| Положительная степень | Сравнительная степень | Превосходная степень |
| beautiful ‘красивый’ interesting ‘интересный’ | more beautiful ‘красивее’ mоrе interesting ‘интереснее’ | (the) mostbeautiful ‘самыйкрасивый’ (the) mostinteresting ‘самыйинтересный’ |
Прилагательные good, bad, much, many, little образуют степени сравнения от разных корней, т. е. супплетивным способом (табл. 4).
Таблица4
Супплетивный способ образования степеней сравнения
| Положительная степень | Сравнительная степень | Превосходная степень |
| good ‘хороший’ bad ‘плохой’ much, many ‘много’ little ‘маленький,мало’ | better ‘лучше’ worse ‘хуже’ more ‘больше’ less ‘меньше’ | (the) best ‘самый лучший’ (the) worst ‘самый плохой’ (the) most ‘больше всего’ (the) least ‘меньше всего’ |
Перевод сравнительных конструкций
В конструкциях сравнения после прилагательного в форме сравнительной степени употребляется союз than ‘чем’, хотя зачастую на русский язык он не переводится, а употребляется сравнительная форма с родительным падежом существительного: He speaks English better than his friend ‘Он говорит по-английски лучше, чем его друг’; Stone is heavier than wood ‘Камень тяжелее дерева’.
Для усиления сравнительной степени употребляются наречия much и far, которые ставятся перед прилагательным в сравнительной степени. При переводе на русский язык усиление выражается при помощи слов ‘намного’, ‘гораздо’, ‘значительно’: His results are much better than mine ‘Его результаты гораздо лучше моих’; This device is far more expensive ‘Этот прибор значительно дороже’.
При сравнении двух предметов, которым присуще качество в равной степени, употребляется двойной союз as… as ‘такой же…, как’, ‘столь же…, как’. При этом прилагательное, обозначающее качество или меру, употребляется в положительной степени: This task is as important as the old one ‘Это задание такое же важное, как и старое’.
Неравная степень качества выражается при помощи этих же союзов, но различие подчеркивается отрицательной частицей (not as… as, not so… as): The Moon is not asbright as the Sun ‘Луна не такая яркая, как Солнце’.
Сочетание as (adjective/adverb) as может выражать не только сравнение. В том случае, если прилагательное (наречие) предполагает величину или меру (long ‘длинный’, tall ‘высокий’, far ‘далекий, далеко’), а сочетание as (adjective) as сопровождается числовым обозначением или другим количественным эквивалентом, то это сочетание обычно не переводится: The distance is as long as 3,000 km ‘Расстояние составляет (равняется, достигает) 3.000 км’.
Сочетанию as (adjective/adverb) as может предшествовать количественное обозначение кратности (5 times ‘в 5 раз’, twice ‘вдвое’). При переводе таких предложений употребляются конструкции со сравнительной степенью русского языка: The year on Mars is twice as long as that on the Earth ‘Год на Марсе длится вдвое дольше, чем год на Земле’.
Сочетание as (adjective/adverb) as possible переводится ‘как можно + прилагательное/наречие в сравнительной степени’: Return as soon as possible ‘Возвращайся как можно скорее’. Ср.: as soon as possible ‘как можно скорее’; as much as possible ‘как можно больше’; as fast as possible ‘как можно быстрее’.
Обороты с параллельными конструкциями типа the more… the better (the + прилагательное/наречие в сравнительной степени) переводится ‘чем…, тем…’: The nearer the centre of the Sun, the higher the temperature ‘Чем ближе к центру Солнца, тем выше температура’; The sooner the better ‘Чем раньше, тем лучше’.
Сравнение трех и более объектов выражается с помощью конструкции the… of…, the… in…, содержащей прилагательное в превосходной степени: Tom is t he tallest in the group ‘Том – самый высокий в группе’.
Упражнения
Упр. 9. Дайте степени сравнения следующих прилагательных и наречий.
a) good, bad, little, many, old;
b) near, far, late, big, small, dear, slight, large, young, old, high, bright, cheap, poor, rich, nice;
c) narrow, lazy, simple, happy, merry, cozy, clumsy, healthy, easy;
d) beautiful, significant, important, expensive, interesting, difficult, polite, honourable, accurate.
Упр. 10. Переведите сочетания слов.
a) as pure as...b) not so easy as... c) the more... the better
as thick as... not so high as... the higher... the easier
as usual as... not so numerous as… the nearer... the brighter
as important as... not so possible as… the farther... the less clear
as slow as... not so good as... the bigger... the less efficient
as complete as... not so sure as... the longer… the more interes-
ting
Упр. 11. Переведите предложения на русский язык, обращая внимание на значение союза as... as.
а) 1. Dick isn't as old as he looks. 2. I don't know as many people as you do. 3. Venus is nearly as big as the Earth. 4. He answered all the questions as well as his friends did. 5. No planet is as hot as the Sun. 6. The speed at which the Earth revolves around the Sun is nearly as high as that of Venus. 7. When Mars is at its greatest distance from the Earth it is nearly as bright as the Polar Star.
b) 1. The distance from the Sun to the Earth is as great as 150 million kilometres. 2. The speed of our first sputnics was as big as 11 kilometres per second. 3. The temperature in the Sun's centre is as high as 20 million degrees Centigrade. 4. The Moon is as far as 384 thousand kilometres from the Earth. 5. He used to smoke as many as 60 cigarettes a day. 6. I sometimes have to spend as much as 50 dollars a day on bus fares. 7. Prices have increased by as much as 300 per cent.
c) 1. Petrol is twice as expensive today as it was a few years ago. 2. Their house is about three times as large as ours. 3. The mass of the Sun is 11 times as dense as lead. 4. Every square mile on the sunny side of Mercury receives seven times as much heat as a square mile on the Earth. 5. The yearon Mars is twice as long as that on the Earth. 6. London has twice as many banks as the rest of south-east England.
d) 1. Mars as well as Venus is a planet where no life exists. 2. A solid has length as well as width. It has thickness as well. 3. The ocean of air as well as the ocean of water is material. 4. Metals as well as minerals are of great importance in industry. 5. The English system of weights was used in England as well as in a number of other countries.
Упр. 12. Переведите на русский язык, используя нужные формы степеней сравнения прилагательных. Вставьте нужный артикль, если необходимо.
1. Moscow is one of... towns in Russia (old). It is... than St. Petersburg (old). Now it is one of... cities in the world (large). 2. The Tretyakov Gallery is... art museum in our country (rich). 3. Red Square is... in Moscow (beautiful). It is as... as the Kremlin, in fact it is part of the Kremlin (old). In old days it was... part of Moscow (busy). 4. The building of the Bolshoi Theatre is one of... examples of theatrical architecture (fine). 5. The British Museum is famous for its library, which has one of... collections of books in the world (important). 6. The English Channel, at its... part, the Strait of Dover, is 32 kilometres wide (narrow). 7. The world's... countries are Vatican City, in Italy, and Monaco, which is situated in the south of France (small). Both of them are... than a small collective farm (small). 8. Holland is famous for her tulips. Holland has... tulips than any other country, and her tulips are... in the world (many; fine).
Упр. 13. Переведите предложения, обращая внимание на выделенные сочетания.
а) 1. I thought she was much younger than me, but in fact she was older. 2. His problem was much more serious than he thought at first. 3. Could you speak a bit more slowly? 4. Scientists today know much more about the properties of solids than they did 40 years ago. 5. The distance from the Sun to the Earth is much longer than that from the Moon 6. The number of discoveries in our century is much bigger than in the previous one. 7. The new method of converting mechanical energy into electrical one is much more efficient. 8. Due to low accuracy of this instrument it is much worse to make measurements with it. 9. The lowest temperature on the Earth is –80° С. There are far lower temperatures on other planets.
b) 1. The more you read, the faster you learn to understand books and papers in a foreign language. 2. The more he thought about the idea, the less he liked it. 3. The less you talk, the better. 4. The sooner you return, the better. 5. The warmer the weather, the better I feel. 6. The younger you are, the easier it is to learn languages. 7. The more expensive the hotel, the better the service. 8. The nearer the Earth, the denser the atmosphere. 9. The more experiments scientistsmake, the greater is their knowledge of the structure of matter. 10. The bigger the mass, the bigger the weight of the body. 11. The nearer the centre of the Sun, the higher the temperature. 12. The more the scientist studied the problem, the better he understood its importance for man 13. The stronger the magnet, the greater the distance through which it acts.
Упр. 14. Переведите предложения, обращая внимание на степени сравнения прилагательных (наречий).
1. Не thought he was the happiest man in the world. 2. The more I speak to you, the more I like you. 3. Mayakovsky is one of the most talented Russian poets. 4. Can you send me the money as soon as possible, please? 5. His radio set is not as powerful as mine. 6. The more people know about the nature, the better they control it. 7. Last year he spent less time on English than this year. 8. These days more and more people are learning English. 9. The book is not so interesting as you think. 10. He has much more free time than I have. 11. This road is the worst I've ever travelled over. 12. If you listen to the teacher more attentively you'll understand better. 13. Do you think people read more books twenty years ago than they do today? 14. Tennis and football are the games I like best. 15. This is the hottest day we have had for several weeks. 16. Yesterday was hotter than any other day we had this summer. 17. Who can read as quickly as I can? 18. This is the best way to learn a foreign language. 19. Jenny didn't do as well at the exam as she hoped. 20. The new car is more comfortable than the previous one. 21. The city centre was less crowded than usual. 22. You can stay here as long as you like. 23. It's becoming more and more difficult to find a job. 24. The sooner they finish the construction of the plant, the better.
III. НАРЕЧИЕ
