Методическая разработка на тему "Наречия. Степени сравнения наречий"

Adverbs. Comparison of adverbs.

An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

In a sentence, an adverb usually functions as an adverbial modifier.

When an adverb modifies a verb, it indicates how, when, where, etc., the action is performed.	Please do it quickly.
When an adverb modifies an adjective or another adverb, it indicates how much, to what extent, etc.	He spoke too loudly.
Adverbs can function as parenthetical words referring to the whole sentence.	Finally, we arrived in Boston.

Adjectives and adverbs in the same form

Anumber of adverbs are in the same form as adjectives.                 Miscellaneous adjectives and adverbs in the same form.

They include:    far, fast, hard, high, late, long, low, near, straight.

Some adjectives and adverbs with the suffix "ly". For example: early (adj.) – early (adv.);

daily (adj.) – daily (adv.); weekly (adj.) – weekly (adv.); monthly (adj.) – monthly (adv.); only (adj.) – only (adv.).

How to distinguish between adjectives and adverbs in the same form

Adjectives are used in the function of attributes and usually stand before the nouns that they modify; adverbs are used in the function of adverbial modifiers and usually stand after verbs.

Compare:                 It was early morning. – He got up early.

It is a daily newspaper. – He calls them daily.

hard work – to work hard

Degrees of comparison of adverbs

Adverbs (mostly adverbs of manner and some adverbs of other types) can form degrees of comparison in the same way as adjectives.

The comparative degree of adverbs is used more widely than the superlative degree. The definite article before the superlative form of adverbs is often omitted.

Monosyllabic adverbs

One-syllable adverbs and the adverb "early" form the comparative and superlative degrees by adding ER, EST:

fast, faster, fastest; hard, harder, hardest; high, higher, highest; late, later, latest; long, longer, longest; loud, louder, loudest; low, lower, lowest; near, nearer, nearest; soon, sooner, soonest; early, earlier, earliest

Please hang the picture higher.

Tom arrived later than Jim. Jim arrived earlier than Tom.

Anton arrived (the) earliest of all.

Adjectives and adverbs in the same form

One-syllable adverbs mentioned above (except "soon") are in the same form as adjectives.

Their position in the sentence indicates whether they are used as adverbs or as adjectives:

adverbs usually stand after the main verb, while adjectives stand before the noun that they modify or after the linking verb (be, become, get, feel, look, seem).

Compare these sentences:

Adverb "fast": Jim, Rosa, and Phil can run very fast. Rosa runs faster than Jim. Phil runs (the) fastest of them all.

Adjective "fast": I would like to have a faster car. His reaction was faster than mine.

Adverb "hard":Tom works harder than Don. Pete works (the) hardest of anyone I know.

Adjective "hard": Her work is becoming harder and harder.

It is the hardest work she has ever done.

Adverbs of two or more syllables

Adverbs of two or more syllables (usually with the suffix "ly") form the comparative and superlative degrees by placing MORE, MOST before the adverb:

easily, more easily, most easily; formally, more formally, most formally; loudly, more loudly, most loudly; often, more often, most often; quickly, more quickly, most quickly; simply, more simply, most simply; slowly, more slowly, most slowly; comfortably, more comfortably, most comfortably.

Please speak more slowly.

He pushed the door much more strongly than was necessary.

Note: MOST + adverb is not always the superlative degree. MOST before an adverb often means "very, extremely".

She articulated her ideas most clearly.

He listened to her most attentively.

Irregular adverbs

Irregular adverbs "well, badly, much, little, far" have the following degrees of comparison:

well, better, best; badly, worse, worst; much, more, most; little, less, least; far, farther, farthest; far, further, furthest.

Tanya speaks Spanish better than you do. Who writes best of all in your class? He works best in the evening.

His brother treated him badly. His father treated him even worse. His classmates treated him worst of all.

The doctor told him to eat less and to exercise more.

Lower degree: LESS and LEAST

LESS and LEAST are used with adjectives and adverbs in the same way as MORE and MOST.

LESS indicates a lower degree; LEAST indicates the lowest degree.

LESS with adjectives and adverbs is used more widely than LEAST. LESS and LEAST are rarely used with monosyllabic adjectives and adverbs.

I am less interested in football than he is. The first question is less difficult than the second. The last exercise is the least difficult of the four exercises.

LESS, LEAST with adjectives: attentive, less attentive, least attentive; common, less common, least common; costly, less costly, least costly; difficult, less difficult, least difficult; important, less important, least important; interesting, less interesting, least interesting;

likely, less likely, least likely; obvious, less obvious, least obvious; serious, less serious, least serious; tired, less tired, least tired; useful, less useful, least useful; worried, less worried, least worried.

LESS, LEAST with adverbs:

clearly, less clearly, least clearly; easily, less easily, least easily; efficiently, less efficiently, least efficiently; formally, less formally, least formally; often, less often, least often; sincerely, less sincerely, least sincerely; typically, less typically, least typically; willingly, less willingly, least willingly; wisely, less wisely, least wisely.

She remembers the day of the car accident less clearly now.

She remembers least clearly what happened after the accident.

He does his work less willingly and less efficiently than before.

He works least efficiently when he is alone.

Constructions "as...as; not as...as"

The construction "as...as" indicates approximately the same degree. The constructions "not as...as; not so...as" indicate a lesser degree and are less formal than the constructions with "less". Compare:

Lena is as tall as her father.

Lena is as attractive as her mother.

Parallel constructions

The comparative degree is also used in parallel constructions of the type "the more...the more".

The sooner the better.

The more I think about this project, the less I like it.

Qualities of one and the same person or thing

Generally, the qualities of two different people or things are compared with the help of the comparative degree. But it is also possible to compare the qualities of one and the same person or thing.

Laura is more stubborn than Rita.

Laura is more stubborn than persevering.

I was more asleep than awake.

She was more afraid to stay than to leave.