Uso dos Adjetivos Comparativos
Os adjetivos comparativos são usados quando queremos comparar pessoas ou coisas. A comparação pode ser feita :
- Entre duas únicas pessoas ou duas únicas coisas:
John is older than Mike.
My house is better-built than my sister´s house.
- Entre um único item e um grupo:
John is older than other boys.
This car is more expensive than those cars.
- Entre dois grupos:
Are old American cars safer than newer import cars?
My nights are more beautiful than your days.
Uso de THAN nas frases comparativas
Quando queremos comparar dois itens em uma sentença devemos usar than. Vamos ver alguns exemplos:
- Men are lonelier living on their own than women.
- Why is software more useful than books?
- A bad resume on paper is better than a good resume in video.
- Leningrad in general is a better-built city than Moscow.
Caso um dos dois elementos que estamos comparando estiver subentendido ou já tiver sido citado anteriormente, não precisamos usar than. Observe no exemplo abaixo que não usamos than na segunda frase:
- Black hair colour is more common than blonde hair. It has large amounts of eumelanin and is less dense and is known to be the shinier.
Além disso podemos usar no estilo formal o artigo THE antes do comparativo:
- Black hair is known to be the shinier.
Uso de THE + comparativo + THE
Podemos usar esse tipo de construção para demonstrar causa e efeito. Veja:
- The more things change, the more they stay the same.
- The more you live the more you love.
- The more time spent on listening, the less time spent on prescribing antibiotics.
- The higher you go, the further you fall.
- The older she gets, the more interested he is in her.
- The younger the bride, the higher the price.
Uso de -ER AND -ER nas frases comparativas
Usamos dois comparativos ligados por AND quando queremos dar sentido de aumento ou diminuição:
- The processing power of computers today also means they can go into smaller and smaller devices.
- As science becomes more and more important in dealing with the world's problems, Americans are falling farther and farther behind in scientific literacy.
- We’re richer, and richer, and richer, and yet, no happier.
- But it seems like he has become more and more interested in his books and courses and less and less interested in me.
Uso de MORE nas frases comparativas
MORE é usado com elementos contáveis e não contáveis em comparações de quantidades relativas. Também pode-se combiná-lo com números:
- If more energy is consumed than is expended, the extra energy is stored in the body.
- More cars are produced than horse-drawn carriages or wagons.
- Much more water is wasted daily than is actually used.
MORE também é usado com números.
- They're publishing many more books than ever before and more people are buying books than ever before, so it's a change over there as well.
Uso de MOST nas frases comparativas
Podemos usar MOST em frases comparativas significando uma grande quantidade ou um grande número. É diferente do uso de MOST nas frases superlativas quando ele está acompanhado do artigo the como veremos mais adiante.
- I agree that most cars are red and most cars that win in participants choice contests are red.
- The problem is that most people are bad content creators.
Uso de intensificadores com comparativos
É importante ressaltar que podemos usar advérbios como very, quite e too para modificar os adjetivos. Veja:
- Is it a church or just a very big house?
- There are very interesting books here.
- The ideas expressed are quite good .
Mas não podemos usar estes intensificadores junto com comparativos. No lugar de very, quite e too devemos usar:
- Modo formal - Very much ou much, far, many, a lot, a little, even, far, rather, etc:
- That place is much more famous than others.
- Curiously in Hollywood I'm a lot more famous than the Beckhams.
- The stars were simply far more distant than anyone had been prepared to imagine.
- Her father said the pain was a little worse than a bee sting.
- Modo informal - a bit:
- Looks and personality are probably a bit more important than talent in these shows.
- Suburbanites are a bit happier than city folks, and Sunbelt residents are a bit happier than people who live in colder climates.
Uso dos Adjetivos Superlativos
Usamos superlativos quando comparamos uma pessoa ou coisa com mais alguma outra do mesmo grupo. O artigo definido the é usado antes do superlativo:
- TANGRAM is the oldest chinese puzzle.
- Mr Xishum was confirmed as the tallest person by the Guinness Book.
- Aircraft is the safest mode of transport.
Normalmente após o superlativo temos uma frase qualificativa explicando com o que estamos comparando. Estas frases usualmente começam com IN ou OF.
- Notre Dame is one of the most famous cathedrals in the world.
- You told me your children were the most beautiful in the city.
- Biomethane is probably the least known and least understood of all the biofuels.
Pode-se suprimir esse elemento de comparação quando este está subentendido ou já foi citado anteriomente. Veja o exemplo:
- Riga is the cleanest of 10 European cities, while Dublin is the dirtiest capital.
Muitas vezes, na linguagem informal usamos os superlativos ao invés dos comparativos, quando queremos comparar duas pessoas ou duas coisas, como mostrado nos exemplos abaixo:
- Harald, by being the oldest, was the most powerful of the two brothers.
- The most difficult decision for women is when they have to choose between work and family.
- Which would be the most qualified to be President? The Democrat or the Republican candidate?
O artigo the algumas vezes é suprimido. Veja:
- Which would be more beautiful city? New York or Paris?
- Which candidate has most military experience? The Democrat or the Republican candidate?
Uso de intensificadores com superlativos
Os superlativos podem ser modificados pelos seguintes advérbios: much, far, almost, quite, by far, far, nearly, altogether, the very. Observe:
- What happened is pretty much the most terrible thing one can imagine happening.
- The United States has by far the most expensive health care system in the world.
- Writing isn't quite the loneliest profession in the world anymore.
- They are indeed tall, but not nearly the tallest on Earth.
Similaridade e Contraste
Uso de as+adjetivo+as
Usamos este tipo de construção quando queremos dizer que duas pessoas ou coisas são similares.
- They are as different as water and fire.
- Grand Canyon may be as old as dinosaurs, says new study.
- But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford.
- To be worthy of that office, the man that I marry must be at once as brave as a lion and as gentle as a lamb, as strong as an oak and as tender as a reed.
- Bobby, who is as bright as a button with an IQ of 89, was placed in a slower class.
- Carlos has got a cocky confidence in his own ability. He has great awareness, he’s as brave as a lion and as tough as nails.
Existem várias expressões muito comuns que são formadas com as + adjetivo + as. Vamos ver algumas delas:
- as blind as a bat:
- Incapaz de ver como um morcego.
I'm as blind as a bat without my glasses.
- as bold as brass:
- com muita confiança, corajoso ou sem muito respeito ou polidez.
He came into my office as bold as brass and told he would stop work if he didn´t get any money.
- as brave as a lion:
- Valente, pronto para enfrentar um perigo
She has to prove that like her ancestors, she really can be as brave as a lion.
- as bright as a button:
- criança inteligente, capaz de raciocinar rapidamente
Mrs. Green, your little girl is as bright as a button.
- as cheap as dirt:
- muito barato
Their house was a real bargain, it was as cheap as dirt.
- as cool as a cucumber:
- Muito calmo e imperturbável. Que não se preocupa com nada.
He had very bad news last night, but he came to the office as cool as a cucumber this morning as if nothing had happened.
- as deaf as a post:
- estar completamente surdo ou ser incapaz de ouvir de tudo
My grandfather is as deaf as a post and he can´t see much either.
- as easy as a pie:
- coisa muito fácil
Is working on a home business as easy as a pie or the hardest job in the world?
- as fat as a pig:
- pessoa gorda como um porco
You really ought to go on a diet; you’re as fat as a pig.
- as free as bird:
- tão livre como um pássaro
Just remember that being single and independent means that you’re as free as bird to enjoy exactly the kind of holiday you’ve always wanted.
- as gentle as a lamb:
- ser muito calmo e afável
She can be as gentle as a lamb or tough as a lion when she is working on something she believes in.
- as green as grass:
- tão verde como a grama
His eyes are as green as grass.
- as keen as mustard:
- muito entusiamado, interessado
Why don't we ask Alex to captain the baseball team? He's as keen as mustard.
- as pretty as a picture:
- muito atrativo, bonito
She looked as pretty as a picture in her new hat.
- as right as a rain:
- tudo perfeitamente bem, sentir-se bem
I'll be as right as a rain as soon as I take my pills.
- tough as nails:
- pessoa forte e determinada
Chinese activists are as tough as nails..
3.3. Uso de not as + adjetivo + as e not so+adjetivo+as
Podemos usar também not as...as e not so...as quando queremos comparar duas pessoas ou coisas.
- Incandescent traffic light bulbs are not as efficient as "standard" incandescents.
- He's not as smart as he thinks.
- Our streets are not so dirty as they were not so clean as they might be.
Uso de more than, less than e worse than + adjetivo
Podemos usar more than, less than e not worse than + adjetivo como segue.
- She was in a marriage that increasingly consisted of little more than angry arguments with her husband.
- For more than 1000 years, the hieroglyphics were little more than mysterious symbols carved on ancient monuments.
- She was, at first, less than exuberant about getting a book, but after mild promptings from me she read it.
- I have no doubt that steroids are not worse than cigarettes.
Uso de the same as e different from
Usamos the same as para expressar similaridade entre as coisas ou pessoas. Não usamos the same like ou the same with.
Exemplos:
- Physicists discover that the structure of a brain cell is the same as the entire universe.
- Viral marketing is not the same as word of mouth?
- At first glance, Kandahar Airfield is exactly the same as it was when I was here a year ago.
Podemos também usar the same , sem as tanto no singular, como no plural.
Exemplos:
- The one thing I discovered in all my travels is that people are the same all over.
- I always say: Well, the book is the same. It's right over there on the shelf.
Já different é normalmente seguido de from. Usamos para expressar contraste.
Exemplos:
- The colonization in Latin America was the same as or different from that of Africa?
- The October weather is significantly different from August and September.
- Weddings are different from country to country.
Graus de similaridade
Podemos graduar as semelhancas ou a similaridade entre as coisas ou pessoas que estamos comparando usando almost, just, exactly, nearly seguido de as + adjetivo.
Exemplos:
- I can only conclude that the newer models aren't nearly as reliable as the old.
- This new job soon proves almost as dangerous as his previous job.
- Some say modern humans are smarter than cavemen, some say we are less. I think we are exactly as smart as cavemen, and that is pretty smart indeed.
- Students in public schools do just as well in math as kids in private school.
Almost, just, exactly, nearly e (not) quite combina com the same.
Exemplos.
- Is it better or just the same.
- It's almost the same old story.
Enterely, quite e completely combina com different.
Exemplos.
- Indians who think about the United States have two sets of entirely different perceptions for it.
- This month's feature is different. Completely different.
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