[Grammar]Comparative correlative

Definition:

In grammar, a minor sentence pattern containing two corresponding phrases or clauses, each one headed by the and expressing a comparative: the X-er . . . the X-er or the X-er . . . the Y-er.

The comparative correlative is also known as thecorrelative construction, the conditional comparative, or the "the . . . the" construction.

Grammatically, the comparative correlative is a type of paired construction. Rhetorically, the comparative correlative is often (but not always) a type ofparison.

Examples and Observations:

• The greater the risk, the greater the return.



• The harder the conflict, the greater the triumph.



• The deeper our sorrows, the louder we'll sing.



• "Life is pure adventure, and the sooner we realize that, the quicker we will be able to treat life as art."
  (Maya Angelou, Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now. Random House, 1993)



• "The more we do, the more we can do; the more busy we are, the more leisure we have."
  (William Hazlitt, The Spirit of the Age, 1825)



• "The older the men are here, the more likely it is that they are wearing suits and ties."
  (John McPhee, "Giving Good Weight." Giving Good Weight. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1979)



• "The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."
  (Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia Organa in Star Wars, 1977)



• "The less we deserve good fortune, the more we hope for it."
  (Seneca)



• "The greater your achievements, the less satisfactory your personal and domestic life will be."
  (Saul Bellow, More Die of Heartbreak. William Morrow, 1987)



• "The more you pay attention to the richness of the world, the more you allow your interest to be absorbed by things outside of you, the more interesting a person you will become. And the more you pay attention to the world outside you, the more it gives back: by a kind of miracle, it will become a more interesting place."
  (Barbara Baig, How to Be a Writer: Building Your Creative Skills Through Practice and Play. Writer's Digest Books, 2010)



• The More the Merrier
  "This construction--schematically [the X-er the Y-er]--is commonly referred to as the correlative construction (Culicover 1999: 83-5); Culicover and Jackendoff 1999; Fillmore, Kay, and O'Connor 1988). It conveys that any increase (or decrease) in the value of X is associated with, and may even be construed as the cause of, an increase (or decrease) in the value of Y. A notable feature of the construction is the fact that the word the which features in it is not a determiner and is therefore not to be identified with the definite articlethe. Some instantiations of the construction:

  (16a) The more I know the more I worry. 
  (16b) The less they have to say the more they talk. 
  (16c) The bigger they are the harder they fall. 
  (16d) The earlier you start the more you chance you have of being successful. 
  (16e) The bigger the risk the bigger the payout. 
  (16f) The less said the better.

  It is also worth noting that although the correlative construction is highly unusual, given the general principles of English syntax, it is not totally isolated from the rest of the language. There are, in fact, quite a few bipartite expressions in which the first element is presented as the cause, precondition, or explanation for the second. Like the correlative construction, these expressions lack a finite verb. Here are some examples:

  (17a) Garbage in, garbage out. 
  (17b) Out of the frying pan (and) into the fire. 
  (17c) Easy come, easy go. 
  (17d) Cold hands, warm heart. 
  (17e) Once bitten, twice shy. 
  (17f) Out of sight, out of mind. 
  (17g) Once a whinger, always a whinger.* 
  (17h) One for me (and) one for you. 
  (17i) First come, first served. 
  (17j) Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

  "* This expression instantiates the construction [ONCE A N, ALWAYS A N]. Examples from the BNC [British National Corpus] include once a Catholic, always a Catholic; once a Russian, always a Russian; once a misfit, always a misfit; once a dealer, always a dealer. The construction conveys that a person is not able to change their personality or their entrenched behaviour."
  (John R. Taylor, The Mental Corpus: How Language is Represented in the Mind. Oxford University Press, 2012)



• the . . . the
  "(129) The more John eats the less he wants.
  
  "This construction . . . is composed of two phrases, each of which expresses a comparative. Both may be of the form the more XP . . ., in which case the first is interpreted as a subordinate clause and the second as a main clause. Or, the first clause can simply contain a comparative, e.g. John wants less, in which case the first clause is interpreted as the main clause and the second is interpreted as a subordinate clause.
  
  "Of particular relevance to the present discussion is the fact that the internal structure of the more . . . is sui generis, in the sense that the learner must simply acquire the knowledge that an expression of this form can be used in the way that we have described. As shown by Culicover and Jackendoff (1998), the morefunctions as an operator that binds a variable, and the chain that is formed is subject to the usual locality constraints. The form the more . . . must be initial in the clause, and cannot piedpipe a preposition . . .."
  (Peter W. Culicover, Syntactic Nuts: Hard Cases, Syntactic Theory, and Language Acquisition. Oxford University Press, 1999)



• The Little Word the
  "(6) The more a student studies, the better grades she will receive
  
  In English, both the first phrase and the second phrase obligatorily begin with the little word the. The unacceptability of (7a) is due to the absence of the in the first clause, in (7b) in the second clause, in (7c), the absence of the in both clauses unsurprisingly also results in unacceptability.

  (7a) * More a student studies, the better grades she will receive. 
  (7b) * The more a student studies, better grades she will receive. 
  (7c) * More a student studies, better grades she will receive."

  (Ronald P. Leow, Little Words: Their History, Phonology, Syntax, Semantics, Pragmatics, and Acquisition. Georgetown University Press, 2009)

Source: http://grammar.about.com/od/c/g/Comparative-Correlatives.htm

[Grammar]Comparative/superlative

Comparative is the name for the grammar used when comparing two things. The two basic ways to compare are using as .. as or than. Examples of each are shown below:

• She's twice as old as her sister.
• He's not as stupid as he looks!
• I'm almost as good in maths as in science.
• This book is not as exciting as the last one.
• The cafeteria is not as crowded as usual.
• Russian is not quite as difficult as Chinese.

• This computer is better than that one.
• She's stronger at chess than I am.
• It's much colder today than it was yesterday.
• Our car is bigger than your car.
• This grammar topic is easier than most others.
• I find science more difficult than mathematics.
• Today's ESL lesson was more interesting than usual.

Note: In each of the example sentences above, the comparative form of the adjective is shown. See the foot of this page for information about the comparison of adverbs.

When comparing with as .. as, the adjective does not change. When comparing with than, however, some changes are necessary, depending on the number of syllables the adjective has:

1-syllable adjectives: add -er to the adjective

• My sister is much taller than me.†
• It's colder today than it was yesterday.

Note: If the word ends: consonant-vowel-consonant, then the last consonant is usually doubled in the comparative. Examples: big-bigger, fat-fatter, hot-hotter.

2-syllable adjectives ending in -y: change the -y to -ier

• She's looking happier today.
• This grammar topic is easier than the last one.
• Why is everyone else luckier than me? †

Beware: Do not confuse adjectives and adverbs. 2-syllable adverbs ending in -y must be compared with the word more. Example: I drive more quickly (quicklier) than my brother.

Other 2-syllable adjectives: use more with the unchanged adjective

• The shops are always more crowded just before Christmas.
• Is there anything more boring than reading about grammar?
• My sister is more careful with her writing than I am with mine.

Note: The comparative of some shorter 2-syllable adjectives can be formed with -er. Examples: simple-simpler, clever-cleverer, narrow-narrower. To be sure which comparative method to use, you will need to consult a good dictionary.

Adjectives with 3 or more syllables: use more with the unchanged adjective

• Russian grammar is more difficult than English grammar.
• My sister is much more intelligent than me.†
• I find maths lessons more enjoyable than science lessons.
• The older you get, the more irritating you become.

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In the superlative you talk about one thing only and how it is the best, worst, etc. You do not compare two things. The following guidelines apply to the superlative:

1-syllable adjectives: add -est to the adjective (plus the)

• My sister is the tallest in our family.
• Yesterday was the coldest day of the year so far.

Note: If the word ends: consonant-vowel-consonant, then the last consonant is usually doubled in the superlative. Examples: big-biggest, fat-fattest, hot-hottest.

2-syllable adjectives ending in -y: change the -y to -iest (plus the)

• The richest people are not always the happiest.
• Which do you think is the easiest language to learn?
• She's the luckiest person I know.

Beware: Do not confuse adjectives and adverbs. 2-syllable adverbs ending in -y form their superlative with the words the most. Example: Of all the people I know my father drives the most quickly (quickliest).

Other 2-syllable adjectives: use the most with the unchanged adjective

• The most boring thing about ESL class is doing grammar exercises.
• My sister is the most careful person I know.

Note: The superlative of some shorter 2-syllable adjectives can be formed with -er. Examples: simple-simplest, clever-cleverest, narrow-narrowest. To be sure which superlative method to use, you will need to consult a good dictionary.

Adjectives with 3 or more syllables: use the most with the unchanged adjective

• Some people think that Russian is the most difficult language.
• Albert Einstein was the most intelligent person in history.
• My most enjoyable class is English.
• You are the most irritating person I have ever met!

Following are two common irregular comaparative/superlative forms:

• good-better-the best
• bad-worse-the worst

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The following guidelines apply to the comparative/superlative of mostadverbs:

1-syllable adverbs: add -er/-est

• I can run faster than you. / I can run the fastest in my class.
• She works harder than me.† / She works the hardest of all students.

Other adverbs: use more / the most*

• She ran more quickly than me.† / Of all the students she ran the most quickly.

* In informal English it is common to hear the adjectival comparative/superlative form of two-syllable adverbs. For example: She ran quicker than me.† | She ran the quickest.

† Many educated English speakers prefer to use the nominative plus a verb rather than the accusative in such comparative sentences, especially in formal situations. They say, for example, My sister is taller than I am. or She ran more quickly than I did.The alternative, omitting the verb as in the following examples, is considered to be even more formal and is avoided by most British English speakers: My sister is taller than I. or She ran more quickly than I.

Source: http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/rules/comp.htm