27
votes
Accepted
She is tall/ taller for her age by two inches
Both are unnatural. You can use "for her age" with the adjective tall,
She is tall for her age.
Or you can use "by two inches" with the comparitive form of the adjective (and with some reference ...
- 10.4k
9
votes
Accepted
Shouldn't "much" here be used instead of "more"?
In this case, it's referring to the number of times they did go to school. The more is in comparison to whatever the reality of the situation actually is.
For instance:
However many vegetables you ...
- 36.4k
7
votes
Shadowier or Shadowyer?
The dictionaries are right. The standard spelling is "Shadowier"
This isn't the kind of thing you can use logic or debate about.
You can't "disprove what dictionaries say". They ...
- 228k
7
votes
Shouldn't "much" here be used instead of "more"?
It was because they were sorry, too, that they had not gone to school more.
This is a grammatical sentence whose meaning is clear. When more is used this way - “they didn’t do X more” it means “they ...
- 8,697
6
votes
She is tall/ taller for her age by two inches
I would parse "she is tall for her age" as an idiom meaning something like "she is unusually tall among children of her age".
A comparable phrase which comes to mind is the White Stripes song lyric "...
- 4,396
5
votes
She is tall/ taller for her age by two inches
If the girl in question is aged 13, then say
She is [two inches] taller than the average [13-year-old] girl
- 28.3k
3
votes
Comparitive degree as a Modifier!
I'm a native speaker and an English teacher. Since I don't know the context or the intended use of the sentence, it's a little hard to answer.
If you want to restate it without the comparative, ...
- 466
2
votes
"A little too (much) young" vs "A little bit too (much) young" vs "a bit too (much) young"
The forms involving the word “much” are not used. The words “too much” could easily be followed by a noun (“too much noise”), including a noun phrase that begins with an adjective ("too much black ...
- 1,520
2
votes
The ambiguous meaning of "He is better."
I am not sure of the community's preferred approach here. I love the basic thrust of Michael D's answer, but dislike the attempted and unwarranted assumption of numerical quantification: English has ...
- 32.1k
2
votes
The ambiguous meaning of "He is better."
Oxford Dictionaries defines this sense of better as partly or fully recovered from illness, injury, or mental stress.
So if you say that someone has got better from an illness, it usually means that ...
- 59k
2
votes
What should be used with a person or 3rd person , comparative degree or simple form of adjective
The most natural choice is "A person is getting better day by day." The phrases getting better and day by day both suggest an ongoing process, so they are compatible.
Becoming better is not a correct ...
- 911
2
votes
Shadowier or Shadowyer?
This answer is meant to supplement James K's with which I heartily agree. Besides, the first time I caught a glimpse of the title “shadowyer”, it looked weird, and there's strong supporting evidence ...
- 28.3k
2
votes
Accepted
The decoration of the new office block is more/most pleasing
Most is not being used as a superlative in your sentence. It is being used as an adjective modifying 'pleasing' and meaning 'very'.
Most
formal
very
It was a most beautiful morning.
Most (Cambridge ...
- 74.2k
2
votes
A question about a comparative construction
As I said in my comment (before you expanded the qustion), I find the definition grammatically odd. I would expect a placeholder after "more":
to say that something is more ''something'' ...
- 76.5k
2
votes
Accepted
Positive and comparative degree of same adjective
The author is speaking from the point of view of a soul ascending to heaven, that is someone who has recently died.
And the soul observes that "if I had been slightly less virtuous, I might have ...
- 228k
1
vote
Should I say little daughter or younger daughter?
two daughters: My younger daughter versus My older daughter.
young is not just about adults.
younger and older are used as comparatives for ages. One daughter is younger than the other. One is older ...
- 47.4k
1
vote
Double comparatives
It's entirely correct and sounds fine, although I'd prefer 'The more she works' to 'The more time she spends on work'.
You could also go with 'the more she works, the greater her stress'.
- 467
1
vote
Accepted
Is it less funds or fewer funds?
'Funds' can mean two different things. A reserve of money set aside for a specific purpose can be 'a fund' (eg "we receive money from a charitable fund"). But money collected together to ...
- 108k
1
vote
What should be appropriate adjective here (worst to worse)?
The commonly used phrase is
worse and worse * and the opposite is* better and better. "
Since he has been in the UK, his English gets better and better."
better and better (idiomatic) ...
- 4,731
1
vote
Is it fine to say in comparative degree?
Your construction is possible but could be improved.
If you want to make it clear that you intend the comparative degree to apply to both, it would be better to write:
....was both wiser and more ...
- 25.9k
1
vote
"Tank needs 8 minutes less" or "8 minutes lesser"
"Less" is grammatical here. I suspect what is bothering you is that the sentence is awkward. That does not make it wrong (although some may say that "fewer" is preferable to "less").
Filling the ...
- 32.1k
1
vote
"That much more so"
It's the meaning of that given as no. 11 here: "to a great extent or degree; very".
"That much more so" = "Very much more so".
- 76.5k
1
vote
is ‘fine’ in the sense ‘of very good quality’ gradable?
"fine quality" > "a very fine quality" > "the finest quality": all forms are usable
- 275
1
vote
Accepted
Which of the meanings of the adjective "mean" can have comparison or superlativeness?
It does not make sense that the first definition of mean would have gradations. "the meanest annual rainfall". No.
However, the other definitions are standard adjectives. Therefore, one can imagine ...
- 9,745
1
vote
Accepted
comparative degree in a run on sentence
Wow. That is a monster of a sentence.
I'm not surprised you're confused. The two "as important as" actually have quite different syntax and meaning from each other.
The first one is in a ...
- 76.5k
1
vote
Better, more better or much better, which is correct?
No, you aren't wrong.
The simple rule is this that you use 'much' ( instead of very, more etc ) with 2nd degree of adjective.
What your student should have said was this,
I am feeling better ...
- 785
1
vote
Use of “-er” or the word “more” to make comparative forms
The rule, if you can call it that, is for the most part single-syllable adjectives will take an "-er" in the comparative form (going to focus on comparative for the moment because the rules generally ...
- 11
1
vote
Use of “-er” or the word “more” to make comparative forms
Neither the word evil nor the word vapid can take ER to make a comparative. The word stupid technically can take ER and EST but I don't know that I've ever heard a native speaker use the word stupider....
- 116
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