Comparative Adjectives (비교급 형용사)
What is a comparative adjective?
Comparative adjectives describe differences in attributes between two nouns, which can include measurements like height, weight, depth, or distance, but not always. They can also compare non-physical traits.
(비교급 형용사는 키, 몸무게, 깊이 또는 거리와 같은 측정을 포함할 수 있는 두 명사 사이의 속성의 차이를 설명한다. 비육체적 특성을 비교할 수도 있다.)
For example:
| Adjective | Comparative |
|---|---|
| tall | taller |
| fast | faster |
| sweet | sweeter |
| beautiful | more/less beautiful |
| intelligent | more/less intelligent |
Forming Comparative Adjectives
Forming comparative adjectives can be done by adding “-er” or “more/less” before the adjective. To determine which option to use, follow general rules, though there are exceptions.:
(비교 형용사의 형성은 형용사 앞에 “-er” 또는 “more/less”를 추가함으로써 이루어질 수 있다. 사용할 옵션을 결정하려면 예외가 있더라도 일반 규칙을 따른다.)
Short Adjectives
Comparative adjectives are divided into two types: short and long. Short adjectives have 1 syllable or end in “-y” with 2 syllables.
(비교급 형용사는 짧은 형과 긴 형으로 나뉜다. 짧은 형용사는 1음절이거나 2음절의 “-y”로 끝난다.)
For the majority of short adjectives, we form the comparative according to the following rules:
| Syllables | Rule | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| One syllable | Add “-er” to the end of the adjective. | Tall becomes Taller |
| Two syllables ending in “-y” | Replace “-y” with “-ier” | happy becomes happier |
Regarding short adjectives, there are two additional considerations apart from the key rules in the table. Firstly, if a short adjective ends in “e,” only “r” is added, not “er,” to prevent doubling the letter “e.”
- Large becomes larger, not largeer.
- Cute becomes cuter, not cuteer.
- Safe becomes safer, not safeer.
Secondly, when a short adjective ends in consonant-vowel-consonant, the final consonant is doubled before “er” is added to form the comparative.
(두번째는, 짧은 형용사가 자음-모음-자음으로 끝날 때, 최종 자음은 “er”이 추가되어 비교급를 형성하기 전에 두개가 된다.)
For example:
- Big becomes bigger, not biger.
- Sad becomes sadder, not sader.
- Thin becomes thinner, not thiner.
Long Adjectives
“Long” adjectives are adjectives that have three or more syllables, or adjectives that have two syllables and do not end in “-y.”
(긴 형용사는 “-y”로 끝나지 않는 3+음절 또는 2음절을 가진 형용사이다.)
For these adjectives, we can follow these rules:
| Syllables | Rule | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Two syllables not ending in “-y” | Insert the word more/less before the adjective. | Careful becomes more/less careful. |
| Three or more syllables | Insert the word more/less before the adjective. | Intelligent becomes more/less intelligent. |
Irregular adjectives
There are exceptions to the patterns, which is common in English grammar.
(기본적패턴에서 벗어난 예외적인 것이 있는데 이는 영분법에 흔히 있는 사항이다.)
Here are a few of the adjectives that have irregular comparative forms:
| Adjective | Comparative form |
|---|---|
| fun | more/less fun |
| bad | worse |
| good | better |
| well (not ill) | better |
There are also some adjectives that have two generally accepted comparative forms.
(일반적으로 받아들여지는 두 가지 비교 형태를 가진 형용사들도 있다.)
These are some of the most common:
| Adjective | Comparative Form 1 | Comparative Form 2 |
|---|---|---|
| clever | cleverer | more/less clever |
| likely | likelier | more/less likely |
| narrow | narrower | more narrow |
| quiet | quieter | more/less quiet |
| simple | simpler | more/less simple |
| far* | farther | further |
*Both farther and further can be used to denote distance, but in American English, farther is favored for physical distances and further for figurative distances.
(미국 영어에서는 거리를 나타내는 데 더 멀리 (farther) 와 더 나아가 (further) 를 모두 사용할 수 있지만, 물리적 거리에는 더 멀리 (farther) 를, 비유적 거리에는 더 나아가 (further) 를 선호한다.)
For example:
- “San Francisco is farther from New York than Boston.” (physical distance)
BUT
- “I was able to make further progress at work.” (figurative distance)
In British English, further is more common both for physical and figurative distances.
(영국 영어에서는 further가 물리적 거리와 비유적 거리 모두에서 더 일반적이다.)
Using Comparative Adjectives
Now that we have discussed how to form comparative adjectives, we can look at how they are used in sentences and within larger conversations. Depending on the situation, you may or may not need to explicitly mention both nouns being compared.
(비교급형용사의 생성에 대해 다루었는데, 문장과 대화에서 형용사의 사용법을 살펴보고자 한다. 문맥에 따라, 비교되는 두 명사를 모두 언급할 필요가 있을 수도 있고 없을 수도 있다.)
Explicitly mentioning both nouns
To prevent misunderstandings, both compared nouns are usually included in the sentence. The format is: Noun 1 + be + comparative adjective + than + noun 2.
(오해를 방지하기 위해, 비교된 두 명사는 보통 문장에 포함된다. 형식은 명사1 + be + 비교급 형용사 + than + 명사2 이다)
For example:
- “An airplane is bigger than a car.”
- “Mt. Everest is taller than Mt. Fuji.”
- “Tom is faster than John.”
The noun with the stronger attribute comes first in each sentence. The same sense can be conveyed by reversing the adjective order and rearranging the nouns.
(각 문장에서 속성이 더 강한 명사가 먼저 나온다. 형용사 순서를 거꾸로 하고 명사를 재배열함으로써 같은 의미를 전달할 수 있다.)
For example:
- “A car is smaller than an airplane.”
- “Mt. Fuji is shorter than Mt. Everest.”
- “John is slower than Tom.”
To replicate the outcome using “long” adjectives, instead of adding “more” before the adjective, we can use “less.”
(“긴” 형용사를 사용하여 결과를 복제하기 위해, 형용사 앞에 “more (더 많이)”를 추가하는 대신, “less (더 적게)”를 사용할 수 있다.)
For example:
- “Tom is more studious than John.”
OR
- “John is less studious than Tom.”
Remember, the compared nouns don’t need to be specific individuals or objects. Either or both of the compared nouns or phrases can refer to groups.
(비교되는 명사는 특정한 개인이나 사물일 필요는 없습니다. 비교된 명사 또는 구 중 하나 또는 둘 다 그룹을 지칭할 수 있다.)
For example:
- “Cats are more independent than dogs.”
- “Women are shorter than men.”
- “Jen is smarter than the rest of the students in her class.
Comparing two gerunds (nouns formed from verbs ending in “-ing”) is possible. Characteristics of two gerunds can be compared similarly to how any other nouns can be compared.:
(두 동명사(“-ing”으로 끝나는 동사에서 형성된 명사)를 비교하는 것이 가능하다. 두 동명사의 특징은 다른 명사들이 비교될 수 있는 방법과 유사하게 비교될 수 있다.)
- “Running is faster than walking.”
- “Drawing is easier than painting.”
- “Sailing is more relaxing than water-skiing.”
To make negative or interrogative sentences, we follow regular patterns. To form negatives, add “not” or its contracted form “-n’t” after the verb “be.”:
- “Walking is not faster than running.”
- “Women aren’t taller than men.”
- “Waterskiing isn’t more relaxing than sailing.”
Making interrogatives (questions) involves putting the conjugated form of “be” at the start of the sentence.
(의문문을 만드는 것은 문장의 시작 부분에 “be”의 활용형을 넣으면 된다.)
- “Is running faster than walking?”
- “Is Jen smarter than the rest of the students in her class?”
- “Are cats more independent than dogs?”
To determine which noun is taller, faster, etc., we can ask by starting the sentence with a question word such as “who,” “which,” or “what,” and presenting the two nouns as choices at the end.:
(어떤 명사가 더 키가 크고, 더 빠른지 등을 판단하려면 ‘who (누구)’, ‘which (어느)’, ‘what (무엇)’과 같은 질문 단어로 문장을 시작하고 마지막에 두 명사를 선택지로 제시하면 된다.)
- “Who is taller, Mary or Jane?”
- “Which is tastier, pizza or pasta?”
- “What’s faster, a car or a motorcycle?”
Omitting one or both nouns
In conversation, it is not always imperative to explicitly state both comparatives as it may result in redundant expression.
- Speaker A: “I don’t think you should be running. Swimming is easier on the knees than running.”
- Speaker B: “Yes, but running is better for my heart than swimming.”
A repetitive conversation can hinder natural speech. To mitigate repetition and enhance fluidity, omitting underlined parts in the conversation can be a more effective approach.
(반복적인 대화는 자연스러운 대화를 방해할 수 있다. 반복을 완화하고 유동성을 높이기 위해서는 대화에서 밑줄 친 부분을 생략하는 것이 더 효과적인 접근법이 될 수 있다.)
- Speaker A: “I don’t think you should be running. Swimming is easier on the knees.”
- Speaker B: “Yes, but running is better for my heart.”
Note that when we omit a noun, we also omit the word than.
Gradable and ungradable adjectives
Gradable adjectives, which can vary in intensity on a scale, are the only type of adjectives that can be utilized as comparative adjectives. For instance, “tall” is a gradable adjective as it can be described as slightly tall, tall, or extremely tall. Additionally, terms such as “a bit,” “a little,” “much,” “a lot,” and “far” can be placed before the comparative adjective to specify the level of intensity.
(등급에 따라 강도가 달라질 수 있는 등급 가능한 형용사는 비교 형용사로 사용할 수 있는 유일한 유형이다. 예를 들어, “tall”은 등급을 확인할수 있는 형용사 입니다. A little tall (약간 키가 크거나), tall (키가 크거나), very tall (매우 큰) 로 묘사될 수 있기 때문에 등급을 매길 수 있는 형용사이다. 또한 비교급 형용사 앞에 “a bit (약간)”, “a little (조금)”, “much(상당히)”, “a lot (매우많이)”, “far (멀리) 와 같은 용어를 붙여 강도의 수준을 지정할 수 있다.)
For example:
- “Jane is much taller than Emily.”
- “Giraffes have far longer necks than elephants.”
- “Is your dad a little bigger than you?”
Ungradable adjectives cannot vary in intensity on a scale and cannot be used in a comparative form. Examples include “married,” which is either present or absent, and “dead,” which is either dead or alive. These adjectives cannot be modified by terms like “very” or “a little.”
(등급을 매길 수 없는 형용사는 척도에서 강도가 변할 수 없으며 비교 형태로 사용할 수 없다. 그 예로는 “결혼”에는 결혼상태이거나, 않한상태 둘중하나이고 “죽음”은 죽었거나 살아있거나 이다. 이 형용사들은 “매우” 또는 “조금”과 같은 용어로 수식될 수 없다)
Expressing Equality and Inequality using as … as
An alternative method to highlighting similarities and contrasts between two nouns is by utilizing adjectives that are not comparative. To denote equality between two entities, the phrase “as + adjective + as” can be employed.
(두 명사의 유사성과 대비를 강조하는 또 다른 방법은 비교 가능하지 않은 형용사를 활용하는 것이다. 두 개체 사이의 동일성을 나타내기 위해 “as + 형용사 + as”라는 문구를 사용할 수 있다.)
For example:
- “The apple is as big as the orange.” (The two are the same size.)
- “The table is as heavy as the desk.” (The two are the same weight.)
- “Jane is as talkative as Mary.” (They both like to talk the same amount.)
We can use the same construction to say that two things are unequal. We just have to add the word not:
- “The apple is not as big as the orange.” (The orange is bigger.)
- “The table is not as heavy as the desk.” (The desk is heavier.)
- “Jane is not as talkative as Mary.” (Mary is more talkative.)