Question

Transform the following from the positive to the comparative degree of comparison without changing the meaning of the sentence:
We know the book as well as you do.

a. We know the book better than you do.
b. You do not know the book better than we do.
c. We do not know the book better than you do.
d. We know the book the best compared to you.

Answer 1

Hint: Look at the given sentence and note that there are two subjects that are mentioned in the sentence. This means that the subjects need to be placed correctly to make the sentence comparative. Choose the correct option accordingly.

Complete answer:
 Degrees of comparison are used to compare and contrast multiple subjects or objects in a sentence. The three degrees of adjectives are the positive degree, comparative degree, and superlative degree.

Positive - The positive degree is the most simple degree of comparison. It has no special
ending. It makes no comparison, just describes the existence of a particular quality.
Comparative - This degree compares two or more things to find which one exists in a higher or lower degree. It either has the word ‘more’ before the adjective or has the suffix ‘-er’ after the adjective.
Superlative - This degree denotes the most extreme form of the adjective. It is formed by
using the article ‘the’ before the adjective and adding either ‘most’ before the adjective or
the suffix ‘-est’ after the adjective.
The only way that we can keep the meaning intact is if we make the sentence negative and invert the subject order.

Now, we know what we are looking for. Let us look at the given options-
a. We know the book better than you do. - This sentence does not invert the subjects and changes the meaning of the original sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
b. You do not know the book better than we do. - This sentence inverts the subjects and does not change the meaning of the original sentence. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.
c. We do not know the book better than you do. - This sentence does not invert the subjects and changes the meaning of the original sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
d. We know the book the best compared to you. - This sentence does not invert the subjects and changes the meaning of the original sentence. This is also not a comparative adjective. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.

Note:
 In the given sentence, a comparison is not being made. This means that the sentence needed should make a comparison which can only be done by inversion of subjects. Do not make the mistake of choosing an option with a different meaning to the given sentence.