Comments on: Adjectives and Adverbs: Forms for Comparison

By: Jane

Jane — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 13:00:52 +0000

The comparative form would be more dangerous and the superlative form would be most dangerous.

By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 08:20:35 +0000

What about dangerous???????????

By: Jane

Jane — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 21:53:20 +0000

Since you are wanting to compare Maria’s work to others in her group (which we assume consists of more than one other person), the sentence could be, “Maria works the quickest of anyone in her group” or “Of any in her group, Maria works the quickest.”

By: John heaney

John heaney — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 06:46:57 +0000

hi, please can you sort out this mini grammar issue for me.
‘maria ______ in her group. i have 2 options, “works the quickest’ or works the most quickly’ which one is correct please and why do you think so. I think it is ‘works the quickest.’ Prove me wrong.
thanks for this excellent site. look forward to hearing from you soon.

regards.

By: Jane

Jane — Wed, 25 May 2011 00:50:31 +0000

Yes, spoken English certainly does differ in formality from written English. Your client makes an interesting point. A sentence without the rest of the comparative explanation can still be grammatically correct. In the phrases you mentioned, a better understanding, a better holiday, and a more comfortable journey, the rest of the comparative is implied. In less than formal writing, the rest of the comparative is only needed where there could be confusion over what the first part of the sentence is being compared to.

By: JP

JP — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 09:03:50 +0000

Hi,

A client doesn’t like the strapline ‘a better understanding’; she says a comparative is meaningless without reference to what it is better THAN. I do understand the (rather narrow) grammatical point, but surely ordinary spoken English – especially ‘commercial’ English – is rich with such law-bending?

And what seems most important is clarity. If a company says ‘For a better holiday’ or ‘For a more comfortable journey’, the omission of ‘than your previous holiday / usual journey’ isn’t important, is it?

By: Jane

Jane — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 04:25:41 +0000

Thank you for pointing out the fact that one of the examples is in the wrong section. In the example “Learning English grammar is more fun that I thought it would be,” the word “fun” is used as a noun, not an adjective. It will need to be removed from the “Adjectives and Adverbs” section. I do not agree with you that the superlative adjective form of “fun” would be “funniest.” “Fun” and “funny” are completely different words. (Even on a personal level I know people who are “fun” but are not necessarily funny!) Even the nonstandard use of “fun” as an adjective would be: fun, more fun, most fun. “Funny” would be funny, funnier, funniest.

By: Beni

Beni — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 22:41:41 +0000

Hi Jane,

I came across your blog after I heard many uses of “fun” as an adjective. You wrote:
“Some one-syllable words, such as fun, are exceptions. You must use more or most with fun.

Example: Learning English grammar is more fun than I thought it would be.”

The reason we cannot say “funner” or “funnest” is because “fun” is most definitely a noun, not an adjective. The adjective that derives from fun is “funny”. However, “funny” has come to connote other things, so the word “enjoyable” encapsulates better the intentions of the speaker when he/she uses “fun” erroneously as an adjective.

So, the corrected form of your example (“You are the funnest person I know.”) is simply: “You are the funniest person I know.”.

However, the Oxford Dictionary concedes:
“The use of fun as an adjective meaning ‘enjoyable,’ as in we had a fun evening, is now established in informal use, although not accepted in standard English. The adjective now has comparative and superlative forms funner and funnest, formed as if fun were a standard adjective.”

Nonetheless, I do not think that your grammar website should promote non-accepted forms of grammar.

Regards,
Beni

By: Jane

Jane — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 19:38:45 +0000

“more quickly”
“Quickly” answers how the person walks, so an adverb is necessary.
The next example you give is not grammatically correct, so I can’t give you an answer.

By: Susan Musca

Susan Musca — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 14:46:50 +0000

Which is correct? please

The quicker you walk the sooner you’ll arrive

OR
The more quickly you walk , the sooner you’ll arrive

If the second sentence is correct ,is it because ‘quickly’ is referring to the verb.
If so, is the following correct? ( here quicker is an adjective)

The quicker you are in this exercise, the more bonus you’ll receive