Elder, eldest; older, oldest

Elder and eldest are chiefly used for comparisons within a family.

Note the difference between elder and eldest.

My elder son is the older of my two sons; if I say my eldest son, I probably
have at least three sons. If I say my elder sister, I only have one sister. But
elder is not used with than, so older is necessary here:

My elder brother is two years older than I am.

C. Use of comparative and superlative

1. The comparative is used to compare things or people that are separate
from each other. The superlative is used to compare one member of a
group with the whole group (including that member):

Mary’s nicer than her three sisters. Mary’s the nicest of the four sisters in the family.

In the first sentence, Mary is not one of the three sisters; we use the
comparative. In the second sentence, Mary is one of the four girls that we
are talking about; we use the superlative.

Note that after superlatives we use inwith places (towns, buildings etc.)

What’s the longest river in the world? We live in one of the nicest rooms in the hotel.

Also: in the class/in the team/in the familyetc.

Tom is the best player in the team.

But: the happiest day of my life, the most pleasant season of the year

2. We sometimes use the comparative instead of the superlative to talk
about a group that only has two members.

I like Betty and Maud, but I think Betty’s the nicer of the two. I’ll give you the bigger steak: I’m not very hungry.

3. After the superlative we often use the present perfect tense.

It’s the best book I’ve ever read.

D. Further information about comparison of adjectives

1. Before the comparative you can use much, far, very much, a lot, any,
no, rather, a bit, a little:

very much nicer, a lot happier, rather more expensive, a little less interesting, a bit easier, far more serious
Is your mother any more relaxed? Things are no better than before.

When more is followed by a plural noun, it can be modified by far or
many, but not much.

Compare: many more opportunities (or far more) much more money (or far more)

We say much less or far less, and far fewer, but not ‘many fewer’.

much less time (or far less time) far less mistakes far fewer mistakes

2. To express the continuing change, we can use ‘double comparative’:

Your English is improving. It’s getting betterandbetter. These days moreandmore people are learning English. She is becoming more and more nervous.

3. the......the......(with two comparatives) to say that two changes happen
together.

The warmer the weather, the better I feel. The more dangerous it is, the more I like it. The more expensive the hotel (is), the better the service (is).

Note the structure the+comparative the better:

Do you like high speed? Yes. The faster the better.

What size box do you want? The bigger the better.

4. as.......as......

a) When we say that two things are the same in some way, we can use
as....as.... with an adjective:

It’s as cold as ice. She’s as bad-tempered as her mother.

In negative comparisons, we can use not as.....as..... or not so.....as......
Both are correct in modern English.

She is not so nice as her sister. (or She is not as nice as her sister).

b) With a noun we use as much.....as..... or as many.....as.....to talk about
quantity:

I haven’t got as much money as I thought. They need as many tests as possible.

c) Twice, three times, etc. can be used with as.....as.....; so can half, a
quarter etc.

Their house is about twice as big as ours. You are not half as clever as you think you are.

d) We say the same as(not ‘the same like’)

Tom is the same age as George. ‘What would you like to drink?’ ‘I’ll have the same as last time’.

e) like+noun and as+noun

He worked like a slave. (very hard indeed) He worked as a slave. (He was a slave.)

She used her umbrella as a weapon. (She struck him with it.)

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