SECTION 7 — ADJECTIVES & DEGREES OF COMPARISON (Concepts 86–99)

86. Never use "more" with a comparative adjective already ending in "-er"

• Wrong: He is more taller than his brother.
• Fix: He is taller than his brother.
• Wrong: This route is more shorter than the one via the highway.
• Fix: This route is shorter than the one via the highway.
• Wrong: Her handwriting is more neater than mine.
• Fix: Her handwriting is neater than mine.

87. Never use "most" with a superlative adjective already using "-est"

• Wrong: This is the most tallest building in the city.
• Fix: This is the tallest building in the city.
• Wrong: She is the most smartest candidate in this batch.
• Fix: She is the smartest candidate in this batch.
• Wrong: He is the most fastest runner in the entire school.
• Fix: He is the fastest runner in the entire school.

88. Absolute adjectives (unique, perfect, complete, full, impossible, eternal, universal, ideal) don't take degrees of comparison

• Wrong: This is the most unique idea I have ever heard.
• Fix: This is a unique idea I have ever heard.
• Wrong: He gave a more perfect performance than last year.
• Fix: He gave a near-perfect performance than last year.
• Wrong: This is the most complete record of the district's history.
• Fix: This is a complete record of the district's history. Why this happens: words like "unique" already mean "one of a kind" — there's no scale to move along, so adding "more" or "most" is logically redundant even though it sounds like ordinary comparative usage.

89. Position of ordinals before cardinals: "the first three," not "the three first"

• Wrong: The three first candidates will be interviewed today.
• Fix: The first three candidates will be interviewed today.
• Wrong: The two last applicants withdrew their names before the final round.
• Fix: The last two applicants withdrew their names before the final round.
• Wrong: The five next batches will begin training next month.
• Fix: The next five batches will begin training next month.

90. When comparing a person/thing to the rest of a group they belong to, add "other"

• Wrong: Mumbai is bigger than any city in India.
• Fix: Mumbai is bigger than any other city in India.
• Wrong: He scored higher than any student in his class.
• Fix: He scored higher than any other student in his class.
• Wrong: This branch handles more transactions than any branch in the state.
• Fix: This branch handles more transactions than any other branch in the state. Why this happens: the sentence is logically comparing a member of a group to the whole group, but without "other," it accidentally includes the subject itself in the comparison, creating a statement that's technically false (a city can't be bigger than itself).

91. Use the correct degree matching the sentence's logical scope: comparative for two items, superlative for three or more

• Wrong: Of the two routes, the highway is the shortest.
• Fix: Of the two routes, the highway is the shorter.
• Wrong: Between the two candidates, she is the most experienced.
• Fix: Between the two candidates, she is the more experienced.
• Wrong: Of the two designs, this one is the best.
• Fix: Of the two designs, this one is the better.

92. "Senior/junior/superior/inferior/prior/preferable" take "to," not "than"

• Wrong: He is senior than me in the department.
• Fix: He is senior to me in the department.
• Wrong: This plan is preferable than the earlier one.
• Fix: This plan is preferable to the earlier one.
• Wrong: Her performance this quarter is superior than last quarter's.
• Fix: Her performance this quarter is superior to last quarter's. Why this happens: these adjectives are Latin-origin comparatives that already carry a comparative meaning built into the word itself, so they follow the Latin pattern of pairing with "to" rather than the native English comparative pattern of pairing with "than."

93. "As...as" for equal comparison; "not so...as" for negative comparison

• Wrong: She is not as taller as her sister.
• Fix: She is not as tall as her sister.
• Wrong: This branch is as busiest as the main branch during festival season.
• Fix: This branch is as busy as the main branch during festival season.
• Wrong: His second attempt was not as better as his first.
• Fix: His second attempt was not as good as his first.

94. Adjective vs. adverb confusion: "good" (adjective) vs. "well" (adverb, except when meaning "healthy")

• Wrong: He performed good in the interview.
• Fix: He performed well in the interview.
• Wrong: The new intern communicates good with clients.
• Fix: The new intern communicates well with clients.
• Wrong: She sings good, but she is too shy to perform on stage.
• Fix: She sings well, but she is too shy to perform on stage.

95. "Bad" (adjective) vs. "badly" (adverb); "ill" typically means unwell, not poorly done

• Wrong: The team played very bad in the final.
• Fix: The team played very badly in the final.
• Wrong: He handled the situation bad under pressure.
• Fix: He handled the situation badly under pressure.
• Wrong: She reacted bad to the unexpected news.
• Fix: She reacted badly to the unexpected news.

96. Participial adjectives: "-ing" describes the cause, "-ed" describes the person's feeling

• Wrong: I was very boring during the long lecture.
• Fix: I was very bored during the long lecture.
• Wrong: The result was disappointed for the entire team.
• Fix: The result was disappointing for the entire team.
• Wrong: We were very exciting about the upcoming annual trip.
• Fix: We were very excited about the upcoming annual trip. Why this happens: both forms come from the same base verb, so the difference feels cosmetic — but "-ing" describes the thing producing an effect (a boring lecture), while "-ed" describes the person experiencing that effect (a bored listener), and swapping them reverses who is doing what to whom.

97. "Latter/later," "farther/further" distinction Latter = the second of two mentioned; later = after in time. Farther = physical distance; further = additional/abstract.

• Wrong: Of the two proposals, I prefer the later one.
• Fix: Of the two proposals, I prefer the latter one.
• Wrong: We need no farther discussion on this policy matter.
• Fix: We need no further discussion on this policy matter.
• Wrong: The second option, mentioned later in my note, is more cost-effective. (should refer to order mentioned, not time)
• Fix: The second option, mentioned latter in my note, is more cost-effective.

98. Compound adjectives before a noun are hyphenated and stay singular even when the number inside them is more than one

• Wrong: He signed a five-years contract with the company.
• Fix: He signed a five-year contract with the company.
• Wrong: This is a three-days workshop on data analysis.
• Fix: This is a three-day workshop on data analysis.
• Wrong: She completed a two-months internship at the firm.
• Fix: She completed a two-month internship at the firm.

99. Adjectives of quality, size, age, shape, colour, and origin follow a conventional order when stacked before a noun

• Wrong: She bought a wooden beautiful old box from the antique market.
• Fix: She bought a beautiful old wooden box from the antique market.
• Wrong: He wore a leather black formal jacket to the interview.
• Fix: He wore a formal black leather jacket to the interview.
• Wrong: They live in a brick small old house near the temple.
• Fix: They live in a small old brick house near the temple.

Mini Practice — Section 7

1. This is the most excellent proposal the board has ever seen.
2. Between the two schemes, the second one is the most beneficial.
3. He is junior than most officers in his batch.
4. She looked very tiring after the long flight.
5. He signed a two-year's lease for the new office.
6. This is the more unique handicraft I have seen at the fair.
7. Of the three finalists, she is the more talented.
8. The manager reacted bad to the sudden resignation.
9. We need no farther clarification on this circular.
10. He wore a red old cotton scarf to the winter function.

Answer Key

1. Remove "most" ("excellent" functions close to an absolute here — better: "an excellent proposal")
2. "the most beneficial" → "the more beneficial" (only two schemes compared)
3. "junior than" → "junior to"
4. "tiring" → "tired" (she experienced tiredness, didn't cause it)
5. "two-year's" → "two-year" (compound adjective, no apostrophe, singular)
6. Remove "more" — "unique" is an absolute adjective
7. "the more talented" → "the most talented" (three finalists, superlative needed)
8. "reacted bad" → "reacted badly" (adverb needed to modify "reacted")
9. "farther" → "further" (abstract, not physical distance)
10. "a red old cotton scarf" → "an old red cotton scarf" (age before colour)

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