Understanding Degrees of Comparison in Sentences

This question tests your understanding of grammatical degrees of comparison, specifically the comparative degree, used when comparing two items or subjects.

What are Degrees of Comparison?

In English grammar, adjectives change their form to show comparison. There are three degrees:

• Positive Degree: The base form of the adjective (e.g., old, tall, happy). It describes a quality without comparison.
• Comparative Degree: Used to compare two nouns. It's often formed by adding -er to the adjective (if short) or using more before the adjective. It is typically followed by the word than (e.g., older, taller, more beautiful).
• Superlative Degree: Used to compare three or more nouns, indicating the highest degree of a quality. It's often formed by adding -est or using most (e.g., oldest, tallest, most beautiful).

Analyzing the Sentence: "David looks (old) than he really is."

The sentence structure requires a comparative degree because it compares how David looks now to how old he actually is, using the word than.

• The base adjective provided is old.
• We need the comparative form.
• The standard comparative form of old is older.
• The word elder is also a comparative form of old, but it's typically used for age comparisons within a family (e.g., "my elder brother") and is usually followed by to, not than. For general comparisons, older is preferred.
• The word old is the positive degree and cannot be used with than for comparison.

Therefore, the correct comparative form to use in this sentence is older.

Evaluating the Options:

• Option 1: "David looks old than he really is." - Incorrect. old is the positive degree.
• Option 2: "David looks older than he really is." - Correct. older is the appropriate comparative form used with than.
• Option 3: "David looks elder than he really is." - Generally incorrect. Elder is less common with than in general comparisons.
• Option 4: "David looks elder from he really is." - Grammatically incorrect due to "elder from" and the structure "he really is".

The sentence correctly uses the comparative degree when stating that David appears older than his actual age.