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13.1.1 The comparison of two equal things is expressed by "as ... as ."
Its negative form can be expressed in two ways, either by "not as ...
as," or by "not so ... as ."
13.1.3 The superlative is expressed by "the most ...," or, with short
adjectives, by the form ending in "est."
The opposite idea can be expressed by "the least ... ," but we often tend
to replace this by the superlative form of an adjective having the opposite
sense.
13.2.3 Adjectives ending in "ed" generally take "more" and "most," even
short adjectives such as "tired" and "bored," as well as longer ones such as
"amused," "annoyed" and "surprised."
I think I was more tired than you were after yesterday's walk.
It's hard to say who was the most surprised of the three!
In cases where you are not sure, the comparative and superlative
forms using "more" and "most" can generally be used, although it may be a
little clumsy at times. Longer adjectives always take the forms using "more"
and "most."
13.2.4 Adverbs always have the comparative forms with "more" and
"most," apart from the few monosyllabic forms such as "fast," "hard" and so
on, and also "early," which gives us the forms "earlier" and "earliest."
Your suggestion is good, but David had an even better idea, and I
think George's was in fact the best.
Martin played quite well, but his cousin played better than he did, and
their friend Penelope played the best of all.
13.3.2 bad - worse - worst
She's a bad cook, worse than her mother in fact, but it's their
grandmother who's the worst of the lot.
Daphne drives very badly, worse than her mother in fact, (which takes
some doing!) But guess who drives the worst in the family? - That's right,
Grandma!
Don't go too far along that cliff-top, it gets more dangerous the farther
you go; the farthest I ever went was about twenty or thirty yards, but then I
got quite scared.
"Elder" and "eldest" are alternative forms, which can only be used
when you are talking about members of the same family; they are used
either in front of a noun, or as pronouns.
13.4.1 "Much," (singular,) and "many," (plural,) are quite often used in
negatives and questions, but otherwise they are generally replaced by "a lot
of," especially in spoken English. The corresponding comparative and
superlative forms are "more" and "most."
I did quite a lot of work today, but you did more than me, and I think
in fact that Charles did the most.
Mary makes a lot of mistakes in her spelling, but she makes even more
in arithmetic, and her grammar exercises contain the most mistakes in the
class.
13.4.2 "Little" followed by a singular noun means "not much," and has
the comparative and superlative forms "less" and "least."
We have little time to do all the work you've given us, Sir.
My little sister does less work than I do.
You have the least patience of all the people I know!
13.4.3 "Few" followed by a plural noun means "not many," and strictly
speaking the comparative and superlative forms are "fewer" and "fewest,"
although in fact you will sometimes hear "less" and "least" used.
There are few problems I can think of that are more urgent than that of
environmental pollution.
They have fewer reasons than us for not being content.
It's in places like Liverpool that there are the fewest jobs.
(It's the poor who have the least opportunities to make themselves
heard.)
13.4.4 "Late" gives us the normal forms "later" and "latest," but one or
two remarks are necessary. First of all, notice the uses made of these forms
in the following examples:
Pay attention also to the following examples, which show you how we
use the terms "the former" and "the latter," to differentiate between two
people or things which have just been specifically mentioned.
Higgins and Brocklehurst both work in London, the former in the City,
and the latter in the West End.
A life sentence was suggested, as was hanging, the latter idea creating
an immense uproar in the court.
13.4.7 Don't forget that you must use a comparative form, and not a
superlative, when you are comparing two people or things.
The south coast is warmer than the northern isles by several degrees.
He was faster than the second runner by just twelve hundredths of a
second.
I think your idea is better by far.
13.4.9 "Same" and "such" are followed by "as" when they indicate a
comparison, which is quite logical, as they indicate an idea of equality.
13.4.13 Note how the following sort of comparison of two ideas requires
the use and the repetition of the definite article.
13.4.16 Note the different ways of expressing the comparison after the verb
"to prefer."
She prefers coffee to tea, but she prefers whisky to them both.
I used to prefer Beethoven to Brahms, but now I'm not so sure.
We all prefer playing to sitting and watching.
We all prefer to play rather than (to) sit and watch.