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herzog
Joined: 01 Jul 2008
Posts: 26
Location: Spain
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 Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 5:08 pm Post subject: Where do I post questions about grammar? |
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In the Applied Linguistics thread? I'm not sure. But I'll give it to you here and now. A student once stumped me with this one....
Question: under what circumstances do you utilize 'worse' instead of 'worst' ?
The latter is adjective. Ok. Is the former an adverb? As in, "this has gotten worse" (or do you use 'worst'????) Help!  |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 6:28 pm Post subject: |
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It's the comparative and superlative forms of the adjective 'bad.'
Bad - worse than- the worst
'Good' is also an exception to the usual comparative/superlative rules
Good - better than - the best
Both modify nouns in all forms (not verbs, like adverbs do) |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 6:32 pm Post subject: |
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| In your example the noun 'this' is modified by the comparative adjective worse (than it was before is implied)/ |
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herzog
Joined: 01 Jul 2008
Posts: 26
Location: Spain
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| Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 5:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Ah, should have seen it: 'worse' doesn't modify 'getting', it modifies THIS, as in "This is getting worse". Ok, I gotta look into those comparatives/superlatives. Thanx a lot Spiral. |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 12:37 pm Post subject: |
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Man, you don't know that worse and worst are adjectives (sometimes nouns in themselves)?????
You don't know how to use "things have gotten worse"???
Uh, get a refresher course in English grammar and a reference book like Practical English Usage (M. Swan). |
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fluffyhamster
Joined: 13 Mar 2005
Posts: 3292
Location: UK > China > Japan > UK again
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| Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 4:02 pm Post subject: |
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| Oh no, not Swan again! It's useless apparently! (Irony alert!) |
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stillnosheep
Joined: 01 Mar 2004
Posts: 2068
Location: eslcafe
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| Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 4:25 pm Post subject: |
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| Yeah awful, full of all those pesky rules... |
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herzog
Joined: 01 Jul 2008
Posts: 26
Location: Spain
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| Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 12:35 pm Post subject: |
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Wow, you must be a joy in class. It's interesting. I've browsed these forums for several weeks and I notice that a lot of ESLers are ill-tempered and bilious(not all, to be sure). Why is that? Stress in the classroom? Crappy pay?
| Quote: |
| Uh, get a refresher course in English grammar and a reference book like Practical English Usage (M. Swan). |
That sounds like good advice. I'll do just that. I beg to differ on the Swan book. Rubbish, and for the reasons stillnosheep mentions. I'll try the Betty Azar.
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quote="Glenski"]Man, you don't know that worse and worst are adjectives (sometimes nouns in themselves)?????
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But I do know that 'windy' is an adjective, and 'windbag' a noun in itself!  |
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nickpellatt
Joined: 08 Dec 2006
Posts: 1522
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| Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 1:17 pm Post subject: |
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| fluffyhamster wrote: |
| Oh no, not Swan again! It's useless apparently! (Irony alert!) |
Ah Fluffyhamster, my Swan influenced nemesis .  |
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fluffyhamster
Joined: 13 Mar 2005
Posts: 3292
Location: UK > China > Japan > UK again
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| Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 5:41 pm Post subject: |
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| nickpellatt wrote: |
| fluffyhamster wrote: |
| Oh no, not Swan again! It's useless apparently! (Irony alert!) |
Ah Fluffyhamster, my Swan influenced nemesis . |
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Anda
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 2199
Location: Jiangsu Province
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| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 3:30 pm Post subject: |
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Um, Don't grammar only useage.
This has gotten worse today!
This has gotten to be the worst day of my life! |
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stillnosheep
Joined: 01 Mar 2004
Posts: 2068
Location: eslcafe
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| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 5:59 pm Post subject: |
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| This has gotten bloody stupid? |
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