In IELTS Writing Module, having good skills in grammar can make a big difference. In this post, I’m focusing on basic English grammar known as the degree of adjectives. You are aware that you need to write some sentences comparing and contrasting some figures in a pie chart, bar chart, and table, even in writing task 2. This post will massively help you to write different and catchy sentences with this language of comparison which will lead to a good band score.

Degree of adjectives / Degree of comparisons

Adjectives explain or modify — i.e. they limit or restrict the meaning of—nouns and pronouns.
A degree means the changes in Adjective forms. There are three forms of comparison:

• Positive
• Comparative
• Superlative

Positive Degree:

The adjective form which describes or modifies the nouns or pronouns, but does not compare it with other nouns or pronouns is known as a positive degree.
For example:
Mr. Roonie is a good man.
She was fast in doing the sum.
Priscilla is a beautiful woman.

Here, words like good, fast, and beautiful are positive degrees. They describe the nouns or pronouns in the given sentences.

Comparative Degree:

The adjective form which describes or modifies the nouns or pronouns, and compares it with another noun or pronoun is known as a comparative degree.
For example:
Mr. Roonie is better than Mr. Joseph.
She was faster than Evana in doing the sum.
Priscilla is more beautiful than her sister.

Here, words and phrases like better, faster, and more beautiful are comparative degrees. They compare the noun or pronoun with the other noun and pronoun in the given sentences.

Superlative Degree:

The adjective form which describes or modifies the nouns or pronouns, and compares it with more than two other nouns or pronouns is known as a superlative degree.
For example:
Mr. Roonie is the best man in his town.
She was the fastest among all the girls in doing the sum.
Priscilla is the most beautiful girl among all the seven sisters.
Here, words and phrases like best, fastest, and most beautiful are superlative degrees. They compare the nouns or pronouns with all the other nouns and pronouns in the given sentences.

How to change degrees

Superlative into Positive

Rule 1:
Superlative: John is the smallest player on the team.
Positive: No other player in the team is as small as John.
Superlative: Jennie is the best cook in her hometown.
Positive: No other cook in her hometown is as good as Jennie.
Rule 2:
Superlative: He is one of the best players on the team.
Positive: Very few players in the team are as good as he.
Superlative: Iron is one of the most useful metals.
Positive: Very few metals are as useful as Iron.

Positive into superlative:

Rule 1:
Positive: No other player on the team is as clever as Robbie.
Superlative: Robbie is the cleverest player on the team.
Positive: No other man in society is as hard-working as he.
Superlative: He is the most hard-working man in society.

Rule 2:
Positive: Very few women in the village are as tall as Kettie.
Superlative: Kettie is one of the tallest women in the village.
Positive: Very few people in the country are as good as Joel.
Superlative: Joel is one of the best people in the country.

Comparative into Positive

Rule 1:
Comparative: Zlatan is greater than any other boy in the class.
Positive: No other boy in the class is as great as Zlatan.
Comparative: Dhaka is larger than all other cities in Bangladesh.
Positive: No other city in Bangladesh is as large as Dhaka.

Rule 2:
Comparative: Bob is bigger than Will.
Positive: Will is not as big as Bob.
Comparative: He is stronger than I.
Positive: I am not as strong as he.

Rule 3:
Comparative: Gold is more useful than most other metals.
Positive: Very few metals are as/so useful as gold.
Comparative: Nelson Mandela was greater than most other politicians in the world.
Positive: Very few politicians in the world were as/so great as Nelson Mandela.

Rule 4:
Comparative: She is not less intelligent than you.
Positive: She is as intelligent as you.
Comparative: Hannah is not less clever than Stephen.
Positive: Hannah is as clever as Stephen.

Rule 5:
Comparative: No sooner had he seen me than he ran away.
Positive: As soon as he saw me, he ran away.

Positive into Comparative

Rule 1:
Positive: No other player in the team is as skilled as he.
Comparative: He is more skilled than any other player in the team.
Positive: No other country in the world is so/as cold as Canada.
Comparative: Canada is colder than any other country in the world.

Rule 2:
Positive: Very few students are so meritorious as Lisa.
Comparative: Lisa is more meritorious than most other students.
Positive: Very few metals are so costly as gold.
Comparative: Gold is costlier than most other metals.

Rule 3:
Positive: He is as good as his brother
Comparative: His brother is not better than he.

Superlative into Comparative

Rule 1:
Superlative: He is the best player on the team.
Comparative: He is better than any other player in the team.
Or,
Superlative: He is the best of all men.
Comparative: He is better than all other men.

Rule 2:
Superlative: Sarah is one of the finest players on her team.
Comparative: Sarah is finer than most other players on her team.
Superlative: Canada is one of the coldest countries in the world.
Comparative: Canada is colder than most other countries in the world.

Comparative into Superlative

Rule 1:
Comparative: He is larger than any other player in the team.
Superlative: He is the largest player in the team.

Comparative: He is bigger than all the other boys.
Superlative: He is the tallest of all boys.

Rule 2:
Comparative: Vatican City is smaller than most other countries in the world.
Superlative: Vatican City is one of the smallest countries in the world.

Comparative: New York is brighter than most other cities in the USA.
Superlative: New York is one of the brightest cities in the USA.

Do some practice from the following sentences for developing your grammar skills in comparing and contrasting.

Try yourself:

1. January is the coldest month in many countries. (Positive)
2. The rose is the finest of all flowers. (Positive)
3. Joseph is the best boy I have ever met. (Comparative)
4. Mr. Hamid is the most popular teacher in this region. (Positive)
5. Gold is the most precious metal. (Positive)
6. The porter was the cleverest of all in the country. (Positive)
7. No other girl in the class is as fair as Remmie. (Superlative)
8. Very few stones are as precious as a diamond. (Superlative)
9. You are not as slow as he. (Superlative)
10. No other city in the world is as expensive as Tokyo. (Superlative)
11. An airplane flies faster than a helicopter. (Positive)
12. Imran Khan is greater than most other cricketers. (Positive)
13. I do not know any person as humble as he. (Comparative)
14. He is as dull as an ass. (Comparative)
15. Cure is not as good as prevention. (Comparative)
16. No other storybook is so popular as The Arabian Nights. (Comparative)
17. Very few countries are as green as India. (Comparative)
18. Mr. Jim is wiser than any other men in his locality. (Superlative)
19. She was better than any other person. (Superlative)
20. She is worse than any other girl. (Superlative)
21. Potato chop was cheaper than any other dish on the menu. (Superlative)
22. Tigers are the most ferocious of all animals. (Comparative)
23. This is the sharpest of all knives. (Comparative)
24. The Volga is the deepest river in our country. (Comparative)
25. It is the most famous school in London. (Comparative)
26. This curd is purer than that. (Positive)
27. You are older than I am. (Positive)
28. Your watch was more valuable than his. (Positive)
29. It is more than honesty. (Positive)
30. Nothing passes as quickly as time. (Superlative)

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