3.比較等級的一些特殊用法

3.1兩種不同形式

有幾個形容詞和副詞的比較級和最高級有兩種的比較等級不同形式，而且意義也不同。
舉例說明：
1)Rome is one of the oldest cities in the world. 羅馬是世界上最古老的城市之一。
Her eldest daughter is a school teacher.她大女兒是個教員。
My elder brother is in college. He is two years older than I. 我哥哥在上大學，他比我大兩歲。
[注]older，oldest說明人的年紀或事物的年代的久遠，但在美國英語裡也表示長幼。

2)They reached the place later than we.他們到達那兒比我們晚。
Twenty years later he returned to his home village. 二十年後，他回到自己的家鄉。

3)Who spoke last?是誰最後發言的?
What is the latest news about the sports meet?關于運動會最近有什麼消息?

3.2 as...as；not so. . .as或not as...as

1)表示"相等"用as...as。如：
This knife is as sharp as that one.這把刀跟那把一樣快。
Bill is as tall as I. 比爾和我一般高。
Is this bag of soyabeans as heavy as that one?這袋大豆跟那袋一樣重嗎?
You know as well as I do.你和我一樣明白。

[注]注意as後面的形容詞如作定語，而被定語修飾的名詞有不定冠詞a時，冠詞a須放在形容詞之後，如German is as difficult a language as English.(德語和英語一樣難學。)。這樣的詞序也适用于so，如I have never seen so beautiful a place as Guilin before.(我過去從未見過像桂林這樣美麗的地方。)

2)表示"不相等"用not so...as或not as...as。如：
Tian An Men Square was not so big as it is now.天安門廣場過去沒有現在這樣大。
The Atlantic Ocean is not as big as the Pacific ocean.大西洋沒有太平洋大。

3.3表示"幾倍于"
用twice (兩倍)，three times(三倍)等加as...as..
如：
New York is ten times as big as my home town.紐約有我的家鄉十個大。
The output of the paper mill is now three times as high as it was in 1966.這家紙廠的生産比一九六六年增加兩倍。
This river is twice as long as that one.這條河比那條河長一倍。
Asia is four times as large as Europe.亞洲比歐洲大三倍。

[注]表示"幾倍于"也可以用下面的說法，如：

Three times three is nine.三乘三得九。
He is twice my age.他的年齡比我大一倍。
This lake is four times the size of that one.這個湖有那個湖四個大。
The irrigated area in this province is four times bigger than in l978.這個省的灌溉面積比1978年增加三倍。(four times bigger than = four times as big as)
Our county's agricultural output this year is 5 per cent higher than that of last year.我們縣今年農業産量比去年增長百分之五。

3.4表示程度
可用much，far，still，even，a 1itt1e，no，any，a great deal等狀語來修飾形容詞和副詞的比較級。如：
The Yellow River is long，but the Changjiang River is even longer.黃河長，長江更長。
We are much better off now.我們的生活比過去好得多。
She sings far better than the others.她唱得比别人好得多。
Wang is taller than Zhang. Li is still than Wang. 王比張高，李比王還高。

[注一]注意下面的一些說法。如：
I couldn't move a step further，我連一步也走不動了。
The meeting lasted two hours longer than usual.會議比平常多開了兩個鐘頭。
He is a head taller than I.他比我高一個頭。(也可以說He is taller than me by a head.)
They got there earlier than we by twenty minutes.他們比我們早二十分鐘到達那裡。
The students of the university have increased by 100 per cent since l978.
這個大學的學生自一九七八年以來增加了一倍。
Do you want any more? -Yes，give me two more.
你還要嗎?一是的，再給我兩個。
Have you any more tickets? -Sorry，I have no more.
你還有票嗎? －對不起，沒有了。

[注二]可用形容詞最高級 + possible或imaginable等詞來強調語氣。如：
I think he is the best possible man for the job.我認為他做這工作最合适。(也可以說the best man possible)
Swimming in winter is the best form of exercise imaginable.冬泳是最好的運動方式。(也可以說the best imaginable form)

3.5比較級

1)"比較級 + and + 比較級"
(後面不可接than從句)可用來表示"越來越"。如：
The days are getting longer and longer.白天越來越長了。
He is becoming more and more interested in sports. 他對運動越來越有興趣了。
The more the more 的用法
意思是"越…，就越…"。如：
The harder you work，the more you Will learn.你越努力，就越學得多。
The greater the mass of a body，the greater is its inertia.物體的質量越大，它的慣性就越大。
The more you eat，the fatter you get.你吃得越多，長得越胖。
The more，the better.越多越好。

2)more than和less than
這兩個固定詞組分别表示"多于""少于"。如：
There are more than three hundred households in this village.這個村子有三百多戶人家。
The finished the Work in less than a year.他們不到一年就完成這項工作。
Our country has established diplomatic relations with more than one hundred countries.我國已經和一百多個國家建立了外交關系。

3)no more than和not more than
no more than的意思是"隻不過"，not more than的意思是"不多于"。試比較：
There are no more than ten tickles left. 剩下不到十張票。 (有"票少"的含義)
The experiment was done by not more than 5 persons. 做這個試驗的人不到五個。(沒有"多"或"少"的含義，隻是客觀地說明數目)
This room is no bigger than that. 這個房間并不比那個大。 (有"兩個房間都不大"的含義)
This room is not bigger than that one.這個房間不比那個大。 (沒有"兩個房間都不大或都不小"的含義)

[注]注意not …. Any more than或no more...than在下面句子中的用法。如：
They cannot do the impossible any more than we can.他們和我們同樣不能做不可能的事情。
He is no more diligent than I am.他和我同樣不勤奮

4)no less than和not 1ess than
no less than的意思是"不亞于"，not less than的意思是"不少于"。試比較：
There were no less than a thousand people at the meeting.
到會的有一千人之多。(有"到會人多"的含義)
There were not less than one thousand people at the meeting.
到會的至少有一千人。(沒有"到會人多或人少"的含義)
This song is no less popular than that one.這首歌之受歡迎不亞于那首歌。(有"兩首歌都受歡迎"的含義)
This song is not less popular than that one.這首歌受歡迎的程度不比那首差。(純粹比較。不一定有"兩首歌都受歡迎"的含義)
All the better和so much the better
這一類的說法都有"因此而更…"的含義。如：
If that is so，all the better.果真如此，那就更好。
If he will come，so much the better.如果他願意來，那更好。