Steppes of comparison. Comparative and superlative degrees in English

Adjectives and adverbs in many languages ​​of the world have degrees of comparison. In English these are Positive Degree, Comparative Degree and Superlative degree, in Polish – rywny, wyższy, najwyższy, in French – le positif, le comparatif, le superlatif. The Russian language was no exception; it has positive, comparative and superlative adjectives. How are they different and what are their forms?

Degrees of comparison: types, table

Adjectives and adverbs derived from them have the ability to form degrees of comparison.
There are three of them:

Positive.Comparative.Excellent.

Each of them expresses a different level of possession of an object or a specific specific quality. For example: a resourceful boy (positive), but he may be more resourceful (comparative), and in a certain life situation and become the most resourceful (excellent).

From which adjectives can we form degrees of comparison?

As you know, all adjectives in the Russian language are divided into several categories.

Qualitative - means the characteristics by which an object or Living being can have in different degrees: sweeter, sweeter, the sweetest. Relative - they name the signs of an object or living being in relation to circumstances, actions or other personalities, things: a telephone call, a wooden building. Possessive - indicate that something belongs to someone then: Pushkin’s stanza, father’s parting words.

Only from the first category can the comparative and superlative degree of adjectives be formed (charming - more charming, the most charming), since it is impossible to say: “a more wooden building” or “the most Pushkin stanza.”
Adverbs that come from the qualitative category of adjectives can also form degrees of comparison: cheerful - cheerfully (more cheerfully).

Comparative degree of adjectives in Russian

Before moving on to consider the comparative degree, it is worth mentioning a little about the positive degree. This is the name given to the initial degree of comparison (boring). In fact, it is considered only formally as a degree of comparison. But the next one is comparative adjective (more boring, more boring). It serves to show that a certain object or person this quality present in greater/smaller quantities than someone/something else. For example: “This tea is stronger (stronger) than the one we drank yesterday.”

Information about comparative forms

In the above example, you can see that the comparative degree in Russian can be formed in the following ways: using suffixes or by adding an additional word (in in this example this is “more”). It turns out that we can distinguish 2 forms of the comparative degree of adjectives in the Russian language: simple and compound, or as it is sometimes called, complex.

Methods for forming a simple shape

There are several ways to form it.

Using the suffixes -ee, -ey, -e, -she, added to the base: cheerful - more cheerful. However, it is worth remembering that if suffixes of the comparative degree of adjectives -e, -she are used, then alternation of consonants in the root of the word may occur, and the suffixes -k, -ok, -ek may be eliminated altogether. For example: narrow - narrower, ringing - louder. Sometimes simple form can be formed by adding the same -ee, -ey, -e, -she, as well as the prefix po-. For example: soon - quickly, quickly - quickly. Adjectives formed in this way, as a rule, are the province of colloquial speech. Sometimes the comparative degree of adjectives in the Russian language is formed using a different word stem: bad - worse.

It is worth remembering that not everyone can form a simple form qualitative adjective. It so happened historically that it is simply impossible to form it from some words. For example, from adjectives such as “grand” or “businesslike”. After all, it is impossible to say: “grower” or “more businesslike.” Unlike the positive, the simple comparative degree does not have an ending and does not change. For example, the adjective “light” changes according to gender and number: “light”, “light”, “light”, etc. In addition, it is declined according to cases. But the comparative degree of the adjective – “lighter” – is unchanged. In this form, words, as a rule, perform the syntactic role of a predicate: “Words of love - sweeter than honey", and in some cases - definitions: "Make the jam sweeter."

Complex shape

Unlike the simple one, it is formed not with the help of suffixes or prefixes, but by adding the words “more” or “less” to the adjective in the positive degree. For example: “Rembrandt was more a brilliant artist than most of his contemporaries, but he was truly appreciated years after his death.” Adjectives in a complex form are declined by case, change by number and, accordingly, by gender, while “more” and “less” remain unchanged. For example: more powerful (powerful, powerful, powerful). Both in simple form and in compound form, comparative adjectives in a sentence serve as predicates or definitions: “Their relationship was closer and more elevated than that of anyone around them.” .Having considered the information about the comparative degree, it is now worth moving on to studying the superlative degree. And it will help you not to forget how the comparative degree of adjectives is formed - the table. It briefly outlines all the information about simple and complex forms and their formation.

Brief information about superlatives

It serves to demonstrate that a certain object or living being is absolutely superior to any other in a certain quality, which is represented in it to the highest degree.
For example: “The third little pig’s house was the strongest and the wolf could not destroy it.”

A little about superlatives

Knowledge of how simple and complex comparative degrees of adjectives are formed will help you understand this topic. In the case of the superlative degree, both of its forms have similar names: simple and compound (complex) and are formed according to the corresponding principle.

They are formed according to the same principle:

The simple one is formed by adding the suffixes -eysh, -aysh to the stem: caring – most caring. Similar to the comparative, the superlative may also have the stem suffix -k: low, lowest. A word formed using a simple superlative form is declined according to cases and changes according to numbers and genders. While the comparative degree of an adjective in a simple form is devoid of this property. For example: “light”. As mentioned above, in comparative form it is invariably “lighter”. But in the superlative degree - “brightest”, it can change: “brightest”, “brightest”. The compound (complex) form is formed by adding the words “most”, “least” or “most” (“most”, “most”, “ most") to an adjective in the positive degree. For example: the brightest, the least entertaining, the funniest. In some cases, the comparative degree of the adjective plus the word “all” may also participate in the formation. For example: “This girl completed the task faster than anyone in the class.” As with the comparative form, the superlative adjective changes according to the same categories. And the additional words: “most” or “least” remain unchanged: “The wolf ran the shortest route to Grandma’s house and got ahead of Little Red Riding Hood.” However, “most” also changes: “The wolf ran the shortest route to Grandma’s house and got ahead of Little Red Riding Hood.”

As for the syntactic role, adjectives in this degree, as a rule, act as predicates: “A most amazing journey.” Less often - definitions: "It was a story about the most amazing journey". And in complex form they most often serve as definitions: “He was smarter than everyone else at school.”

Superlative and comparative degrees of adjectives: exercises to consolidate knowledge

To better remember all the material presented, you should practice by doing a few fairly simple exercises.

In this task you need to form everything possible forms degrees according to the model: attractive, more attractive, more attractive, most attractive, most attractive, most attractive. In this exercise, you need to select both superlative forms of the adjective, mark the suffixes and underline the alternating letters, according to the patterns. In this task you need to find errors and explain them. 1. Petrov – the most best player throughout the entire team. 2. Things were getting worse in our company. 3. The air in the room became increasingly heavier. 4. Our enterprise turned out to be more successful. 5. Natasha’s shoes are cheaper than Sveta’s. In this exercise you need to compare 2 objects different properties, according to the example: French and German (euphonious). – French is more euphonious than German. 1. Autumn and winter (warm). 2. Masha’s closet and Dima’s closet (convenient). 3. Laptop and smartphone (expensive). 4. Vladimir and Maxim (serious). 5. Katya and Valya (handsome). 6. Kyiv and Lvov (young).

The topic of comparative degrees of adjectives itself is quite easy. However, in order to avoid mistakes, it is worth remembering the basic rules, especially since in most European languages ​​adjectives also have 3 degrees of comparison. Therefore, having figured out what they are in Russian, you can safely take on the study of the grammar of foreign languages.

Adjectives (Adjectives) are words that express qualities, characteristics of objects. They answer the question Which?. In a sentence, they usually define a noun. IN English language they do not change either by gender, or by number, or by case:

a little girl - little girl

a little boy - little boy

little children - little children

With a little boy - with a little boy.

Adjectives change only by degrees of comparison (Degrees of Comparison). There are three degrees of comparison of adjectives: positive (Positive Degree), comparative (Comparative Degree), excellent (Superlative Degree).

Rules for the formation of degrees of comparison of adjectives.

Adjectives in the positive degree do not have any endings, for example: quick (fast), slow (slow), old (old), new (new). The comparative and superlative degrees are formed using the suffixes -er and -est or by adding the words more (more) and most (most). The choice of method depends on the original form of the adjective.

Monosyllabic and some two-syllable adjectives form the comparative degree with the suffix -er, and the superlative degree with the suffix -est. Using the suffixes -er, -est, degrees of comparison are formed into two-syllable adjectives ending in -er, -ow, -y, -le (clever, narrow, early, simple).

Here are some examples:

One- and two-syllable adjectives

Positive degree	comparative	Superlative
high - high	higher – higher, higher	highest - the highest
small - small	smaller - less	smallest – smallest, smallest
strong - strong	stronger – stronger, stronger	strongest - the strongest
cheap - cheap	cheaper - cheaper, cheaper	cheapest - the cheapest
quick - fast	quicker - faster	quickest - the fastest
new - new	newer – newer	newest - the newest
clean - clean	cleaner – cleaner, cleaner	cleanest - the cleanest
cold - cold	colder – colder, colder	coldest - the coldest
short - short	shorter - shorter, shorter	shortest - the shortest
great – great, big	greater - more	greatest – the greatest, greatest
weak - weak	weaker - weaker	weakest - the weakest
deep – deep	deeper – deeper, deeper	deepest - the deepest
low - low	lower - lower	lowest - the lowest
clever - smart	cleverer – smarter, more intelligent	cleverest – smartest, most intelligent
narrow - narrow	narrower - narrower	narrowest - the narrowest
shallow - small	shallower - smaller	shallowest - the smallest

When writing you must comply certain rules spelling.

1. If an adjective has a short vowel and ends in one consonant, then in the comparative and superlative degrees this consonant is doubled:

big – bigger – biggest

big - bigger - biggest, biggest

Fat – fatter – fattest

thick, fatty – thicker – the thickest

Wet-wetter-wettest

wet, humid – more humid – the most humid

Sad – sadder – saddest

sad, sad – sadder – saddest

thin – thinner – thinnest

thin, thin – thinner – thinnest

2. If the adjective ends with a letter -y with a preceding consonant, then in the comparative and superlative degrees the letter y changes to i:

Easy – easier – easiest

light - lighter - lightest, lightest

early – earlier – earliest

early – earlier – earliest

dry – drier – driest

dry, arid – drier – driest

But the word shy (shy, fearful) does not obey this rule and forms degrees of comparison as follows:

shy – shyer – shyest.

3. If the adjective ends with a letter -e, then in the comparative and superlative degrees it is added -r, -st:

wide – wider – widest

wide - wider - widest, widest

late – later – latest

late – later – the latest

fine – finer – finest

good, wonderful – better – the best

simple – simpler – simplest

simple - simpler - simplest

Polysyllabic adjectives, i.e. Adjectives consisting of three or more syllables form degrees of comparison using the words more for the comparative degree and most for the superlative degree. Let's consider following examples:

Polysyllabic adjectives

Positive degree	comparative	Superlative
interesting – interesting	more interesting – more interesting	most interesting - the most interesting
beautiful – beautiful	more beautiful - more beautiful	most beautiful - the most beautiful
expensive - expensive	more expensive - more expensive	most expensive - the most expensive
difficult - difficult	more difficult – more difficult	most difficult - the most difficult
dangerous – dangerous	more dangerous – more dangerous	most dangerous - the most dangerous
important - important	more important - more important	most important - the most important
comfortable - convenient	more comfortable - more comfortable	most comfortable - the most convenient

In the same way, i.e. Using the words more for the comparative degree and most for the superlative degree, some two-syllable words that end in -ed and - are formed into degrees of comparison.

ONLY QUALITATIVE ADJECTIVES HAVE DEGREES OF COMPARISON!

Qualitative adjectives differ in that they can denote a characteristic in varying degrees of its manifestation ( large – larger – largest). These forms are called degrees of comparison:

Comparative

Excellent

The paradigm of degrees of comparison also includes the adjective from which the forms of degrees of comparison are formed. The semantic basis of degrees of comparison is the quantitative assessment of the measure of the attribute. In the comparative degree paradigm, the original adjective is called the positive degree form.

Comparative degree (comparative) - denotes a quality that is found in one subject to a greater extent than in another, the name of which is put in the form of the gender or nominative case; the latter is preceded by a comparative conjunction How(truth is more valuable than gold).

Superlative (superlative) - denotes the highest degree of quality in a subject compared to another: most favorite writer; inflected like regular adjectives.

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

comparative

The simple form of the comparative degree does not change by gender, number and case; and therefore you need to be able to distinguish it from the form of the comparative degree of the adverb. If a word of this type is syntactically related to a noun, then it will compare the degree of the adjective; if it is connected to a verb, then it will compare the degree of the adverb ( oak is stronger than birch– adj; he squeezed the handle tighter– adverb)

Comparative forms tend to be used in the position of a connective, i.e. in the role of a predicate, but can also be a definition.

Formed from the base of the original adjective using suffixes –ee(s) – bolder,whiter(productive way) or –e, -she – more expensive, richer(unproductive way).

From adjectives with a stem on k, g, x and some words based on d, t, st comparative degree is formed using the suffix -e(in this case, final consonant stems alternate with sibilants) ( loud - louder, quiet - quieter, steep - steeper). In adjectives on -OK And -To the producing stem is truncation, the remaining final consonant alternates with a sibilant or paired soft ( high - above, low - below).

Comparative forms with suffix –she single ( distant - further, early - earlier, long - longer).

From three adjectives the form is formed suppletive way ( small - less, good - better, bad - worse).

Comparative forms are not formed from adjectives that name characteristics that do not change according to degrees. Sometimes they are not formed in accordance with the usage and not the meaning ( dilapidated, alien, scanty).

The complex form of degrees of comparison is formed by adding the word more. Moreover, such combinations can also be formed with a short form ( faster, more red).

Superlative

The simple form of the superlative degree has features in its meaning: in addition to the above basic meaning of the superiority of quality in an object compared to other objects, this form can denote the highest, extreme degree of quality in any object without comparison with others. In other words, it can denote a relatively high degree of quality: worst enemy, kindest creature.

The simple form is formed by adding a suffix –eysh (-aysh). Moreover, it is not formed from all adjectives; usually it is not found in those lexemes from which the comparative form is not formed. It may also be absent in those forms that have the form of a comparative degree. These are qualitative adjectives with suffixes –ast-, -ist, as well as many words with suffixes - liv-, -chiv-, -k-(narrow - narrower, hairy - hairier, silent - more silent).

A complex form is formed by combining a qualitative adjective and the word most. It is not related to lexical restrictions: the reddest, the kindest, the narrowest.

For adjectives with suffixes –ovat-(-evat-) no superlative form is formed, because the value of the incompleteness of the attribute is incompatible with the value of the high degree of the attribute ( the most deaf, the most deaf).

The superlative form denotes the highest degree of quality. Unlike the comparative degree, the superlative forms cannot express a comparative assessment of the degree of a characteristic in the same subject and in two subjects.

Qualitative adjectives have degrees of comparison: positive(original form), comparative(com parativ) And excellent(superlative). Grammatical category degrees of comparison acts as a grammaticalized core of the functional-semantic category of gradualism, the meaning of which is realized by multi-level linguistic means. The meaning of degrees of comparison is that the comparative degree conveys intensity of a feature in comparison with the same feature in another object .

Scientific discussion

From Aristotle to the present day, words conveying gradual meaning (measure, degree, magnitude of a characteristic, process, phenomenon, object), have been the object of study by many researchers 3 . M. V. Lomonosov in his “Russian Grammar” considered the degrees of comparison of the category subjective assessment. Russian grammarians of the 19th century. These aspects brought us closer together. Two categories of quality levels have been established - non-relative(old, old, old) And relative(the oldest of..., one is older than the other) .

Without calling the presented phenomena by a term gradualism, which modern scientists use, linguists have described a number of linguistic phenomena that correspond to the very essence of gradualism. All theories and descriptions of various quality levels with historical point of view represented an important perspective in the study of gradualism. Since the 15th century. In the Russian language there are all kinds of forms with graduated meanings.

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

Graduality– functional-semantic category with meaning measures, degrees of manifestation a sign, process, phenomenon, state expressed by multi-level linguistic means. Comparative degree ( comparative) denotes a variable characteristic that can appear in an object to a greater or lesser extent than in another object. Wed: This question more difficultprevious one. – This question more difficult,than the previous one. Excellent degree ( superlative) denotes such a variable characteristic that manifests itself in an object to the greatest or smallest extent than in another object: This the most difficultquestion of the topic being studied. - This the most difficultquestion of the topic being studied.

The forms of comparative and superlative degrees can be simple(synthetic) and complex(analytical).

Simple form comparative degree has indicators - suffixes -ee(s), -e: high – highere(alternating s//sh at the root of the word + truncation of the stem - suffix -ok-), strong – strongher (strong-to her) and so on. From adjectives good, bad, small Supplemental comparative forms are formed: good is better, bad is worse etc. The simple superlative degree is formed by adding suffixes -eysh-, - aish-: highaishyay, strongeishth etc. For example: Leo Tolstoy is a geniuseishth fromwriters of the 20th century.

Complex form comparative degrees are formed by additional words more/less+ positive degree: more (less)tall (kind).

Complex form excellent degrees are formed in several ways:

• a) using an additional (auxiliary) word (particles) most: most complex, highest and so on.;
• b) using additional (auxiliary) words most, least: least complex etc.;
• c) the combination “simple form of comparative degree + pronoun in the genitive case Total(or everyone)": the hardest thing (of everyone) and etc.;
• d) the combination “reinforcing particle All + simple form of comparative degree": The pain in my heart became Allhote(M. Sholokhov).

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

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

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

• – with absolute qualitative value: bald, blind, lame, dumb, barefoot, deaf and so on.;
• – with a base on [ w"], [and]: beggar, stalwart and etc.;
• – with suffix -sk-: friendskoh, enemyskth etc.;
• - from some verbal adjectives with suffix -k-: padToyay, moveToyay, shatToth etc.;
• – with suffix -ov-/-ev-: badovoh, boevOuch and so on.;
• – 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-: friendskoh, tragicskoh, enemyskth etc.;
• – with suffix -k-: bastardTooh, thunderToyay, ringingToth and so on.;
• – with suffix -ov-/-ev-: rowovoh, stroevoh, boevOuch and etc.;
• - from adjectives proud, young etc.

Excellent degree has two types of meaning:

• 1) manifestation of a sign in highest degree compared to other items ( superlative): oldest ofworkers and so on.;
• 2) expression extreme degree manifestations of a characteristic regardless of other objects (regardless of the large measure of the characteristic - elative): Got into stupidestposition, this raresthappening etc.

IN grammatical relatively complex shapes comparative And excellent degrees are no different from positive(original) degree. Simple comparative forms are unchangeable, cf.: House(s) (pine tree(s), building(s)) higher,how...

Syntactic(syntagmatic) conditions The use of morphological formations of different types in the Russian language is characterized by the following features.

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

So, reasoning, Selifan finally wandered into the most distant abstraction. Maybe it prompted him to do this 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, which will then expand wider and more spacious as it approaches the end, which crowns the matter (N. Gogol).

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

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

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

The shade 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 in both full and short form: this question is more important: important(composite form); this question is more important: more important(simple form). Short form more important conveys a state of mind in time: Currently this question more important.

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

Excellent degree of an adjective, acting in function nominal predicate, has three forms similar to the forms of the comparative degree: this question is the most (important): most (important): most important of all (everything). If the superlative expresses quality inanimate or animate object, then preference is given to the forms “most + full form of the adjective”:

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

• 3. Comparative degree in function predicate-predicate 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) connecting a simple comparative form with a genitive comparison: Wilson is more important than other birds(V. Mayakovsky);
• 2) connection compound form comparative degree, consisting of the word more and the short form of the positive degree, and the conjunction than: Wilson is more important than the 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 qualitative-evaluative and most qualitative adjectives form degrees of comparison expressing different degrees quality. But in a number of cases they do not have degrees of comparison due to their semantics: adjectives like mute, barefoot and so on. denote absolute quality and logically do not allow comparatives or superlatives. It is important to note that comparative and superlative degrees indicate different meanings as opposed to meaning positive degrees:

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

(V. Mayakovsky)

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

And the man - he was quick-witted,

He went after the bear,

He planted a spear in it

What higher navel, lower liver

• (meaning “slightly higher/lower”).
• (A. Pushkin)

Forms of adjectives on -ee, -e, -she with attachment By- indicate the predominance of some quality in one of the objects being compared: (book) more interesting; (boy) smarter and so on.

In combination with the genitive case of attributive pronouns Total or everyone(which, in essence, became formants, indicators of the superlative degree) The comparative degree takes on the meaning of the superlative. Such stable combinations carry the meaning of the highest degree of quality by comparative contrast anything other items in the aggregate and not from the same category. This is a complex form of elative, which does not combine with forms on -eysh-, -aysh-. For example:

What struck him most was that from Monday he would be Luzhin (V. Nabokov); And the geese screamed, / Disappearing in the sky, / What is most precious / The native side... (M. Isakovsky).

All three degrees represent a gradational series: rough: rougher: rudest; rough: more rough: the roughest and so on.

In russian language comparative degree is often used to mean excellent. This usage is distinguished by genitive case of the second element at a comparative degree. It can also be used with superlatives: best of all, richest of all. In some cases you may notice a “limited” meaning of the superlative – better (...) all others except one (two...).

Based on Otto Jespersen’s system of degrees of comparison, which excludes from consideration the superlative degree as a type of comparative, we will highlight the stages of gradation:

• 1.Superiority (>) more dangerous (better) than...
• 2. Equality(=) with 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 it is expressed inequality. There are two ways of expressing opposite meaning, which make it possible to change the relations of the first and third stages 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 his sister was older than him, so that in the Shcherbatskys’ house he saw for the first time 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 doesn't mean that Sister is old and the comparative degree can therefore mean lesser degree than the positive in the expression Sister is old. Similar sentence Sister is older than Levin says nothing about Levin's old age; By old age Levina will be implied if we add the adverb more: The sister is even older than Levin. We see that such a use of the word more is not self-evident.

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

There are designs proportional compliance, 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:

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

b) formant All together with the comparative degree it forms the superlative degree: He said everything is more and more illegible.

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

1) regardless of large measure (maximum degree) of the characteristic (elative meaning):

He the 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 appear in the meaning of the elative, i.e. in the sense of an absolutely greater degree of quality: greatest scientist(does not mean the greatest) ,

• 2) excellent degrees: the most faithful of friends, greatest poet ,
• 3) comparative degrees (a meaning almost lost in modern Russian, but which has left traces in phraseology): upon closer inspection.

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

I found myself in a stupid situation; This is a rare case, etc. - This the smartest, most decent and most talented man (N. Gogol); But nothing of the sort happened, he listened calmly, and when his father, who was trying to pick up the 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 degree of the form on -the greatest/-the greatest realized in combination with the preposition from:the most brilliant of (musicians), oldest of (workers)) and so on. For example:

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

Elative meaning is very close to the category of subjective evaluation. Elative forms express gradual meaning and serve to express the extreme degree of quality without indicating the relationship to other objects: Tiny specks of dust fluttered in the air; I found a rare specimen.

Consequently, a formal means of expressing the meanings of measure and degree (graduality) in the field of qualitative adjectives (and qualitative adverbs) is morphological level concerning the properties of morphemes and cases of analytical formation. As a grammaticalized core gradualism the corresponding category appears degrees of comparison – comparative, superlativeAndelative

• Cm.: Kolesnikova S. M. Semantics of gradualism and ways of expressing it in modern Russian. M., 1998; Hers. Functional-semantic category of gradualism in modern Russian language. M., 2010. pp. 78-86.
• See additional: Falev I. A. On the question of degrees of comparison in the modern Russian language // Language and thinking. Vol. 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 // Scientific notes Tartu State un-ta. T. 524: Problems of intrastructural functional description of language. Tartu, 1980; Kolesnikova S. M. Degrees of comparison of adjectives and the intensity of the attribute they express // Russian language at school. 1998. No. 5.
• Wed: Galich G. G. Gradual characteristics of modern qualitative adjectives, verbs and nouns German language: author's abstract. dis.... cand. Philol. Sci. 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 Yu. 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 (based on the Russian and English languages): abstract. dis.... cand. Philol. Sci. M., 1974; Turansky I. I. Semantic category of intensity in English. M., 1990; Vorotnikov Yu. L. Degrees of quality in modern Russian language. M., 1999; Norman V. Yu. Gradation in the Russian language // Qnantitat und Graduierungals kognitiv-semantische Kategorien. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz verlg, 2001. pp. 381-403. Sapir E. Graduation: semantic research // New in foreign linguistics. M., 1986. P. 43; Halina N.V. The category of gradualism in words and texts. Barnaul, 1993; Krzhizhkova E. Quantitative determination of adjectives in the Russian language (lexico-syntactic + analysis) // Syntax and norm. M., 1974. S. 122-144; Bolinger D. Degree words. Paris: Mouton, 1972; Studia gramatyezne bulgarsko-polskie. T. 3: Ilosc, gradaeja, osoba. Wroclaw, 1989; Kolesnikova S. M. Graduality: linguistic description (based on the Russian language) // Akademiai Kiado. Budapest, 2011; Repasi D., Szekely G. On gradualism in a comparative aspect // Bulletin of MGOU. Ser. "Russian Philology". Vol. 5. M., 2010. P. 110-117; Kolesnikova S. M. Functional-semantic category of gradualism in the modern Russian language // 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. P. 112.
• Isachenko A.V. The grammatical structure of the Russian language in comparison with Slovak. Bratislava, 1965. P. 201.
• Cm.: Jespersen O. Philosophy of grammar: trans. from English M., 1958.

Qualitative adjectiveshave degrees of comparison. They express a greater or lesser degree of quality in a given item compared to another item.
For example: (My house is more beautiful than your house). sometimes the comparison is made within the same object (increase or decrease) at different periods of its development, i.e. at the present moment, compared to his past state.
For example: (Demand for the product has become higher than last year).

Adjectives have two degrees of comparison:
comparative;
excellent.

1.Comparative degree of adjective means that some characteristic is manifested to a greater or lesser extent in one object than in another.
For example: I'm happier than you. Your briefcase is heavier than mine. My dog ​​is smarter than yours.

The comparative degree is:
A) simple
B) difficult

A) Simple comparative degree formed using suffixes:
“her”(s): For example: handsome - more beautiful, smart - smarter, cold - colder;
"e" (with or without alternation of the last consonant of the base):
For example: big - larger, short - shorter, sweet - sweeter;
“she”: For example: old – older, young – younger.
Sometimes a different root is used to form the comparative degree of an adjective.
Good is better, bad is worse, small is smaller.
Adjectives in the simple comparative form do not change and have no endings!

B) Complex comparative degree is formed from the full form of the positive degree of the adjective using the particles more and less.
Big – more (less) big, beautiful – more (less) beautiful.

2) Superlative adjectives.
The superlative degree shows that some attribute is manifested in a given object to the greatest extent, compared with the same attribute in other similar objects.
This one is mine Best game; He is the smartest boy in the class.

Superlatives are:
A) simple
B) difficult
The superlative degree of an adjective can change according to gender, number and case.
(We have approached the highest mountains).

A) Simple superlative is formed using the suffixes “eysh”, “aysh”.
For example: The stupidest, the deepest, the rarest, the closest
Sometimes a different root is used to form the superlative degree of an adjective.
For example: Good is the best, bad is the worst.
B) Complex superlative is formed from the full form of the positive degree of the adjective using the particles most, most and least.
For example: Small - the smallest, the smallest, the least small, smart - the most intelligent, the most intelligent, the least intelligent.

Superlative adjectives, like full forms positive degree of adjectives, change according to gender, number and case.

Publication date: 01/28/2012 17:58 UTC

• Morphological analysis of the adjective in Russian.
• Full and short forms of adjectives. Declension and spelling of case forms of adjectives in Russian.
• The concept of an adjective. Morphological features of adjectives. Classes of adjectives in Russian.