Question

Use the comparative degree of the adjective in the following sentence-
Mary is ____ (strong) Ellen.
(a)Strong
(b)As strong as
(c)Stronger than
(d)Strongest

Answer 1

Hint: Try to understand the context of the given sentence. Choose the option which can best express the comparison being shown while keeping in mind that it should be in the comparative degree.

Complete answer:
Adjectives are those words that are used to modify and describe nouns and pronouns. Degrees of comparison of adjectives are used to describe and compare different qualities of people, things, animals and places. There are three degrees of comparison-
(i)Positive degree- It is used to emphasize a particular quality or trait of someone or something. For example- My friend is pretty.
(ii)Comparative degree- It is used to show a comparison between two people based on a particular quality or characteristic. For example- My friend is prettier than her.
(iii)Superlative degree- It is used to show a comparison between two or more people based on a particular trait. For example- My friend is the prettiest in her class.
In the given question- We can comprehend that Mary is stronger than Ellen. Here, we have used ‘stronger than’ because we are comparing a specific quality between the two girls.
Now, let’s examine the given options-
Option a- ‘Strong’ is an incorrect option because it is given in the positive degree as it is only indicating a specific quality.
Option b- ‘As strong as’ is an incorrect option because it represents comparison in the positive degree of comparison.
Option c- ‘Stronger than’ is the correct option because ‘than’ is used to show a comparison between two people or things.
Option d- ‘Strongest’ is an incorrect option because it is given in the superlative degree of comparison.

The correct answer is Option ‘c’.

Note: Keep in mind, many adjectives form their comparative degree by adding ‘more’ to the base word. For example- More intelligent, etc. Also, it is important to use ‘than’ with comparative degrees of adjectives.