Comparison (porovnávání)

ADJECTIVES

There are 3 degrees of comparison:

↓POSITIVE↓      ↓COMPARATIVE↓      ↓SUPERLATIVE↓

a/ one – syllable adjectives and two - syllable adjectives ending in –y are compared by means of:

                           -er                          the –est

    old                  older                       the oldest

    big                  bigger                     the biggest

    late                  later                        the latest

    happy              happier                   the happiest

• with a few two – syllable adjectives both ways of comparison are possible:

These are ending in –er, -ow, -le

e.g. clever - cleverer      -     the cleverest

                 - more clever -    the most clever

      yellow, gentle…

• extra skupina:  more – the most

                                  common, quiet, handsome, polite, pleasant, wicked, stupid, cruel, tired

• irregular: good – better – the best

                     bad  -  worse – the worst

                    late  -  later   -  the latest (nejnovější)

                            -  latter  -  the last    (poslední)

       -     the former – the latter: John and Frank are students. The former is getting on well, the latter     

             wants drop out.

• His latest book is better than his last book.
• Far -  farther – the farthest

                 -  further – the furthest

                           =>  both refer to the distance : It´s farther / further from here.

                           =>  the system of further education

                           =>  I can´t give you any further information = extra or additional

      -      old – older – the oldest

                  - elder – the eldest + son, daughter, brother, sister … členové rodiny – my elder / older sister

      -      little – less / lesser – the least : The Lesser Town, The Lesser Bear, the lesser of the two evils

                                                            (menší zlo)

b/ two and more – syllable words:

    modern      -   more / less modern     -     the most / least modern

    interesting -    more / less interesting-     the most / least interesting

ADVERBS

1/ How to form them?

a/ adjective  +  ly  = adverb

    slow         +  ly  = slowly

b/ adjective  = adverb

    fast          = fast ( back, early, far, long, straight)

    hard         = hard( hardly- sotva, stěží)

                            adjective                                     adverb                                                x

hard               This is hard work.             He works hard.                       I can hardly understand. (stěží)

deep              a deep pond                    deep in my heart                    deeply hurt (hluboce)

direct             a direct way                     You can dial direct.                Call the doctor directly.(okamžitě)

high               a high mountain                high in the mountains              It´s s highly interesting. = very

late                a late train                        late in the evening                  I haven´t seen him lately.

low                a low building                   to hang low                            lowly paid = mizerně, špatně

near               a near town                      near here                                it´s nearly twelve= téměř,skoro

right                                                                                                   rightly punished ( spravedlivě)

short                                                     cut it short  (zkrať to)              shortly after dark = soon

c/  adjective          adverb

     friendly            in a friendly way

     interesting       in an interesting way

2/ How to compare them?

a/ slowly                         more slowly                       (the) most slowly

b/ fast                            faster                                  (the) fastest

    hard                            harder                               (the) hardest

c/ in a friendly way          in a more friendly way        in the most friendly way

    in an interesting way    in an more interesting way  in the most interesting way

e.g.   He laughs best who laughs last( není člen). The machine runs most quietly at 6,000 revolutions per minute. He went furthest of all saying we were idiots. The longest I can stay is 3 hours. The Mousetrap is the longest running play.

- irregular comparatives:well – better – best

                                     badly- worse – worst

                                     little – less – least

- talking about similar things:He drives like his father.

                                          He drives just like his father.

                                          Drive as fast as you can.

                                          Living in the country is as expensive as living in a town.

                                          Living in the country is not as expensive as living in a town.

                                          I´ve never been to such a good party as this one.

- talking about differences:I´m older than he is. (formal)

                                       I´m older than him. ( informal)

                                       He drives better than he does (F) / him (I).

                                                    This is much more / a lot more / far more / rather more / a little more

                                          /a bit more expensive.

- continuous change:He´s getting fatter and fatter.

                              Are you any happier now?

               The – the :the more, the better

                               the faster you drive, the more petrol you will use

               Far ( C+ U) - far / much more water ( U)

                                  -far / many more water  (C)

- superlative:She´s the most sensible of them all / in the class.

                    She´s by far the most sensible girl.

           X       That was most kind of you.  = very

                    That was a most interesting talk. = very / highly

                    Most people don´t agree. = většina

just – more just

shy – shyer

dry – drier

            a kind harted woman – a kinder harted woman

            hard working – more hard working