This week has been quite cold and I remember a discussion with a friend of mine here in Russia when he tried to compare the weather to previous seasons here in Novosibirsk. I will tell you what mistake he (and some of my students) made a little later...
We all know the rules for comparative and superlative adjectives — we add «-er» to end comparatives and «-est» to end superlatives (this is the general rule for words of one, or two syllables). Of course, as always, there are exceptions... The word «good» comes to mind. Here, the word changes completely, we have «good», «better», «the best»... Oh my, this English language is really a challenge at times!
The one thing I can tell you that will never work, is the use of the word «more» when I have comparison words: the example in question here is «cold». We have the comparative as «colder» and the superlative as «coldest».
Now, here is the mistake: I cannot say that this winter is more colder than last winter, I only need to say that is colder than the winter before.
Where I do need to make use of the word «more» is when I use the word «beautiful». I do not have a comparative or superlative form, I can merely say it is «beautiful», «more beautiful» or «the most beautiful». We use «more» for the comparative form and «most» for the superlative form.
So, my wonderful (more wonderful, most wonderful) students... Keep reading, keep learning but most importantly, keep speaking! Till next time...
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