Errors in the use of comparatives and superlative
One of the things that we are taught right from our primary school days is the comparative and superlative form of adjectives. This is usually an easy aspect of grammar but sometimes we encounter problems is the irregular forms of these adjective. Examples of these are good better – best, bad worse worst, etc. Below, we examine some of the errors in using these adjectives.
Let us take a look at some examples
Better
Wrong: You see these two carvings? This is more better than that one.
Correct: You see these two carvings? This is better than that one.
'Better' is by itself comparative of 'good', so 'more' here is not required.
Superior
Wrong: He said that his Volvo car was more superior to her Mercedes.
Correct: He said that his Volvo car was superior to her Mercedes.
Superior, is already a comparative adjective, so 'more' is not required.
Worst
Wrong: It hardly rained last year, but this year's drought is the worst.
Correct: It hardly rained last year, but this year's drought is worse
'Worst' is a superlative form of 'bad' and must describe something which is compared with more than one other thing. It could be correctly used like this:
It hardly rained last year, but this year's drought is the worst in recent times.
Less
Wrong: He said the value put on the house was too less.
Correct: He said the value put on the house was too small.
'Too less' is wrong in that context. 'Less' is a comparative adjective and is usually followed by than':
The value he put on the house was less than I expected.