Understanding Adjectives and Degrees of Comparison

The question asks us to fill in the blank in the sentence "Kolkata is the ______ populous city in the world" with the most appropriate word from the given options. This sentence requires us to express the degree of the adjective 'populous'. Adjectives have different degrees to compare things: the positive degree (describing one thing), the comparative degree (comparing two things), and the superlative degree (comparing three or more things, or one thing with a whole group).

Analyzing the Sentence Structure

The sentence includes the definite article "the" immediately before the blank, followed by the adjective "populous" and the phrase "in the world". The structure "the ______ adjective in the world" strongly indicates that we need the superlative degree of the adjective to show that Kolkata stands out among all other cities in the world based on its populous nature.

Determining the Correct Degree for 'Populous'

The adjective 'populous' has more than two syllables. For most adjectives with two or more syllables, the comparative and superlative degrees are formed by using 'more' before the adjective for the comparative degree and 'most' before the adjective for the superlative degree. Examples include 'beautiful', 'more beautiful', 'most beautiful'; 'important', 'more important', 'most important'; 'expensive', 'more expensive', 'most expensive'. Similarly, for 'populous', the degrees are:

• Positive: populous
• Comparative: more populous
• Superlative: most populous

Since the sentence structure requires the superlative degree, we need to use 'most' before 'populous'.

Evaluating the Given Options

Let's look at the options provided:

• Option 1: More - 'More' is used for the comparative degree. The sentence structure ("the ______ populous") requires the superlative degree, not the comparative. Using 'more' would make the sentence grammatically incorrect in this context.
• Option 2: Most - 'Most' is used to form the superlative degree of multi-syllable adjectives like 'populous'. The sentence structure "the ______ populous city in the world" correctly uses "the" with a superlative form. This option fits perfectly.
• Option 3: Much - 'Much' is used to quantify uncountable nouns or for emphasis with adjectives/adverbs, but it is not used to form the degrees of comparison for count nouns or adjectives in this manner.
• Option 4: Many - 'Many' is used to quantify countable nouns. It is not used to form the degrees of comparison for adjectives like 'populous'.

Conclusion on the Correct Word

Based on the analysis of the sentence structure and the formation of superlative degrees for multi-syllable adjectives, the word that correctly completes the sentence is 'Most'.

The complete sentence is: Kolkata is the most populous city in the world.

Revision Table: Degrees of Adjectives

Additional Information: Forming Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

The way comparative and superlative degrees are formed depends on the number of syllables in the adjective:

• One-syllable adjectives: Add '-er' for the comparative and '-est' for the superlative. (e.g., tall, taller, tallest; small, smaller, smallest). Note spelling changes for some (e.g., big, bigger, biggest; hot, hotter, hottest).
• Two-syllable adjectives ending in -y: Change '-y' to '-i' and add '-er' for the comparative and '-est' for the superlative. (e.g., happy, happier, happiest; easy, easier, easiest).
• Two-syllable adjectives not ending in -y and all adjectives with three or more syllables: Use 'more' for the comparative and 'most' for the superlative. (e.g., famous, more famous, most famous; expensive, more expensive, most expensive).
• Irregular adjectives: Some adjectives have irregular forms for comparative and superlative. (e.g., good, better, best; bad, worse, worst; far, farther/further, farthest/furthest).

Understanding these rules is crucial for correctly using degrees of comparison in English grammar.