VF: Lesson - Comparison Introduction

Image: orange slices arranged from smallest to largestComparison Introduction

Latin adjectives can express comparison by using three different degrees: positive degree, comparative degree and superlative degree. English uses the same system of comparison. The image is a visual representation of comparison, as the orange slices are shown to increase in size from left to right.

  1. Positive Degree - a big orange slice
    • Examples: tall; serious; bold
  2. Comparative Degree - a bigger orange slice
    • Examples: taller; more serious; bolder
  3. Superlative Degree - the biggest orange slice
    • Examples: tallest; most serious; boldest

Positive Adjectives - Review

The positive form is the regular form of the adjective, which you have already learned. There are two different kinds: 1st/2nd Declension Adjectives and 3rd Declension Adjectives, that differ from each other in the inflections which they use.

  1. 1st/2nd Declension Examples of the Positive Degree:
    • altus, alta, altum - tall, deep
    • pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum - pretty
    • liber, libera, liberum - free
  2. 3rd Declension Examples of the Positive Degree:
    • gravis, grave - serious
    • audax (gen. audacis) - bold