In
grammar, the
comparative is the form of an
adjective or
adverb which denotes the degree or grade by which a person, thing, or other entity has a property or quality greater or less in extent than that of another. See
comparison.
The structure of a comparative consists normally of the
positive form of the adjective or adverb, plus the
suffix -er, or (especially in the case of longer words) the modifier "more" (or "less") before the adjective or adverb. The form is usually completed by "than" and the
noun which is being compared, e.g. "he is taller than his father is", or "the village is less picturesque than the town nearby is".
Null comparative
The
null comparative is a comparative in which the starting point for comparison is not stated. These comparisons are frequently found in
advertising. For example, in typical assertions such as "our burgers have more flavor", "our picture is sharper" or "50% more", there is no mention of what it is they are comparing to. In some cases it is easy to infer what the missing element in a null comparative is. In other cases the speaker or writer may have been deliberately vague in this regard, for example "
Glasgow's miles better".
Greater/lesser
Scientific classification, taxonomy and geographical categorization conventionally include the adjectives ''greater'' and ''lesser'', when a ''large'' or ''small'' variety of an item is meant, as in
greater as opposed to
lesser celandine. These adjectives may at first sight appear as a kind of ''null comparative'', when as is usual, they are cited without their opposite counterpart. It is clear however, when reference literature is consulted that an entirely different variety of animal, scientific or geographical object is intended. Thus it may be found, for example, that the
lesser panda entails a
giant panda variety, and a gazetteer would establish that there are the
Lesser Antilles as well as the
Greater Antilles.
Yet another more recent convention appears to be that of calling a very large, often metropolitan city with all its suburbs and adjacent areas, ''Greater'' such as
Greater London or
Greater Manchester. This again merely denotes ''large'' or ''very large''.
It is in the nature of grammatical conventions evolving over time that it is difficult to establish when they first became widely accepted, but both ''greater'' and ''lesser'' in these instances have over time become mere adjectives (or adverbial constructs), so losing their ''comparative'' connotation.