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==Etymology==
[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English], from Anglo-French comparer, from [[Latin]] comparare to couple, compare, from compar like, from com- + par [[equal]]
*Date: [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/14th_Century 14th century]
==Definitions==
*1 : to [[represent]] as similar : liken <shall I compare thee to a summer's day? — Shakespeare>
*2 a : to [[examine]] the [[character]] or [[qualities]] of especially in order to [[discover]] resemblances or [[differences]] <compare your [[responses]] with the answers>
:b : to view in [[relation]] to <tall compared to me> <easy compared with the last test>
*3 : to inflect or [[modify]] (an adjective or adverb) according to the [[degrees]] of comparison
==Description==
In [[English]] [[grammar]] the [[degree]] of '''comparison''' of an adjective or adverb describes the [[relational]] [[value]] of one [[thing]] with something in another clause of a sentence. An adjective may simply describe a [[quality]], (the positive); it may compare the [[quality]] with that of another of its kind (''comparative degree''); and it may compare the [[quality]] with many or all others (superlative degree). In other [[languages]] it may describe a very large [[degree]] of a particular [[quality].
The ''degree of comparison'' may be [[expressed]] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphology_(linguistics) morphologically], or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syntax syntactically]. In [[English]], for example, most monosyllabic and some disyllabic adjectives have morphological degrees of comparison: green (positive), greener (comparative), greenest (superlative); pretty, prettier, prettiest; while most polysyllabic adjectives use syntax:'' [[complex]]'', ''more complex'', ''most complex''.
*1. The positive [[degree]] is the most basic form of the adjective, positive because it does not [[relate]] to any superior or inferior qualities of other [[things]] in [[speech]].
*2. The ''comparative degree'' denotes a greater amount of a [[quality]] [[relative]] to something else. The phrase “Anna is taller than her father” means that Anna's degree of tallness is greater than her father's degree of tallness.
*3. The superlative degree denotes the most, the largest, etc., by which it [[differs]] from other [[things]].
[[Category: General Reference]]
[[Category: Languages and Literature]]
==Etymology==
[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English], from Anglo-French comparer, from [[Latin]] comparare to couple, compare, from compar like, from com- + par [[equal]]
*Date: [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/14th_Century 14th century]
==Definitions==
*1 : to [[represent]] as similar : liken <shall I compare thee to a summer's day? — Shakespeare>
*2 a : to [[examine]] the [[character]] or [[qualities]] of especially in order to [[discover]] resemblances or [[differences]] <compare your [[responses]] with the answers>
:b : to view in [[relation]] to <tall compared to me> <easy compared with the last test>
*3 : to inflect or [[modify]] (an adjective or adverb) according to the [[degrees]] of comparison
==Description==
In [[English]] [[grammar]] the [[degree]] of '''comparison''' of an adjective or adverb describes the [[relational]] [[value]] of one [[thing]] with something in another clause of a sentence. An adjective may simply describe a [[quality]], (the positive); it may compare the [[quality]] with that of another of its kind (''comparative degree''); and it may compare the [[quality]] with many or all others (superlative degree). In other [[languages]] it may describe a very large [[degree]] of a particular [[quality].
The ''degree of comparison'' may be [[expressed]] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphology_(linguistics) morphologically], or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syntax syntactically]. In [[English]], for example, most monosyllabic and some disyllabic adjectives have morphological degrees of comparison: green (positive), greener (comparative), greenest (superlative); pretty, prettier, prettiest; while most polysyllabic adjectives use syntax:'' [[complex]]'', ''more complex'', ''most complex''.
*1. The positive [[degree]] is the most basic form of the adjective, positive because it does not [[relate]] to any superior or inferior qualities of other [[things]] in [[speech]].
*2. The ''comparative degree'' denotes a greater amount of a [[quality]] [[relative]] to something else. The phrase “Anna is taller than her father” means that Anna's degree of tallness is greater than her father's degree of tallness.
*3. The superlative degree denotes the most, the largest, etc., by which it [[differs]] from other [[things]].
[[Category: General Reference]]
[[Category: Languages and Literature]]
