Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[dido4]

I got the information from a book.

Superlative adverbs sentences sometimes needn't the in a sentence.

-->He works hardest. (without the)
Q1:What if we put the in superlative sentences, are they still the right sentences?
e.g.
He works the hardest.
She walks the most beautifully.

Q2:In comparative sentences, is it a must to put the in the following sentence patten?
He works the harder of the two boys.
He works the more busily of the two.

I don't know whether to use the or not in comparative and superlative sentences.

Thank you

[Anuradha Chepur]

Your question is thought provoking.

Article is not used with comparative. 'the' should preceed superlatives.

1. He works the hardest - is fine.

2. She walks the most beautifully - ?? doesn't sound ok, but why???

I think articles are used with nouns/noun-phrases and superlative adjectives, but not with superlative adverbs (unless they are followed by a noun).

3. She walks most beautifully - is ok.

4. This is the most beautifully built house in this area - is ok.

In 3, there is no N/NP after the adverb, so you can't put an article. In 4, you have a noun (house), so the article. In all probability, 'hardest' in 1 should be an adjective and not an adverb.

[Anuradha Chepur]

My thought process on this is still on. I need to add that 'the' is used with comparative adjectives in some situations.

The sooner, the better.

The lesser said about it the better.
He is the better one of the two.
She is the shorter one of the two.

But 'the' is not used in

She is shorter than her sister.
John is better than Bill.

I may have more on this later. What do others say?

[Anuradha Chepur]

Articles are part of noun phrases. It boils down to whether the phrase in question is an NP or not, and not on comparative/superlative. "a beautiful girl" is essentially an NP. "the most beautifully' is not an NP.

I consulted my teacher, Professor Madhavan (CIEFL), who says that in exceptional cases, of article+comparative/superlative, (the more/the most) type constructions, the whole proposition is probably treated as an NP as it happens in gerunds.