DEGREE CHANGE
What is the Degree of Change?
When we change from a degree to another without changing the meaning of the sentence is called degree change in English grammar.
Kinds of Degree:
The degree of comparison is three kinds.
- Positive degree
- Comparative degree
- Superlative degree
Definition and examples of degree
Positive: In this degree, we speak about a thing and do not find any comparison. For example:
Jon is as smart as his brother.
Gopal is as clever as Madan.
You are not as intelligent as her.
The flower is not as beautiful as the rose.
Comparative: In this degree, we speak about two things and compare.
The theater is bigger than the hall room.
The boy is more handsome than Ratan.
Superlative: In this degree, we speak more than two same things and compare.
Sonali is the best girl in the class.
This tree is the tallest in the garden.
If you want to learn about “Degree of Comparison” in detail, click here……..
Look at a glance to all degrees form
|
Positive |
Comparative |
Superlative |
|
As tall as |
Taller than |
Tallest |
|
Young |
Younger |
youngest |
|
So strong |
Stronger than |
Strongest |
|
As beautiful as |
More/less beautiful |
Most/least beautiful |
|
As careful as |
More careful |
Most careful |
|
As wisely as |
More wisely |
Most wisely |
|
As difficult as |
More difficult |
Most difficult |
|
So honest as |
Less honest |
Lest honest |
First rule of degree change from positive to comparative and comparative to positive:
- If we get the term “Less” in the positive and comparative degree, we will start the degree change with the first subject. If we do not get the word “Less” in those sentences, we will start with the second subject.
- If the sentence is affirmative, it will be converted into a negative and the negative sentence will be affirmative.
Example of Transformation of Degree :
Pos: Asit is as strong as Amit.
Com: Amit is not stronger than Asit.
Com: Rabin is not less tall than Ramesh.
Pos: Rabin is so tall as Ramesh.
Pos: Bikash is as brave as Milan.
Com: Milan is not braver than Bikash.
Com: Sonali is less beautiful than Rupali.
Pos: Sonali is not so beautiful as Rupali.
Pos: Ratan is as rich as Mr. Dutta.
Com: Mr. Dutta is not richer than Ratan.
Com: Gopal is not less difficult than Soumen.
Pos: Gopal is so difficult as Soumen.
2nd Rule
If we get “as soon as” in a positive degree, we will use“no sooner than” to change it into a comparative degree.
|
Positive |
Comparative |
|
As soon as |
No sooner had….than |
Positive: As soon as the man saw a tiger, he ran away.
Comparative: No sooner had the man seen a tiger than he ran away.
Positive: As soon as I entered the room the boys stood up.
Comparative: No sooner had I entered the room than the boys stood up.
Positive: As soon as I reached the station, the train left.
Comparative: No sooner had I reached the station than the train left.
Positive: As soon as the sun rose, the fog disappeared.
Comparative: No sooner had the sun risen than the fog disappeared.
Third Rule of Transformation of Degree
If we find “as – as” in a positive degree, we will use “not less-than” to convert it into a comparative.
If we find “not as-as” in a positive degree, we will use “less-than” to change it into a comparative.
|
Positive |
Comparative |
|
As – as |
Not less- than |
|
Not as-as |
Less- than |
Positive: The girl is as beautiful as you said.
Comparative: The girl is not less beautiful than you said.
Positive: The boy is as short as you think.
Comparative: The boy is not less short than you think.
Positive: The leader is not as popular as you said.
Comparative: The leader is less popular than you said.
Positive: The weather is not as hot as I expected.
Comparative: The weather is less hot than I expected.
The fourth rule of degree change:
|
POSITIVE |
COMPARATIVE |
SUPERLATIVE |
|
No other |
Any other |
Of all |
|
Very few/ only a few |
Most/many other |
One of the |
If we get “No other” in a positive degree, we will use “Any other” to transform it into a comparative degree and “Of all” into a superlative degree.
Pos: No other metal is so bright as gold.
Com: Gold is brighter than any other metal.
Sup: Gold is the brightest of all metals.
Pos: No other leader in India was so great as Netaji.
Com: Netaji was greater than any other leader in India.
Sup: Netaji was the greatest of all leaders in India
Pos: No other man in this village is as honest as Shibu.
Com: Shibu is more honest than any other man in this village.
Sup: Shibu is the most honest of all men in this village.
Always remember the vice verse for degree change
If we get “Of all” in the superlative degree, we will use “Any other” to transform it into a comparative degree and “No other” in a positive degree.
Sup: Gold is the brightest of all metals.
Com: Gold is brighter than any other metal.
Pos: No other metal is so bright as gold.
Sup: Darjeeling is the coldest town in West Bengal.
Com: Darjeeling is colder than any other town in West Bengal.
Pos: No other town in West Bengal is as cold as Darjeeling.
If we get “Any other” in the comparative degree, we will use “Of all” to transform it into superlative degree and “No other” in the positive degree.
Com: Gold is brighter than any other metal.
Sup: Gold is the brightest of all metals.
Pos: No other metal is so bright as gold.
Com: The black dog is better than any other dog in this family.
Sup: The black dog is the best of all dogs in this family.
Pos: No other dog in this family is as good as the black dog.
More Example
Sup: Kolkata is the biggest of all cities in India.
Com: Kolkata is bigger than any other city.
Pos: No other city in India is as big as Kolkata.
Sup: Kiran is the gentlest of all workers in this office.
Com: Kiran is gentler than any other worker in this office.
Pos: No other stuff in this office is as gentle as Kiran.
Sup: Iron is the most useful metal in the world.
Com: Iron is more useful than any other metal in the world.
Pos: No other metal in the world is as useful as iron.
Fifth Rule of degree
If we get “One of the” in the superlative degree, we will use “many/most other” to convert it into a comparative degree and “Only a few/ Very few” in the positive degree.
Super: Sachin is one of the greatest Indian cricketers.
Comp: Sachin is greater than most other Indian cricketers.
Pos: Very few Indian cricketers are as great as Sachin.
If we get “many/most other” in the comparative degree we will use “One of the” to convert it into the superlative degree, and “Only a few/ Very few” in the positive degree.
Comp: Sachin is greater than most other Indian cricketers.
Super: Sachin is one of the greatest Indian cricketers.
Pos: Very few Indian cricketers are as great as Sachin.
If we get “only a few/ very few” in positive degree, we will use “One of the” to convert it into the superlative degree, “many/most other” in the comparative degree.
Pos: Very few Indian cricketers are as great as Sachin.
Super: Sachin is one of the greatest Indian cricketers.
Comp: Sachin is greater than most other Indian cricketers.
Pos: Very few states are as beautiful as Kashmir.
Com: Kashmir is more beautiful than many other states.
Sup: Kashmir is one of the most beautiful states.
Another Example
Pos: Very few kings in India are as great as Ashok.
Sup: Ashok is one of the greatest kings in India.
Com: Ashok is greater than most other kings in India.
We use the 2nd subject to convert from positive to comparative and superlative. On the other hand, we use the second subject to convert from comparative and superlative to positive.
Pos: Very few flowers in the world are as beautiful as roses.
Com: Rose is more beautiful than most other flowers in the world.
Sup: Rose is one of the most beautiful flowers in the world.
Sixth Rule of Degree
If we do not get “One of the/Of all” in the superlative degree, we use “no other” to transfer it into a positive degree and “Any other” into the comparative degree. But the sentence must be affirmative. If the sentence is negative, we use “Some other” to convert it into both positive and comparative degrees.
|
Superlative |
Positive |
Comparative |
||
|
(One of the/ Of all) X |
Affirmative |
No other |
Affirmative |
Any other |
|
Negative |
Some other |
Negative |
Some other |
|
Superlative: Arjun is the best character in Mahabharata.
Comparative: Arjun is better than any other character in Mahabharata.
Positive: No other character in Mahabharata is so good as Arjun.
Superlative: Ram is not the best boy in the class.
Comparative: Ram is not better than some other boys in the class.
Or
Some other boys in the class are better than Ram.
Positive: Ram is not so good as some other boys in the class.
Superlative: The Tajmahal is not the oldest of the memorials in India.
Comparative: Some other memorials in India are not older than the Tajmahal.
Positive: The Tajmahal is not so old as some other memorials in India.
More Examples
Superlative: Spring is the best time.
Comparative: Spring is better than any other time.
Positive: No other time is as good as the spring.
Superlative: This tree is the tallest in the forest.
Comparative: This tree is taller than any other tree.
Positive: No other tree is as tall as this tree.
Read More Post