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COMPARISON AND OTHER WORD CLASSES
470
The determiners (and their pronoun equivalents) little, many and much are used
in their comparative and superlative forms to make comparisons. They have
irregular comparative and superlative forms.
Comparative and superlative forms of determiners/pronouns
determiner/pronoun
comparative
superlative
little
less
least
many, much
more
most
It’s
less exciting than the first book.
That’s the margarine that has
the least fat content.
Û
539 Glossary for any unfamiliar terms
Comparison | 771
They haven’t got
much but I’m afraid they can’t offer you more.
There’s
more milk in the fridge.
Which of you could come and help us? Who’s got
the most spare time?
Û
also 190 Determiners and pronouns
More and less
470a
More
and less can be used with all the major phrase classes:
● Noun phrases:
They will go on strike unless they are offered
more
money
.
People seem to have
less
money
to spend nowadays.
● Verb phrases:
Leeds
attack
more than Milan but their defence will see them through.
It
rains
less here than in the west.
● Adjective phrases:
Their house is
more
spacious
than ours.
I’m
less
keen
on seeing Oxford than London.
● Adverb phrases:
The garage over the road does repairs
more
quickly
.
He seemed to answer the questions
less
honestly than the other witness
.
● Prepositional phrases:
The problem lies
more
in her attitude
than in her ability.
I have
less
in common
with my cousins than with some of my colleagues at
work.
More of
and less of can be used to modify countable nouns which are gradable
(i.e. which can be measured on a scale):
I’m afraid she’s being
more of
a hindrance
than a help.
I’m
less of
an expert
than you are.
Less
is used with singular non-count nouns. It is often followed by than:
Now I have
less
time
than her to do jobs around the house.
I think I’m getting old. I have a lot
less
energy
than I used to.
Increasingly, in a wide range of spoken and written contexts, less is used with
plural countable nouns:
If there were
less than
six students
in the class, they cancelled it.
(or: If there were fewer than six students in the class, they cancelled it.)
772 | Comparison
Cambridge Grammar of English
Most
and
least
470b
Most
and least, like more and less, can be used with all major phrase classes:
● Noun phrases:
Whoever has
most
money
can pay now and we can pay it back later.
We had the
least
work
to do of any of the groups.
● Verb phrases:
Restaurants and taxis – that’s where we
spent
the
most.
I wouldn’t like to say who
works
least in that family, no one seems to have a
proper job.
● Adjective phrases:
They’re the
most
delicious
chocolates I’ve ever tasted.
She seemed to be the
least
anxious
of all.
● Adverb phrases:
Of all of them, she worked the
most
intensely
.
I think she spoke the
least
sincerely
of all the women.
● Prepositional phrases:
In the case of prepositional phrases, mostly, not most is used, and has the
meaning of ‘more than in any other case’:
The damage was
mostly
to the side
of the car.
This action provoked a storm of international criticism,
not least
from the
United States
.
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190 Determiners and pronouns for less and least as determiners
COMPARATIVE CLAUSES
471
General
471a
Comparative clauses are clauses which express the second part of a comparison of
degree. Comparative clauses (in bold type in the examples) are frequently
introduced by as, than, or which/that. They function as complements of
comparative expressions (in green in the examples):
The garden wasn’t
as big
as I had imagined it would be.
The interview was
the same
as I’d experienced several times before.
He’s worked here
longer
than I have.
In Malaysia we lived in a
bigger
house
than we could ever afford in Britain.
Û
539 Glossary for any unfamiliar terms
Comparison | 773
It was the
ugliest
dog
that I’d ever seen.
The weather wasn’t
so bad
that it spoiled the holiday.
Clauses with as
471b
As
(or just as) is used in comparative clauses as a conjunction:
Do they drive on the left in Australia,
as we do?
English uses modal verbs to refer to future times,
just as other languages use
verb endings.
Subject-verb inversion may occur after as with modal and auxiliary verbs, copular
be
and substitute do. In such inverted clauses, just is not used with as:
I only wanted to help,
as would anyone have done.
He was a train driver,
as was his father before him.
[talking about a new computer]
It’s got two USB connections,
as did the old one in fact.
In informal contexts, like is frequently used instead of as (
Û
471f below
):
Is he having a New Year’s party,
like he did last year?
Clauses with as if and as though
471c
As if
and as though can introduce clauses operating as the second element in
comparisons of similarity. They may be used in finite, or, in more formal contexts,
non-finite clauses:
He took a deep breath before he spoke,
as if to keep himself calm.
What’s the matter? You’re acting
as if you’re in pain.
He looked round the table
as if daring anyone to smile.
(non-finite; more formal)
When I resigned from my job, I felt
as though a weight had been lifted from my
shoulders.
Chantal looked uncomfortable,
as though forced to consider the matter for the
first time.
(non-finite; more formal)
She stood up
as though to leave.
Ellipted clauses with adjectival complements are common with as if and as
though
in more formal contexts:
She just sat there,
as if totally unaware of what was happening.
He took off his glasses and began to polish them
as though afraid of showing
some emotion.
774 | Comparison
Cambridge Grammar of English
Clauses with so, too, enough
471d
Comparative clauses with so + adjective/adverb + as, too + adjective/adverb, and
adjective + enough are followed by non-finite clauses with the to-infinitive:
Would anyone be
so irresponsible as
to drink and drive after a party like that
?
They are just
too upset
to speak about it
.
He was driving
too slowly
to have had any chance of getting there before us
.
If anyone is stupid
enough
to withdraw now
, they’ll lose all their money.
When too is used with an attributive adjective in a noun phrase introduced by the
indefinite article a/an, the word order is too + adjective + a/an + noun:
It’s
too big a job to finish in one day.
Clauses with the same
471e
The same as
may introduce comparative clauses of equality:
We’re going to Spain for our holidays,
the same as we always do.
A comparative clause may follow when the same premodifies a noun. The
comparative clause may be introduced by as or by a relative pronoun
(who/which/that/zero relative, etc.):
He gave
the same reason
as you did
.
That’s
the same woman
who I saw the other day
.
It’s
the same switch
that broke the last time
.
In informal use, when same is used in front position, the can be omitted:
A: What did you have to drink?
B: Same as I always do. Tea.
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