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166
far
farther - farthest (with reference to distance)
further - furthest (with reference to distance, abstract notions and in figurative use)
old
older - oldest (with reference to age)
elder - eldest (with reference to the sequence of brothers and sisters)
Adjectival compounds can be inflected in two ways, either the first element is inflected (if it is an adjective
or adverb), or comparison is with more and most, for example:
well-known
dull-witted
kind-hearted
- better-known
- more dull-witted
- more kind-hearted
- best-known
- most dull-witted
- most kind-hearted
The following adjectives generally do not form degrees of comparison:
1. Limiting qualitative adjectives which single out or determine the type of things or persons, such as:
previous, middle, left, childless, medical, dead, etc.
2. Relative adjectives (which are also limiting in their meaning) such as:
woollen, wooden, flaxen, earthen, ashen.
3. Adjectives with comparative and superlative meaning (the so-called gradables) which are of Latin origin:
former, inner, upper, junior, senior, prior, superior, etc. (originally with comparative meaning), and
minimal, optimal, proximal, etc. (originally with superlative meaning).
With most of them the comparative meaning has been lost and they are used as positive forms (the inner
wall, the upper lip, superior quality, minimal losses).
However, some comparatives borrowed from Latin (major, minor, exterior, interior, junior, senior) may
form their own comparatives with a change of meaning.
4. Adjectives already denoting some gradation of quality, such as darkish, greenish, etc.
Adjectives of participial origin
§ 210. Only certain adjectives derived from participles reach full adjectival status. Among those in current
use are interesting, charming, crooked, learned, ragged and those compounded with another element, which
sometimes gives them quite a different meaning (good-looking, heartbreaking, hard-boiled, frost-bitten,
weather-beaten, etc.).
In most cases, however, the difference between the adjective and the participle is revealed only in the
sentence. The difference lies in the verbal nature retained by the participle. The verbal nature is explicit when a
direct object or a by-object is present. This can be seen from the following pairs of sentences:
With an adjective
With a participle
You are insulting.
His views were alarming
The man was offended.
You are insulting us.
His views were alarming the audience.
The man was offended by the secretary’s remark.
The verbal force of the participle is revealed in its limited combinability - it is not combinable with very. In
the above sentences, it is possible to use very in the left-hand column, but not in the right-hand column.
Some adjectives only look like participles, there being no corresponding verbs:
downhearted, talented, diseased.
In some cases there are corresponding verbs, but the -ed- participle is not interpreted as passive, because the
corresponding verb can be used only intransitively: