjective or adverb, remove the comparing words. (You can’t remove the word the from in front of the blank because it is the first word of the sentence.) Go back to the positive forms of the adjective and adverb. adjective noun The _adverb_ performed piano solo was Mary’s. A. expert B. expertly Obviously, expertly, the adverb, is the correct answer because it tells how she performed. Also, the word after the blank is an adjective and adverbs modify adjectives. Adjectives and Adverbs-Comparisons Handout 002 (March 2014; ASC Eng/Read) Page 11 Therefore, if you want an adverb when no comparing words are present, you still want an adverb when comparing words are added. The only difference is that now you need the comparative form of the adverb, which is Choice D. The more expertly performed piano solo of the two was Mary’s. Example: She ____________ crept out of the room. A. slower C. slowly B. more slower D. most slowly Solution: No comparison is being made. Therefore, you need the positive form of either an adjective or adverb. Eliminate all choices that make a double comparison. (Choice B) and those than have an er, est ending or a more, most word (choice A and choice D). You are left with only one choice: Choice C: slowly – the positive form of the adverb Obviously, slowly, the adverb, is the correct answer because it tells how she crept. Also, the word after the blank is an action verb and adverbs modify action verbs. She slowly crept out of the room. Directions: Number from 1 to 40 on a separate sheet of paper. Read each sentence carefully and choose either an adjective form or adverb form to fill in the blanks. Then write the letter of your choice next to its corresponding number. 1. My ____________ written essay got a D grade. A. poorly C. more poorly B. poor D. most poorly 2. Some experts believe that smoking is ____________ than drinking. A. dangerous C. most dangerously B. more dangerous D. more dangerously 3. Does this plan seem ____________ probable than the other? A. realistic C. more realistic B. realistically D. more realistically 4. The driver of the van reacted ____________ to the situation. A. angry C. more angrily B. angrily D. most angrily Adjectives and Adverbs-Comparisons Handout 002 (March 2014; ASC Eng/Read) Page 12 5. Her test scores were the ____________ I had ever seen. A. impressive C. more impressively B. most impressive D. most impressively 6. Of all the applicants, my sister spoke ____________ . A. intelligent C. most intelligently B. more intelligently D. intelligently 7. She behaved ____________ than anyone else. A. shockingly C. most shockingly B. shocking D. more shockingly 8. George’s ____________ puppy greeted everyone. A. friendly C. friendliest B. friendlier D. more friendlier 9. Of the two players, Mary is the ____________ . A. dedicated C. more dedicated B. most dedicated D. dedicate 10. Martha is, without a doubt, the ____________ person I know. A. creative C. creatively B. most creatively D. most creative 11. Tom practiced his piano lessons ____________ of all the students. A. most faithfully C. faithfully B. more faithfully D. faithful 12. My graduation day will be the ____________ day of my life. A. happy C. more happy B. happily D. happiest 13. Bob is the ____________ of all the football players. A. thin C. thinly B. thinner D. thinnest 14. The child behaved ____________ at the party. A. wilder C. more wilder B. wildly D. more wildly 15. The patient seemed ____________ than the doctor. A. healthy C. more healthier B. healthier D. healthiest