§ Comparison of Adjective

以前提及形容詞有不同的等級：

 1. 原級 Positive Degree
 2. 比較級 Comparative Degree
 3. 最高級 Superlative Degree

現在看一些例子：

1. Your orange is sweet.
2. His orange is sweeter than yours.
3. My orange is the sweetest of all.

1. John's ball is large.
2. Harry's ball is larger than John's ball.
3. Peter's ball is the largest of all.

1. Charles is thin.
2. David is thinner than Charles.
3. Dick is the thinnest man in the town.

1. Mary is very pretty.
2. Susan is prettier than Mary.
3. Linda is the prettiest girl in our school.

1. Betty is very beautiful.
2. Clare is more beautiful than Betty.
3. Dora is the most beautiful girl in America.

  * "most" 既可表示「最高級」，亦可表示「非常」。例如：
      This is the most interesting novel.﹝最高級﹞
      This is a most interesting novel.﹝非常﹞

1. You are five years older than my sister.
2. Your car is older than mine.

  * "older / oldest" 表示「年紀較大」或「舊一些」；
    "elder /eldest"表示「長幼次序」。

1. My elder brother is a teacher.
2. My eldest son is a teacher.

1. He was later than I expected.
2. I have not heard the latest news.﹝我仍未聽聞最近的新聞。﹞

  * 表示時間的遲早：late → later → latest
    表示次序的先後：late → latter → last

  * "former" 與 "latter"相對，即「前者」與「後者」。 
    Mr.Jones and Mr. Smith are next-door neighbors; the former 
    is a policeman and the latter is a bank employee.

1. The latter chapters are very interesting.
  ﹝較後的篇章很有趣。﹞
2. The last chapter was written carelessly.
  ﹝最後一章寫得不小心。﹞

1. Your house is farther from school than mine.
  ﹝你的住宅離學校比我的更遠。﹞
2. Which village in England is the farthest from London?

  * 表示長度的距離，用 "farther"；表示時間、數量、程度的差距，
    用 "further"。但漸有全部用 "further" 的傾向。

  * "futher" 另有「進一步」的意思。例如：
     We must get further information.

1. Tom is the cleverest boy in the class.
2. Joseph is the oldest of all the persons in the hall.

  * 在某地中之最者，用 "in"；在某人群中之最者，用 "of"。

John is wiser than all the students in his class.
﹝約翰在班中較所有同學聰明。﹞

※ Logical mistake：John 亦是班中的分子，他怎能比自己聰明？
  應說：
1. John is wiser than all other students in his class. 或
2. John is wiser than any other student in his class.

  * "all" 用眾數；"any" 用單數。

The price of gold is higher than silver.
﹝金價比銀高。﹞

※ Logical mistake：金價不是比銀高，而是比銀價高。﹞
  應說：
1. The price of gold is higher than the price of silver.或
2. The price of gold is higher than that of silver.

William is taller than John, but George is taller still.

※ 兩者比較後，再與第三者比較，第三者更超前者，在比較級前或後
   加 "still"。

練習

翻譯

1. 今天的天氣比昨天冷嗎？
2. 知識比財富更好嗎？
3. 中國是世上最古老的國家嗎？
4. 這本書是所有英文文法書中最好的。
5. 我的好友比我大三歲。
6. 井水較河水清。
7. 這朵玫瑰花是園中最美麗的花嗎？
8. 他比我更不快樂。
9. 太陽比地球更大。
10. 她今天覺得比昨天更快樂。