40. Positive degree	Comparative degree	Superlative degree	Difference in meaning
    1	2	3	4
    good	better	best
    well (relating to health)
    bad (ill)	worse	worst
    old	older	oldest
    	elder	eldest	Used with reference to membership of a human family or social group
    late	later	latest	Used with reference to time
    	latter	last	Used with reference to order of events
    near	nearer	nearest	Used with reference to distance
    		next	Used with reference to order
    far	farther	farthest	Both used with reference to distance, though in this sense "farther", "farthest" are preferred. "Further" is preferred in the sense of "another", it shows that something will follow
    	further	furthest

    Irregular forms of the degrees of comparison of adjectives.

40. Adjectives after verbs.

We use adjectives after be/get/become/seem:

• Be careful!

• I’m tired and I’m getting hungry.

• As the film went on, it became more and more boring.

• Your friend seems very nice.

We also use adjectives to say how somebody/something looks, feels, sounds, tastes or smells:

• You look tired. / I feel tired. / She sounds tired.

• The dinner smells good.

• This tea tastes a bit strange.

But to say how somebody does something you must use an adverb :

• Drive carefully! (not ‘Drive careful’)

• Susan plays the piano very well. (not ‘plays … very good’)

40. What morphological characteristics do adverbs have?

Some adverbs (mainly those of manner) may change their form to express degrees of comparison.

Formation of the degrees of comparison of adverbs:

1. One-syllable adverbs

fast – faster – fastest

tight – tighter – tightest

low – lower – lowest

long – longer – longest

2. Two-syllable and many-syllable adverbs

neatly – more neatly – most neatly

frequently – more frequently – most frequently

recently – more recently – most recently

3. Irregular forms of the degrees of comparison of adverbs

well – better – best

badly – worse – worst

much – more – most

little – less – least

far – farther/further – farthest/furthest

40. What groups of adverbs do you know?

Adverbs may be subdivided into the following groups:

1. adverbs of time and frequency

now, then, after, before, yesterday, tomorrow, often, always, seldom, ever, never, already, still, etc.

2. adverbs of place or direction

outside, inside, up, down, here, there, forward, backward, north, south, etc.

3. adverbs of manner

well, badly, quickly, slowly, kindly, beautifully, etc.

4. adverbs of measure or degree

half, much, little, nearly, almost, quite, hardly, exceedingly, enough, too, rather, etc.

5. interrogative adverbs

where, when, why, how

Sometimes we also speak about “connective adverbs”, such as:

otherwise, however, nevertheless, still, therefore

40. What is the position of the adverbs in the sentence?

The position of the adverb in the sentence is relatively free, especially that of adverbs denoting time, place or manner of the action. Adverbs denoting frequency are generally placed before the verb to which they refer or, if the form of the verb is analytical, after the first auxiliary.

He often went there.

He has often gone there.

Adverbs of degree are placed directly before the word they modify.

He spoke very slowly.

Adverbs denoting direction are placed immediately after the word they modify.

He went forward.

Interrogative adverbs are placed at the head of the sentence (the word order in this case will be inverted).

When (Where) did he do it?

40. What adverbs form degrees of comparison synthetically?

One-syllable adverbs (see 42).

40. What adverbs form degrees of comparison analytically?

Two-syllable and many-syllable adverbs (see 42).

40. Word order – adverbs with a verb.

Some adverbs (for example, always, probably, also) go with the verb in the middle of a sentence.

Rules for the position of adverbs in the middle of a sentence (they are only general rules, so there are exceptions):

1. If the verb is one word (goes/fell/cooked etc.), the adverb usually goes before the verb. These adverbs (always/often/also etc.) go before have to:

• I always have to phone him. (not ‘I have always to phone’)

2. But adverbs go after am/is/are/was/were:

• You’re never on time.

3. If the verb is two or more words (can remember/doesn’t smoke/has been stolen etc.), the adverb goes after the first verb (can/doesn’t/has etc.):

• I’s already falling down

Note that probably goes before the negative:

• I probably won’t see you. or I will probably not see you (not ‘I won’t probably’)

40. Semantic groups of pronouns.

According to their meaning pronouns are generally subdivided into:

1. personal

I, you, he, she, it, we, they

2. possessive

my (mine), your (yours), etc.

3. demonstrative

this, that, these, those

4. indefinite

each, either, both, some, any, etc.

5. negative

neither, nobody, nothing, none

6. reflexive

myself, yourself, etc.

7. interrogative

who, what, whose, which

8. reciprocal

each other, one another

40. Number and case forms of pronouns.

Personal and demonstrative pronouns have two number forms: singular and plural.

The personal pronouns and the interrogative or connective pronoun “who” have two cases: the nominative case and the objective case.

The negative pronoun “nobody” and the indefinite pronouns “everybody”, “somebody”, “anybody” have the common case and the genitive case; their use is similar to the use of cases in nouns.

	Demonstrative pronouns	Reflexive pronouns	Personal pronouns		Indefinite pronouns
case number			nominative	objective	common	genitive
Singular	this that	myself yourself himself herself itself	I you he she it	me you him her it	somebody anybody everybody someone anyone everyone one other another someone else	somebody's anybody's everybody's someone's anyone's everyone's one's other's another's someone else's
Plural	these those	ourselves yourselves themselves	we you they	us you them	others	others'