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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 a syntactic one using the adverbs "more", "most", "less" and "least".
The degree determiners much/many, little/few, and their comparative and superlative forms more, most, less/fewer, least/fewest all express quantification. Where two forms are given, the first is used with non-count nouns and the second with count nouns (although in colloquial English less and least are frequently also used with count nouns).
Comparative deletion is an obligatory ellipsis mechanism that occurs in the than-clause of a comparative construction. The elided material of comparative deletion is indicated using a blank, and the unacceptable b-sentences show what is construed as having been elided in the a-sentences: a. Fred reads more books than Susan reads ___. b.
Consequently, comparative and superlative forms of such adjectives are not normally used, except in a figurative, humorous or imprecise context. Similarly, such adjectives are not normally qualified with modifiers of degree such as very and fairly , although with some of them it is idiomatic to use adverbs such as completely .
2 Is it possible to describe degree of comparison without using comparatives? 2 comments. 3 Negative Comparisons. ... 7 Merger with Comparative and Superlative. 3 ...
The comparative less is used with both countable and uncountable nouns in some informal discourse environments and in most dialects of English. [citation needed] In other informal discourse however, the use of fewer could be considered natural.
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le solution le minus costose 'the least costly solution'. The suffix -issime may be used to express the absolute superlative degree. un aventura excellentissime 'a most excellent adventure' The adjectives bon 'good', mal 'bad', magne 'great', and parve 'small' have optional irregular forms for the comparative and superlative.