Comparison (grammar)

Comparison is a feature in the morphology or syntax of some languages whereby adjectives and adverbs are rendered in an inflected or periphrastic way to indicate a comparative degree, property, quality, or quantity of a corresponding word, phrase, or clause.

A superlative construction expresses the greatest quality, quantity, or degree relative to all other comparators.

[2] Some languages have forms indicating a very large degree of a particular quality (called elative in Semitic linguistics).

Comparison can also, however, appear when no adjective or adverb is present, for instance with nouns (e.g., more men than women).

One preposition[dubious – discuss], near, also has comparative and superlative forms, as in Find the restaurant nearest your house.

Comparatives are often used with a conjunction or other grammatical means to indicate to what the comparison is being made, as with than in English, als in German, etc.

In Russian and Greek (Ancient, Koine and Modern), this can be done by placing the compared noun in the genitive case.

However, this rule is not always observed in informal usage; the form "May the best man win" will often be used in that situation, as is required if there were three or more competitors involved.

This system is most commonly used with words not of Anglo-Saxon origin – most often in English those of French, Latin, or Greek derivation.

Some grammarians object to the use of the superlative or comparative with words such as full, complete, unique, or empty, which by definition already denote a totality, an absence, or an absolute.

Many prescriptive grammars and style guides include adjectives for inherently superlative qualities to be non-gradable.

In most Balto-Slavic languages (such as Czech, Polish, Lithuanian and Latvian), the comparative and superlative forms are also declinable adjectives.

For instance: Elle est la plus belle femme → (she is the most beautiful woman); Cette ville est la moins chère de France → (this town is the least expensive in France); C'est sa plus belle robe → (It is her most beautiful dress).

Some irregular superlatives are "máximo" for "grande," "pésimo" for "malo," "ínfimo" for "bajo," "óptimo" for "bueno," "acérrimo" for "acre," "paupérrimo" for "pobre," "celebérrimo" for "célebre."

For the absolute superlative they either use "muito"/"molto" and the adjective or modify the adjective by taking away the final vowel and adding issimo (singular masculine), issima (singular feminine), íssimos/issimi (plural masculine), or íssimas/issime (plural feminine).

For absolute superlatives, the gender-dependent determinant "cel" precedes "mai," inflected as "cel" for masculine and neuter singular, "cei" for masculine plural, "cea" for feminine singular, and "cele" for feminine and neuter plural.

Hindi-Urdu (Hindustani)ː When comparing two quantities makes use of the instrumental case-marker se (से سے) and the noun or pronoun takes the oblique case.

Words like aur (और اور) "more, even more", zyādā (ज़्यादा زیادہ) "more" and kam (कम کم) "less" are added for relative comparisons.

When equivalence is to be shown, the personal pronouns take the oblique case and add the genitive case-marker kā (का کا) while the nouns just take in the oblique case form and optionally add the genitive case-marker.

The word zyādā (ज़्यादा زیادہ) "more" is optional, while kam (कम کم) "less" is required, so that in the absence of either "more" will be inferred.

In Welsh, the equative is denoted by inflection in more formal registers, with -ed being affixed to the adjective, usually preceded, but not obligatorily, by cyn (meaning 'as').

In Akkadian cuneiform, on a 12-paragraph clay tablet contemporary with the Amarna letters (which span roughly 20 years circa 1350 BC), two striking examples of the superlative extend the common grammatical use.

The numeral 10 is used for ten times greater in EA 19, Love and Gold, one of King Tushratta's eleven letters to the Pharaoh-(Amenhotep IV-Akhenaton).

There is a small set of exceptions, the most noteworthy being the comparative of the adjective hyvä, good, that becomes parempi.

The comparative of the adverb is marked by the -mmin ending: The adverbial form hyvin of the adjective hyvä, good, becomes paremmin, meaning in a better way.