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40-466: The associated grammatical category is degree of comparison . The usual degrees of comparison are the positive , which simply denotes a property (as with the English words big and fully ); the comparative , which indicates great er degree (as bigger and more fully ); and the superlative , which indicates great est degree (as biggest and most fully ). Some languages have forms indicating

80-491: A grammatical category is as a category that expresses meanings from a single conceptual domain, contrasts with other such categories, and is expressed through formally similar expressions. Another definition distinguishes grammatical categories from lexical categories, such that the elements in a grammatical category have a common grammatical meaning – that is, they are part of the language's grammatical structure. Rhetorical Too Many Requests If you report this error to

120-841: A greater or lesser degree. Many prescriptive grammars and style guides include adjectives for inherently superlative qualities to be non-gradable. Thus, they reject expressions such as more perfect , most unique , and most parallel as illogical pleonasms : after all, if something is unique, it is one of a kind, so nothing can be "very unique", or "more unique" than something else. Other style guides argue that terms like perfect and parallel never apply exactly to things in real life, so they are commonly used to mean nearly perfect , nearly parallel , and so on; in this sense, more perfect ( i.e. , more nearly perfect, closer to perfect) and more parallel ( i.e. , more nearly parallel, closer to parallel) are meaningful. In most Balto-Slavic languages (such as Czech, Polish, Lithuanian and Latvian),

160-428: A larger number. For instance, "May the better man win" would be considered correct if there are only two individuals competing. However, this rule is not always observed in informal usage; the form "May the best man win" will often be used in that situation, as is required if there were three or more competitors involved. However, in some cases when two subjects with equal qualities are compared, usage of superlative degree

200-416: A person , best kind of person , not that good kind of a person ) and "по̀ обичам (po obicham), най-малко обичам (nay malko obicham)" ( I like more , I like the least ) are quite usual. In many languages, including English, traditional grammar requires the comparative form to be used when exactly two things are being considered, even in constructions where the superlative would be used when considering

240-406: A prefix to the comparative). In Russian , comparative and superlative forms are formed with a suffix or with the words более ( more ) and самый ( most ): In contrast to English, the relative and the superlative are joined into the same degree (the superlative), which can be of two kinds: comparative (e.g. "very beautiful") and absolute (e.g. "the most beautiful"). French : The superlative

280-677: A syntactic one using the adverbs "more", "most", "less" and "least". As a general rule, words of one syllable require the suffix (except for a few words such as fun , real , right , wrong ), while words of three or more syllables require "more" or "most". This leaves words of two syllables—these are idiomatic, some requiring the morphological construction, some requiring the syntactic and some able to use either (e.g., polite can use politer or more polite ), with different frequencies according to context. Morphological comparison The suffixes -er (the "comparative") and -est (the "superlative") are of Germanic origin and are cognate with

320-540: A very large degree of a particular quality (called elative in Semitic linguistics). Other languages (e.g. English) can express lesser degree, e.g. beautiful , less beautiful , least beautiful . The comparative degrees are frequently associated with adjectives and adverbs because these words take the -er suffix or modifying word more or less. (e.g., fast er , more intelligent , less wasteful ). Comparison can also, however, appear when no adjective or adverb

360-452: Is vo usse lambī hai that.NOM that.INST tall.FEM is She is taller than him/her. vo Grammatical category In linguistics , a grammatical category or grammatical feature is a property of items within the grammar of a language . Within each category there are two or more possible values (sometimes called grammemes ), which are normally mutually exclusive. Frequently encountered grammatical categories include: Although

400-446: Is "the pinky is the smallest finger." Irregular comparatives are "mejor" for "bueno" and "peor" for "malo," which can be used as comparative superlatives also by adding the definite article or possessive article, so that " nuestro peor error fue casarnos" is " our worst mistake was to get married." The absolute superlative is normally formed by modifying the adjective by adding -ísimo , -ísima , -ísimos or -ísimas , depending on

440-464: Is created from the comparative by inserting the definitive article (la, le, or les), or the possessive article ( mon , ton , son , etc.), before "plus" or "moins" and the adjective determining the noun. For instance: Elle est la plus belle femme → (she is the most beautiful woman); Cette ville est la moins chère de France → (this town is the least expensive in France); C'est sa plus belle robe → (It

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480-582: Is her most beautiful dress). It can also be created with the suffix "-issime" but only with certain words, for example: "C'est un homme richissime" → (That is the most rich man). Its use is often rare and ironic. Spanish : The comparative superlative , like in French, has the definite article (such as "las" or "el"), or the possessive article ("tus," "nuestra," "su," etc.), followed by the comparative ("más" or "menos"), so that "el meñique es el dedo más pequeño " or "el meñique es el más pequeño de los dedos"

520-428: Is not explicit. This is a common rhetorical device used to create an implication of significance where one may not actually be present. Although common, such usage is sometimes considered ungrammatical . For example: English has two grammatical constructions for expressing comparison: a morphological one formed using the suffixes -er (the "comparative") and -est (the "superlative"), with some irregular forms, and

560-409: Is not possible. For example, "Ram is as good as Shyam"—positive degree; "Ram is not better than Shyam"—comparative degree. Since Ram and Shyam are equally good, neither is superior which negates the usage of the superlative. In some contexts such as advertising or political speeches, absolute and relative comparatives are intentionally employed in ways that invite comparison, yet the basis of comparison

600-489: Is present, for instance with nouns (e.g., more men than women ). However, the usage of the word than between nouns simply denotes a comparison made and not degree of comparison comparing the intensity or the extent of the subjects. One preposition , near , also has comparative and superlative forms, as in Find the restaurant nearest your house . Comparatives and superlatives may be formed in morphology by inflection, as with

640-422: Is reflected in a morphological or syntactic paradigm. But in generative grammar , which sees meaning as separate from grammar, they are categories that define the distribution of syntactic elements. For structuralists such as Roman Jakobson grammatical categories were lexemes that were based on binary oppositions of "a single feature of meaning that is equally present in all contexts of use". Another way to define

680-403: Is singular, and by adding the suffix -s if it is plural (although some nouns have irregular plural forms ). On other occasions, a category may not be marked overtly on the item to which it pertains, being manifested only through other grammatical features of the sentence, often by way of grammatical agreement . For example: The bird can sing. The bird s can sing. In the above sentences,

720-458: Is sometimes called an exponent . Grammatical relations define relationships between words and phrases with certain parts of speech, depending on their position in the syntactic tree. Traditional relations include subject , object , and indirect object . A given constituent of an expression can normally take only one value in each category. For example, a noun or noun phrase cannot be both singular and plural, since these are both values of

760-476: Is the most beautiful); Ella es bellísima → (she is extremely beautiful). Portuguese and Italian distinguish comparative superlative (superlativo relativo) and absolute superlative (superlativo absoluto/assoluto) . For the comparative superlative they use the words "mais" and "più" between the article and the adjective, like "most" in English. For the absolute superlative they either use "muito"/"molto" and

800-483: Is to be shown, the personal pronouns take the oblique case and add the genitive case-marker kā (का کا) while the nouns just take in the oblique case form and optionally add the genitive case-marker. The word zyādā (ज़्यादा زیادہ) "more" is optional, while kam (कम کم) "less" is required, so that in the absence of either "more" will be inferred. INST:instrumental case:Instrumental case vo that. NOM usse that. INST lambī tall. FEM hai

840-610: The Latin suffixes - ior and - issimus and Ancient Greek - ῑ́ων  : - īōn and - ῐστος  : - istos . They are typically added to shorter words, words of Anglo-Saxon origin, and borrowed words fully assimilated into English vocabulary. Usually the words taking these inflections have fewer than three syllables. This system also contains a number of irregular forms, some of which, like "good", "better", and "best", contain suppletive forms. These irregular forms include: Syntactic comparison In syntactic construction, inserting

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880-574: The "number" category. It can, however, be both plural and feminine, since these represent different categories (number and gender). Categories may be described and named with regard to the type of meanings that they are used to express. For example, the category of tense usually expresses the time of occurrence (e.g. past, present or future). However, purely grammatical features do not always correspond simply or consistently to elements of meaning, and different authors may take significantly different approaches in their terminology and analysis. For example,

920-464: The English and German -er and -(e)st forms and Latin's -ior (superior, excelsior ), or syntactically , as with the English more... and most... and the French plus... and le plus... forms. Common adjectives and adverbs often produce irregular forms, such as better and best (from good ) and less and least (from little/few ) in English, and meilleur (from bon ) and mieux (from

960-495: The Latin one. In the first case words lose the ending "-re" and they gain the endings errimo (singular masculine), errima (singular feminine), érrimos / errimi (plural masculine), or érrimas / errime (plural feminine); in the second case words lose the "-l"/"-le" ending and gain ílimo / illimo (singular masculine), ílima / illima (singular feminine), ílimos / illimi (plural masculine), or ílimas / illime (plural feminine),

1000-468: The above sentences, the noun phrase the birds inherits plural number from the noun birds . In other cases such values are associated with the way in which the phrase is constructed; for example, in the coordinated noun phrase Tom and Mary , the phrase has plural number (it would take a plural verb), even though both the nouns from which it is built up are singular. In traditional structural grammar, grammatical categories are semantic distinctions; this

1040-403: The adjective or modify the adjective by taking away the final vowel and adding issimo (singular masculine), issima (singular feminine), íssimos / issimi (plural masculine), or íssimas / issime (plural feminine). For example: There are some irregular forms for some words ending in "-re" and "-le" (deriving from Latin words ending in "-er" and "-ilis") that have a superlative form similar to

1080-405: The adjective, the word "puțin" (little) is added between "mai" and the adjective, for example mai puțin luminos → less bright. For absolute superlatives, the gender-dependent determinant "cel" precedes "mai," inflected as "cel" for masculine and neuter singular, "cei" for masculine plural, "cea" for feminine singular, and "cele" for feminine and neuter plural. For example: cea mai luminoasă stea →

1120-492: The adverb bien ) in French. Most if not all languages have some means of forming the comparative, although these means can vary significantly from one language to the next. Comparatives are often used with a conjunction or other grammatical means to indicate to what the comparison is being made, as with than in English, als in German, etc. In Russian and Greek ( Ancient , Koine and Modern ), this can be done by placing

1160-440: The brightest star; cele mai frumoase fete → the most beautiful girls; cel mai mic morcov → the smallest carrot. Hindi - Urdu ( Hindustani )ː When comparing two quantities makes use of the instrumental case-marker se (से سے) and the noun or pronoun takes the oblique case . Words like aur (और اور) "more, even more", zyādā (ज़्यादा زیادہ) "more" and kam (कम کم) "less" are added for relative comparisons. When equivalence

1200-406: The comparative and superlative forms are also declinable adjectives. In Bulgarian , comparative and superlative forms are formed with the clitics по- ( more ) and най- ( most ): In Czech , Polish , Slovak , Ukrainian , Serbo-Croatian and Slovene , the comparative is formed from the base form of an adjective with a suffix and superlative is formed with a circumfix (equivalent to adding

1240-568: The compared noun in the genitive case. With superlatives, the population being considered may be explicitly indicated, as in "the best swimmer out of all the girls". Languages also possess other structures for comparing adjectives and adverbs, such as "as... as" in English. А few languages apply comparison to nouns and even verbs. One such language is Bulgarian , where expressions like "по̀ човек (po chovek), най човек (nay chovek), по-малко човек (po malko chovek)" (literally more person , most person , less person but normally better kind of

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1280-415: The gender or number. Thus, "¡Los chihuahuas son perros pequeñísimos!" is "Chihuahuas are such tiny dogs!" Some irregular superlatives are "máximo" for "grande," "pésimo" for "malo," "ínfimo" for "bajo," "óptimo" for "bueno," "acérrimo" for "acre," "paupérrimo" for "pobre," "celebérrimo" for "célebre." There is a difference between comparative superlative and absolute superlative: Ella es la más bella → (she

1320-560: The irregular form for words ending in "-l"/"-le" is somehow rare and, in Italian but not in Portuguese, it exists only in the archaic or literary language. For example: Romanian , similar to Portuguese and Italian, distinguishes comparative and absolute superlatives. The comparative uses the word "mai" before the adjective, which operates like "more" or "-er" in English. For example: luminos → bright, mai luminos → brighter. To weaken

1360-412: The meanings associated with the categories of tense, aspect and mood are often bound up in verb conjugation patterns that do not have separate grammatical elements corresponding to each of the three categories; see Tense–aspect–mood . Categories may be marked on words by means of inflection . In English , for example, the number of a noun is usually marked by leaving the noun uninflected if it

1400-404: The number is marked overtly on the noun, and is also reflected by verb agreement. However: The sheep can run. In this case the number of the noun (or of the verb) is not manifested at all in the surface form of the sentence, and thus ambiguity is introduced (at least, when the sentence is viewed in isolation). Exponents of grammatical categories often appear in the same position or "slot" in

1440-450: The number of the noun is marked by the absence or presence of the ending -s . The sheep is running. The sheep are running. In the above, the number of the noun is not marked on the noun itself ( sheep does not inflect according to the regular pattern), but it is reflected in agreement between the noun and verb: singular number triggers is , and plural number are . The bird is singing. The bird s are singing. In this case

1480-404: The use of terms varies from author to author, a distinction should be made between grammatical categories and lexical categories. Lexical categories (considered syntactic categories ) largely correspond to the parts of speech of traditional grammar, and refer to nouns, adjectives, etc. A phonological manifestation of a category value (for example, a word ending that marks "number" on a noun)

1520-435: The use of the superlative or comparative with words such as full , complete , unique , or empty , which by definition already denote a totality, an absence, or an absolute. However, such words are routinely and frequently qualified in contemporary speech and writing. This type of usage conveys more of a figurative than a literal meaning, because in a strictly literal sense, something cannot be more or less unique or empty to

1560-468: The word (such as prefix , suffix or enclitic ). An example of this is the Latin cases , which are all suffixal: ros a , ros ae , ros ae , ros am , ros a , ros ā ("rose", in the nominative , genitive , dative , accusative , vocative and ablative ). Categories can also pertain to sentence constituents that are larger than a single word ( phrases , or sometimes clauses ). A phrase often inherits category values from its head word; for example, in

1600-915: The words "more" or "most" before an adjective or adverb modifies the resulting phrase to express a relative (specifically, greater) degree of that property. Similarly, inserting the diminutives "less" or "least" before an adjective or adverb expresses a lesser degree. This system is most commonly used with words of French or Latin derivation; with adjectives and adverbs formed with suffixes other than -ly (e.g., "beautiful"); and with longer, technical, or infrequent words. For example: Absolute adjectives Some adjectives' (the absolute adjectives ) meanings are not exhibitable in degrees, making comparative constructions of them inappropriate. Some qualities are either present or absent such as being cretaceous vs. igneous , so it appears illogical to call anything "very cretaceous", or to characterize something as "more igneous" than something else. Some grammarians object to

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