Comparatives and Superlatives of Adjectives

What I Am Getting At
     The other day, I was complaining to my mom and sister about one of my classes and the quiz questions I was having to answer.  Somewhere in this complain-fest, this happened:

                             Me: "I swear, the questions keep getting stupider and stupider!" 

                             My sister: "'Stupider'? This coming from the English major?"

                             Me: "Uh...yes, stupider."

                             My mom: "Shouldn't it be 'more stupid'?"

                             Me: "Uhh..."

I honestly had no idea how to answer this question! So, for your benefit (and my own!) this post is all about the comparatives and superlatives of adjectives (: Hopefully by the end we will all know which is the correct form: "stupider" or "more stupid"!

<image from Those English Skills blog>

Definitions

     According to the Oxford English Dictionary (online): 

• a comparative develops a relation in quality between to things, though not the highest quality, 

• a superlative deals with the highest quality of comparison between two things.  

While these definitions are pretty vague, GrammarGirl has come to the rescue! In the article "Comparatives Vs. Superlatives", she elaborates enough for us to get the bigger picture. Here are the definitions/explanations she gives:  

• "When you compare two items, you’re using what’s called a comparative, so you use “more” before the adjective or the suffix “-er” on the end of it. You can remember that comparatives are for two thing because “comparative” has the sound “pair” in it and a pair is always two things. It's not spelled like “pair” but it sounds like pair."

• "When you compare three or more items, you’re using a superlative, so you use “most” or the suffix “-est.” You can remember that superlatives are for more than two things because “superlative” has the word “super” in it and when you want a whole bunch of something, you supersize it."

Make more sense? I sure thought so! But, there is still the problem of how we make the correct form of the comparative and superlative. There are a few little rules--or rather guidelines since the English language is ALWAYS breaking its own rules--to help us along the way.

<image from the Study English Blog>

<image from the Study English Blog>

5 Guidelines (from Oxford Dictionary)

1. Adjectives that have one syllable: add -er for the comparative and -est for the superlative
2. Adjectives that have one syllable and end in "e": add -r for the comparative and -st for the superlative
3. Adjectives that have two syllables: the form depends on the adjective. Some you can simply add -r/-er for the comparative and -st/-est for the superlative, while for others you will need to add 'more' or 'most', respectively.  To make things even more confusing, there are also words that can be formed both ways.
4. Adjectives that have three or more syllables: add 'more' for the comparative and 'more' for the superlative.
5. Adjectives that change their spelling: the form here depends on the adjective

• one-syllable ending in a single consonant: double the consonant and add -er for the comparative and -est for the superlative
• ending in y: change the 'y' to 'i' and add -er for the comparative and -est for the superlative
• irregulars: these are words that you simply have to learn and memorize

Application

     I cannot give you an example of every possible adjective, but I can share a few.

For starters, here is a short list from a teacher's resource website called K12 Reader:

Regular, Comparative, Superlative

sweet, sweeter, sweetest

angry, angrier, angriest

bright, brighter, brightest

calm, calmer, calmest

cold, colder, coldest

cool, cooler, coolest

curly, curlier, curliest

early, earlier, earliest

rich, richer, richest

lovely, lovelier, loveliest

smart, smarter, smartest

simple, simpler, simplest

famous, more famous, most famous

immense, more immense, most immense

long, longer, longest

perfect, more perfect, most perfect

quick, quicker, quickest

thin, thinner, thinnest

Here is a list of comparative and superlative adjectives that have irregular forms (from YourDictionary.com):

bad, worse, worst

good, better, best

far, farther, farthest

late, latter, last (order)

little, less, least

much, more, most

some, more, most

many, more, most

     In the end, if you are really having difficulty figuring out the correct form, look it up; many resources are available to us for this purpose (though I recommend a dictionary just to be safe).

<image from slideshare.net>

To answer my original dilemma regarding the comparative of 'stupid', the correct form according to Oxford Dictionary and Dictionary.com is "stupider" (and the superlative is "stupidest").  

Hope this information is helpful! Let me know what you think,

Amanda

Watch Your Verbage!

What I Am Getting At
     Verb tense basically tells the time of whatever you are talking about--what happened in the past, what is happening in the present, and what will happen in the future. Being consistent in verb tense is key to your audience's ability to understand what you are saying. In order for this to happen, you need at least a basic understanding of the tenses and their purposes in the English language.
    For this post I, again, decided to share a short list of resources. Each deals in some way with verb tense.  Hopefully by the end, you will know how to recognize the different tenses and ultimately avoid swapping tenses within your writing(s). And if this is not the case, at least, you will know where to look when you need help (:

<comic courtesy of Bitstrips.com>

Verb Tense and Its Consistency

• Grammar-Monster's article "Verb Tense"
• This page defines verb tense and gives some basic examples.  What I like most about this one is that a list of all of the tenses is included which provides links to pages speaking strictly about the tense you may want to know more about.  

• Purdue OWL's page about "Verb Tense Consistency"
• Purdue's Online Writing Lab (OWL) has a TON of information about verbs in general. The link I have shared is simply the rules about verb consistency.  If you are having trouble with subject verb agreement or understanding which tense to use, several other links are available for your perusal (:

<image courtesy of easypacelearning.com> 

• Grammar Girl's articles "Is It Okay To Switch Verb Tenses?" and "Mixing Verb Tenses"
• These two articles are related in that they both deal with verb tense, but they are different in what aspect they cover.  The first talks purely about the rules for switching tenses within a sentence and when it is and is not good to do so.  The latter covers a couple of the more confusing tenses and explains the difference between them.  Each includes example of the correct and incorrect ways to use them.
  
• University of Ottawa, Canada, has a page about "Using Verbs" in their Writing Center
• This page holds information about verbs in general. The different tabs are all helpful (depending on what you are wanting help with, of course).
  
• Handout-style page from Towson University about tense consistency
• This one gives straightforward demonstrations for the use of tense and when to change and not change the tense.  It is a little lengthy, but well done. 

<image from FlatWorldKnowledge>

For Your Information

• short quiz to test your knowledge of the tenses from Grammar-Monster
• article in the Huffington Post "The Art of Using Correct Verb Tenses in Your Writing" gives some great examples of the different verb tenses

I hope these pages are able to answer any question you may have, but if not, I am always available to help!!

Amanda

Spell Check, Please!

What I Am Getting At
     So far, I have talked and talked about some basics of writing, and I know some of my posts have been long-winded, so today I am going to do something just a little different (:
     Most everyone is familiar with the AutoCorrect Fails, right?  Well, this post is somewhat dedicated to those fails, but mostly to the avoiding of such errors.

Here are a few of the listed favorites from RantChic:

No lie, I can't stop myself from laughing at these things! 

Now that we have all giggled our brains out, I'll get to my point: Spell check is SUPER important in everything, even the basic text to a friend.  Unfortunately, we sometimes run into problems like with the AutoCorrect function--which is great when it doesn't happen to us of course, but when it does...well, that's a different story.  We also run into instances where the spellcheck doesn't catch our typos.

Personal Application
     Unfortunately, I am not familiar with any spellcheck program other than Microsoft's, so forgive me for my lack of knowledge about other programs! But in my experience with Microsoft, I have run across a few different problems.  Let me share a few I ran into when writing my latest essay (highlighted in the screenshots) :/

This first screenshot has two separate errors.  The first highlighted word should have been "for" rather than "four"--four quotes are not falling, I promise!  The second highlight, fortunately, shows a catch made by the spellcheck telling us that I used the wrong word--should be "their" instead.

This second screenshot touches on two more errors.  They both deal with simple typing errors but they affect what I meant to say.  The first was supposed to say "in" and the second "are".  Here the spelling is fine as "on" and "ate" are real words, but the grammar is affected since the two do not fit with my purpose.

These are simple and somewhat silly examples, but can you see what I am getting at? The AutoCorrect fails are hilarious and one simple mistake in a paper should not lose you too much credit.  But...what if your paper was filled with these little mistakes? or what if the mistake was the status of an AutoCorrect fail?  In the end, these 'little' mistakes can make you lose credibility as a writer or as an 'expert' on your chosen topic.

The Main Point
     So, my plug for today is this: double check, triple check, and quadruple check if you have to.  This is an important step especially when you have a term paper or some big assignments or a work project or whatever.  We look a little silly when we misspell a simple word, even when it is not our fault.  I may not have answers for a "program fix", but in my opinion, it is the writer that needs to take responsibility for their work--we can't blame the computer for everything, right?

Hopefully, we will never have to see our own AutoCorrect Fails published for the world to see (:

Amanda

Commas, Commas, and More Commas

What I Am Getting At
     Last time I gave you guys several resources talking about the uses of apostrophes.  What is more fitting than to now talk about commas??
    Commas are both overused and underused.  Unfortunately, in writing, a comma can make all the difference:

Do you see what I mean?? If we leave out the commas, we come up with something completely different than what was intended...unless of course you like the idea of something that eats kids or that Rachel Ray cooks her family and her dog...For the most part, however, I do not think this is the case (:
     There are many ways to use a comma. For example, we use commas when we join sentences with conjunctions, when we create lists, or when we use dependent clauses in a sentence.  There are other times to use commas, but we will focus on these three uses for this post.
    Again, I do not think I could do justice to what others have already said before me on this subject, but I hope to make a list of resources that will help you in your quest to conquer commas!

When Joining Sentences with Conjunctions

• Grammar-monster demonstrates using commas to join independent clauses.  He gives examples of the right way as well as the wrong way.
• When joining sentences, beware of "comma splices".  If you want to connect your sentences with a comma, you need to use a conjunction as well.
• GrammarGirl has a neat little post about comma splices.  Not only does she show how to use a comma correctly when joining sentences, she also gives you an alternative to using commas--a great way to avoid the horror of comma splicing!

When Creating Lists

• Grammar-monster relates that lists only need commas when there are three or more items being listed. He also defines and demonstrates when and where to use the Oxford Comma (a.k.a. Serial Comma).
• Get It Write shows us how the serial comma would be used in a sentence and demonstrates how it could be used to avoid confusion when listing items.

When Adding Dependent Clauses Onto a Sentence

• Towson University's Online Writing Support has a page defining dependent clauses.  While this is not strictly related to commas, by going through the examples, you can get a pretty good idea about when to use and when not to use a comma in relation to the clause.

For Your Information

• Purdue OWL has an "Extended Rules for Using Commas" page that is full of helpful tips.
• Grammarbook lists 21 rules for comma usage and has a quiz that allows you to test your knowledge.

Hopefully these resources are helpful! Let me know what you think (:

Amanda

Say "No!" to Apostrophe Catastrophe

What I Am Getting At

     Apostrophes are very much overused by anyone and everyone (and, yes, this is a HUGE pet peeve of mine!)  Just as in my last post, I cannot say it as well as some others, but I hope that what sources I bring to your attention can help in some way... (most of them are the same sources from the last post, but when they're good, they're good, right?)

**Just so you know, some of the pictures included in this post came from additional sites that wrote about apostrophes. I did not highlight them here, but they all have good things to say if you are interested!

           

Here are some of the sites/posts I found:

The Oatmeal

• The Oatmeal creates comics for just about everything under the sun, even apostrophes!! This comic is full of good information and examples of the "where", "when" and "why" of apostrophes.

GrammarGirl

• GrammarGirl's post about apostrophes is not on the humorous side like The Oatmeal; rather it is purely educational.  But if you can make it through to the end (I know it can be hard when it is not all about entertainment), some very good points are made...I even got a refresher course on a basic rule: that some words are punctuated differently depending on context.
• GrammarGirl has also made a video talking about the use of apostrophes in plurals...the voice is kinda monotone, but she uses a real-life example (a Victoria's Secret ad) to demonstrate some rules and make some suggestions

MoonTimeTunes

• A post by MoonTimeTunes lists three different "threats" that affect how apostrophes are used or not.

VideoJug

• VideoJug has put together a clip to demonstrate 4 rules about apostrophe use. The clip is not very long, and the rules presented flow together so it does not seem like you are being bombarded with information.

GrammarBook

• GrammarBook has made a quiz to test your apostrophe skills...I myself scored an 11 out of 12.

Bob the Angry Flower

HowToDoThings

• HowToDoThings has a very simple article about the steps/rules of apostrophes. It gives the same basic information found in some of the other resources I have listed, it is just in list form.

Thoughts From A Redhead

• I love the way she starts her post "Let's Talk About Apostrophe's"! She, of course, makes a comment about the title and its worthiness of a cringe (: 

I hope this resources will come in handy...They are all very similar, but there are only so many rules, thank goodness!  Let me know what you think,

Amanda

Confused and Mixed Up Words

What I Am Getting At
     The English language is super confusing and rather annoying.  There are several words that sound alike and/or are spelled alike (a.k.a. homonyms, homophones, homographs), and it is easy to use them incorrectly or even misspell them. If you are aware of these words, you are more likely to recognize when you are trying to use them, and, hopefully, you can figure out which is the correct one to use.

For Your Information
     Instead of trying to recreate my own ways to introduce these words to you (wich would probably fail miserably anyway!), I have found other blogs and websites that have already found decent and interesting ways to share this same topic and have decided to compile them for you.  I hope you are able to put them to some use (:

Grammar-Monster.com

• Easily Confused Words
• This page offers a rather large list of words that are confused with each other. There is a link for each of the word pairs that gives definitions and examples of how to use the words correctly.
• Easily confused words grammar test
• In case you want to test your knowledge in this area, here is a small quiz (: This is the link to the main confused words test; there are also more focused tests that relate to the specific word pairs.

Grammar Girl

• These posts give the basic definition of usage and then show how to put them into a sentence and the context for each. The three links I have included are just a few of the posts that Grammar Girl has made; I definitely encourage you to look for more (:
• In to or Into
• Affect Versus Effect
• Faze or Phase
  
  
  
• If you are interested, Grammar Girl has written a book titled Grammar Girl's 101 Misused Words You Will Never Confuse Again; it is available on both Amazon and at Barnes & Noble (:
• B&N
• Amazon

Grammarbook.com

• List of Confusing Words and Homonyms
• Many (if not all) of the confused word pairs are listed here--you can find them alphabetically. In each section you can see the basic definition of the words, examples and a small pop quiz on the use of the words...these are a great resource for review!

ELearnEnglishLanguage.com

• This site's “Mistakes + Difficulties” page lists quite a few of the confused words and phrases. I am pretty impressed with the fact that when a word has multiple definitions or ways to be used, both definitions are given and then demonstrated.  This gets rid of quite a bit of confusion.

Other

• Dr. Grammar is a page associated with the University of Northern Iowa and is a decent resource for grammar questions.  On the Frequently Asked Questions page, several of these confused words are their own questions (:
• ToTooTwo.com is a super simple page that shows the differences between “to”, “too” and “two” (if you had not already guessed that!).

There are so many resources available when you find that you have messed up a word! (I was amazed in all honesty--I am used to searching an actual physical dictionary for the correct word!) Hopefully my very small list is helpful (: 
Let me know what you think,

Amanda

Introduction and Conclusion

What I Am Getting At

            We talked last time about the need for some sort of organization of your thoughts—was this at all helpful in getting your paper started and/or flowing??   Anyway, this time, I would like to share some information on the opening and closing of a paper. 

My main point: introduction and conclusion paragraphs can make or break an essay.

Introduction Paragraph

            The introduction paragraph is pretty important in that it sets up the rest of your paper.  In this paragraph, you introduce your topic and what you are trying to say about that topic.  To do this, two things are recommended: 1) include a thesis statement and 2) open in a way that will attract the audience.

Thesis statements tell your audience what your main point is. This statement can be somewhat difficult to write, because it should encompass the base of your paper’s purpose.  However, it is a great tool for keeping a focus (and as a part of your introduction paragraph, half of the writing is already done!) Here is a guide as to what different parts are included in the thesis statement and here is a video that demonstrates how to write a thesis statement.

As a part of your thesis statement, you should tell your audience the specifics of what you will tell them.  If you are explaining why pistachio ice cream is the best ice cream, then you need to write something to the effect of “Pistachio ice cream is the best flavor for such and such reasons”.  These reasons in turn become the subjects of your respective body paragraphs.

An introduction is only truly effective if you are able to catch your audience’s attention and keep it. There are a few ways to do so: you can begin with a story, a statistic, a definition, etc.  The Introductory Paragraph: Start With a Great First Sentence goes into more detail about the different ways to start and keep your audience hooked.  With this hook, you can then move forward and make your case.

Conclusion Paragraph

The conclusion paragraph is almost as important as the introduction.  Don’t you hate when someone is telling a story and it just ends? There is no closure or anything that resembles an ending (or at least something that we would consider an ending) and you are left unsatisfied, right?  This is what you want to avoid when writing your conclusion. 

In the conclusion, you are not restating everything you have said in the paper—you have already said it and don’t need to again.  Instead, you are emphasizing what you said and why it is relevant.  Why is what you said supportive of your main idea? What makes your thoughts and ideas and information valid?  This should be where the brunt of your opinion is located; you need to be straight with your audience and say “hey, I wrote this paper for a reason and this is the reason.” Check out these strategies if you need some more guidance.

My Take

            Of course the research and the content of your essay are extremely important—what would be the point without them??—but no one wants to read or recommend something that has no hook or an attention-grabbing opener, and no one wants to finish something only to be left hanging or feeling that something could have been different. 

            Hopefully with these tools, you can approach your opening and closing remarks with a greater understanding of their importance to your paper (:

For Your Information

Here is an additional link to information about introduction paragraphs:

·         Introductory Paragraphs.htm

Again, I hope you are able to take something away from this…and let me know what works and what doesn’t!

Amanda

An Organizational Approach to Writing an Essay

What I Am Getting At

When writing anything, I feel that getting your thoughts down on paper and somewhat organized is the most important way to start.  Whether you are writing the first draft of an essay or a simple response paper, you need some sort of organization or your paper is not going to be received well by your audience. In the course of this post, I hope to offer advice on how to get your writing organized from the start.  By doing this, your paper will come to you easier and you do not have to worry about the flow of your writing at the last minute.

Real-life Application

A close friend of mine had to write a seven plus page research paper last semester.  She had some wonderful ideas and some great commentary to go with her supporting sources, but her organization left something to be desired and the effect of her initial draft was not what she was wanting.  The two of us worked on getting it organized and fixing transitions for several hours before we felt we had an “A”-type paper to turn in. (She did end up getting an “A” grade on the assignment after all of the changes.)  

The point of my story is that if she had started her paper with a little more organization of her thoughts and ideas, she probably would not have had to do so much work at the very end, saving us the extra hours of work and her the stress of needing the paper finished. 

            I recognize that there are many different strategies that people can use in writing, and I know my own strategies may not work for some. However, I hope to share with you a strategy that has proven helpful for me, and hopefully, you will be able adapt it to work for you.

Getting Started: The Very Basic

            First things first: you must have some sort of idea for a topic.  Without a subject, you really have no paper.  (This would be like talking to someone who just talks to talk; total stream of consciousness only works for some and, as for the rest, I would probably be afraid to know what they are thinking.)

Brainstorming, Free writing, Etc.

            After you have this basic topic, write down everything and anything that relates to your topic: How do you feel about the subject? Who is involved or affected? What do you know off hand? What do you need to find out? Are you able to learn more about your topic?

            When you write all of this down, it can be in any form you wish: an outline, an idea web, a list, whatever you need to do to get it all on paper and in front of you.  When you have all of your ideas in front of you, you can more easily see what you really think about a topic, and you can better approach a single focus.

Connections

When you are finished compiling all of your thoughts and ideas, look to see which ones truly relate to your topic and determine what kind of a stance you will be taking (are you for or against the topic? Are you informing or persuading? Which side are your thoughts and ideas supporting?) 

Do not be afraid to modify, change or ignore some of this initial work. You may come to realize that something you thought was good is actually not, or you may find some more information that makes an even better argument for your topic.

Choose Your Supporting Information

            The ideas and thoughts that you have connected to each other are the ‘Supporting Details’ that you should use for your body paragraphs.  These thoughts and ideas should be relatable to each other and the initial topic.  For your writing purposes, you may want to make a main statement for the initial ‘supporting detail’ (i.e. topic sentence) and then follow those with you supportive information.

With these supporting details you should be able to form a tentative thesis statement. This statement can help you keep to your purpose throughout the course of you essay—you can always go back to it and see if you have gone off on a tangent or if you are spot on with your purpose.

My Take

In using this sort of approach to organization, you can save yourself the headache and worry over whether or not your paper is doing what you want or need it to after you have basically finished it.  I personally dislike having to go back and reorganize what I have written when I figured I had finished writing.  If I can have it organized from the get-go, firstly, I feel so much better about the finished product, and secondly, I do not have to stress myself out over whether or not it makes sense or stays focused.

For your information

Here are a couple blog posts that share some basic information on organization of an essay: 

´        Essay Writing   IELTS-Blog.htm

o   this post is not strictly on organization, however it describes a strategy for writing called “the 4 C’s” that can help you to keep a focus

´        GMAT Tip of the Week  Three Simple Rules to Writing a Well-Organized AWA Essay   Veritas Prep.htm

o   this post about organization offers advice for when you are actually writing your paper rather than before hand

´        Organizing Principles for Writing an Essay   Education - Seattle PI.htm

o   this post defines different essay structures such as compare and contrast or cause and effect

I hope that this information has been helpful at least in some small way…I would love it if you let me know what worked for you and what did not (:

Amanda