Grammar:
Comparatives and superlatives
This section gives an
overview of the basic rules related to the construction of comparatives and
superlatives. For a more detailed presentation of this grammatical point
(notably with regard to exceptions and specific cases), you may wish to consult
a grammar book such as S. Berland-Delépine, La
grammaire anglaise de l’étudiant, Ophrys.
Ø Comparatives :
Superiority
o
For short words (i.e. One
syllable or two-syllable words ending in “y”):
ê Use: Adj.+ er
+ than
Ex: Texas is bigger
than New Hampshire.
o
For longer adjectives (i.e. Two
syllables or more) or adverbs ending in “ly” (“slowly”, “seriously”):
ê Use: More +
Adj. + than
Ex: The
presidential election is more
captivating this year than it
was four years ago.
N.B.: Two-syllable adjectives are generally
considered as:
- Short, if they end in “y” (pretty ê prettier
ê prettiest),
in “er” (clever), in “le” (gentle), or in “low” (narrow, shallow)
- Long, if they end in “ful” (useful,
careful), “ish” (bookish), “ive” (active), “id” (vivid), or if they are formed
with the prefix “a” (alone, afraid)
o
Comparative structure with a noun:
ê Use: More + noun
Ex: Texas gets more electors than North Dakota.
o
Comparative structure with a verb:
ê Use: Verb+ noun
Ex: I work more than my friend (does).
Equality:
ê Use: As + Adj. + As
Ex: She is as tall as her brother / She is as intelligent as her brother.
Inferiority:
ê Less + Adj. + than
Ex: Dick is less tall than John.
Ex: Nebraska is much less populated than Illinois. /
Nebraska is far less populated than Illinois.
or
ê Not as + Adj. + as
Ex: Vermont isn’t as populated as Maine.
Ø Superlatives
Superiority:
o
For short words (i.e. One
syllable or two-syllable words ending in “y”):
ê Use: Adj.+ est
Ex: It is the
toughest campaign that I have ever seen.
o
For longer adjectives (i.e. Two
syllables or more)
ê Use: the
most
Ex: He is the
most popular of all the candidates.
Inferiority:
ê Use: The
least
Ex: The candidate the
least likely to win the election became the new President.
Ø Some
adjectives and adverbs have irregular comparative and superlative forms:
- Good / well ê
(comp.) better ê
(sup.) the best
- Bad / badlyê
(comp.) worse ê
(sup.) the worst
- Far ê
(comp.) farther / further ê
(sup.) the farthest / the furthest
When talking about distances, both “farther” or
“further” may be used. But only “further” may be used in the sense of “more or
additional” in a more abstract context.
Ex: “For further
information on Government policy, please contact the Press Officer”.
- Old ê (comp.)
older ê
(sup.) the oldest
When talking about people and family members, “elder”
/ “the eldest” are also used.
Ex: Bill has two
sisters. His elder sister is called
Sarah. Claire is younger than Bill. So Sarah is the eldest of the three.
But you can’t
say “Sarah is elder than Bill and Claire”. “Sarah is older than Bill and Claire” is the correct form.
Ø Progression:
Ex: The campaign
is getting tougher and tougher everyday.
Ex: Opponents of
the Electoral College system are getting more
and more vocal all the time.
Ex: The TV show
is becoming less and less interesting.
Ø
Parallel progression:
“The more, the merrier”, “The sooner, the better”, “The less said about
it, the better”
N.B.: Each proposition starts with the adjective in the comparative form.
Ex: The more the candidate campaigns, the more
support he musters.
Ø “All
the more” (…) “as”
Ex: He felt all the more depressed as
all his friends were away.
Ex: I was all
the less surprised as I have
known him for years.
Ø “Twice
as” / “half as”
Ex: This house costs twice as much as the apartment we visited this morning.
Ex: There are twice
as many people tonight as there were at last night’s meeting.
Ex : This
conference room is half as big as
the one in New York / It is half the
size of the one in New York / It is twice
as small as the one in New York.
Ø The
first paragraph, the second paragraph (…)
N.B.: The last
paragraph, the second last paragraph.
The candidate
from the South obtained the second best
score.
Other grammatical points:
Ø
- Nevada's 2.2
million residents (from the text “Making votes count”)
- Jim owes Tom three thousand dollars. (= $ 3000)
- Betty bought three dozen eggs. (= 3 x 12)
- Two hundred people attended the conference (= 200 people)
N.B.: in this structure
there is no “s” and no preposition “of”.
≠
- Dozens of representatives: (“des douzaines de”)
- There were thousands of people at the
party meeting (“des millions de”)
Ø
- “Article II of the
Constitution” but “The second article
of the Constitution”
- “During World War II” but
“During the Second World War”
- “In paragraph 3” but “In the third paragraph”
Ø When a
name is preceded by the function or the title of the person, use no article:
-
“Ø President
Obama” = “The President of the
United States”
-
“Ø Vice
President Joe Biden” = “The Vice
President of the United States”
Ø Every + singular:
- “Every vote is equal” / “every
other year” (Ex: Representatives in
Congress seek re-election every other
year.)
- But: “Every four years”
Glossary:
To fight a campaign
The electorate: all the people in a country who are entitled to vote in an election
To canvass: to solicit votes from voters or to question people to obtain their opinion on a specific question
To be / to go on the stump: to be engaged in political campaigning
To take the stump ó to go to the country ó to hit the campaign trail
To address public meetings
To barnstorm: make a rapid tour as part of a political campaign
To woo voters: to court voters
A smear: a false accusation ê “a smear campaign”
Grassroots: the most basic level of an activity or organization ê ordinary people regarded as the main body of an organization’s membership ê “a grassroots campaign”
The party establishment (ó party leaders) ≠ the rank-and-file
To pull in votes: to win votes
To muster 5% of the votes: to succeed in collecting 5% of the votes
The Primaries ó the primary elections (open primaries ≠ closed primaries)
A caucus ê (pl.) caucuses
Super Tuesday
A delegate ê pledged delegates ≠ unpledged delegates
A superdelegate
The National Convention
The nominee: the official candidate of the party (once he has been official chosen by the national party convention) ê nomination
A voting system
A ballot: a system or occasion of secret voting
A ballot slip: the piece of paper on which one votes
An unmarked ballot: a blank vote
A ballot box: a sealed box into which voters put completed ballot papers
A two stage election ó a two-tier election ó a two round system
A first round ó A first ballot
Polling day ó election day ê (phr.) to go to the polls
A polling station: a place where people go to vote in an election
A polling booth: a small area partitioned on three sides in a polling station where you can vote in private
A polling booth: a small area partitioned on three sides in a polling station where you can vote in private
To cast a vote: to vote
The turnout: the number of people taking part in an election ê a low turnout ≠ a high turnout
Even years (2004, 2006, 2008…) ≠ odd years (2005, 2007, 2011…)
The franchise: the right to vote in public elections
To enfranchise / enfranchisement ≠ to disenfranchise (also, to disfranchise)
An opinion poll ó a survey
An exit poll: an opinion poll of people leaving a polling station, asking how they voted
A pollster: a person who conducts or analyses opinion polls
The electors: the members of the Electoral College
The winner-takes-all system
A faithless elector
A Census: an official count or survey of a population
A Census: an official count or survey of a population
The presidential race
An incumbent president: a president currently holding office
To run for president
The running mate
The ticket
A contender: a challenger, a competitor
The front-runner: the candidate who is leading in the race
The runner-up: the candidate taking second place
An underdog: a candidate thought to have little chance of winning the election
To endorse a candidate: to proclaim one’s support in favour of a candidate publicly
A blue state: a traditionally Democratic state
A red state: a state that usually votes for the Republican Party
A swing state: a large state with a significant number of electors, which alternates between support for Democrats and Republicans and where the outcome of the election is difficult to predict
To tally the votes: to count, to add up the votes
To carry a state: to win a majority of votes in a state
To pull off a victory ó to carry the day: to win an election.
A landslide victory (ê to win by a landslide) ≠ a narrow victory, a scant victory
A tie óa draw
The President-elect
To swear someone in ó to be sworn in ê the swearing-in ceremony
To take the oath of office
A term of office
A mandate: the authority to carry out a policy or course of action regarded as given by the electorate to a party or candidate that wins an election
To hand over power to someone
To come to power = to take office
To leave office
To retire from politics
you may wish to consult a grammar book such as S. Berland-Delépine, La grammaire anglaise de l’étudiant, Ophrys. extra resources
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