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However, in some cases when two subjects with equal qualities are compared, usage of superlative degree is not possible. For example, "Ram is as good as Shyam"—positive degree; "Ram is not better than Shyam"—comparative degree. Since Ram and Shyam are equally good, neither is superior which negates the usage of the superlative.
In general linguistics, the comparative is a syntactic construction that serves to express a comparison between two (or more) entities or groups of entities in quality or degree - see also comparison (grammar) for an overview of comparison, as well as positive and superlative degrees of comparison.
Consequently, comparative and superlative forms of such adjectives are not normally used, except in a figurative, humorous or imprecise context. Similarly, such adjectives are not normally qualified with modifiers of degree such as very and fairly , although with some of them it is idiomatic to use adverbs such as completely .
There are three degrees of adjectives: positive, comparative, and superlative. The positive is the base form of the adjective, the comparative degree is formed with the suffix "-er", and the superlative degree is formed with the suffix "-ste" and the definite article. [5]
Many adjectives inflect for degree of comparison. For example, hot has the comparative form hotter and the superlative form hottest. Typically, short adjectives (including most single-syllable adjectives that are semantically gradable), adjectives originating in Old English, and short adjectives borrowed from French use the -er and -est suffixes.
comparative: longer than : länger als. superlative : longest : am längsten Gauravjuvekar 05:22, 9 February 2012 (UTC) The original poster didn't ask about German, but a language in which it is a separate degree (or more precisely, grammatical form).
A superlative is expressed by combining the comparative, in either its periphrastic or synthetic form, with a preceding definite article. Thus, Modern Greek does not distinguish between the largest house and the larger house ; both are το μεγαλύτερο σπίτι.
The superlative degree denotes how the adjective applies to the greatest degree to a certain noun or pronoun than to any other relevant noun. It is formed with a suffix to the adjective's root. It takes on the form -em if the immediately preceding consonants can be palatalized and -am if they cannot. Several examples of superlatives are: