A Student's Introduction to English Grammar

196 Chapter 12 Grade and comparison

In [i], the comparison is between the set of boys in the class with respect to

height: Max occupies a higher position on this scale than all the others.

In [ii], the set is not expressed in the sentence itself but it is implicit: it consists

of those participating in some competition in which points are scored. The scale

is the number of points scored. The prize will be given to the participant who

ranks top on this scale.

In [iii], the comparison is between a set of life insurance policies, ranked by date

of maturing. I chose the one that matures before all the others.

The comparative and term comparison

The comparative form, by contrast, is predominantly used in term comparison -
comparison between a primary term and a secondary term, as in [3]:

[ 3 ] Max is taller than To m.

ii Sue scored more runs than I did.

iii This policy will mature sooner than that one.

In [i] the comparison is between Max's height and Tom's height. The sentence does­
n't say how tall either of them is absolutely, but expresses the relation between
them. We can describe the meaning by using variables, as in algebra: "Max is x ta ll;
Tom is y tall; x> y (i.e. x exceeds y)". This format enables us to handle the distinc­
tion between this type of term comparison and that illustrated in [4]:

[4] The aerial is taller than 100 fe et.

Here the comparison is between the height of the aerial and a specific height,
100 feet. In this case there is only one variable: "The aerial is x tall; x> 100 feet".

The primary term in [3i] is "Max is x tall", and the secondary one is "Tom is

y tall".

In [ii], "Sue scored x many runs" is primary and "I scored y many runs" is

secondary.

In [iii], "this policy matures x soon" is primary and "that policy matures y soon"

is secondary.

The secondary term can be left unexpressed if it is recoverable from the context,
as for example in [5]:

[5] Tim is quite tall, but [Max is taller].
ii That's better. [Imagine this being said after you have opened a window.]

In [i], we understand "Max is taller than Tim", recovering "Tim" from the first

clause.

In [ii] (where better is an irregular form of gooQ) , we understand "That is better

than it was before you opened the window"; the secondary term is recovered

from the situation.