Explaining Comparative Adverb Usage in English Speaking

This question requires us to choose the correct word to complete the sentence: "He speaks English __________ than I do." The sentence compares how two people ("He" and "I") speak English. This means we need to use the comparative form of an adverb or adjective.

Understanding Comparative Degree

When comparing two things, people, or actions, we use the comparative degree. In English grammar:

• Adjectives and adverbs often form their comparative degree by adding '-er' (e.g., fast -> faster, quick -> quicker).
• For longer words, we use 'more' before the word (e.g., beautiful -> more beautiful, carefully -> more carefully).
• Some common words have irregular comparative forms.

Analyzing the Sentence

The blank in the sentence modifies the verb "speaks", indicating how the action is performed. Therefore, we need an adverb. The word "good" is an adjective, and its adverb form is "well".

• The positive form is good (adjective) or well (adverb).
• The comparative form is better.
• The superlative form is best.

Since the sentence compares "He" and "I" using the word \(than\), we need the comparative form.

Evaluating the Options

• 1. best: This is the superlative form, used for comparing three or more items. It's incorrect here because we are only comparing two people.
• 2. better: This is the correct comparative form of the adverb "well" (which relates to the adjective "good"). It's used for comparing two actions or people. The sentence "He speaks English better than I do" correctly compares his speaking ability to mine.
• 3. more good: This is grammatically incorrect. "Good" is irregular, and its comparative form is "better", not "more good". "More good" would only be used if "good" were acting as a different type of word, which is not the case here.
• 4. good: This is the positive form. It cannot be used with \(than\) for comparison. We need the comparative degree.

Therefore, the most appropriate option to fill in the blank is 'better'.