Page 47 - English Grammar - 6

1 177 Adjectives:
Adjectives:

Degrees of Comparison
Degrees of Comparison

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Practise What You Know!actise What You Know!

Fill in the lotus with the adjective form of each of the given words.

sketch adventure hero
duty fear

child product enjoy

Let’s Learn Degrees of Comparison

Most adjectives that depict a quality can also tell us the degree of that quality. For example:

Smita is tall. Her sister is taller. Her brother is the tallest in their family.
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In the above sentence, the quality of being tall exists in all the three children. However,
when compared, they are tall in different degrees. This is known as degrees of comparison.
Any adjective in its simplest form is in the positive degree. It is used when there is no
comparison.
When two things of the same quality are compared, the higher quality is called the
comparative degree.
When more than two things are compared, the one with the highest quality is called the
superlative degree.

Read the following sentences.
An elephant is slow. (positive)
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A tortoise is slower than an ant. (comparative)
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A snail is the slowest creature. (superlative)
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Another way of showing comparison is by using words less and least before the adjective
in its positive form.
Read the following sentences.
The tiger is a dangerous animal.
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The wolf is less dangerous than the tiger.
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The cow is the least dangerous of all the three.
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