DESCENDING COMPARISON
271. The change in form of adjectives in the positive, comparative and superlative shows that one object has more of a quality than others with which it is compared. But we also wish at times to express the fact that one object has less of the quality than is possessed by others with which it is compared; so we have what we may call the descending comparison, by means of phrases formed by using less and least instead of more and most. Using less with the positive degree means a degree less than the positive, while using least expresses the lowest degree. For example:
| Descending Comparison | ||
|---|---|---|
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
| beautiful | less beautiful | least beautiful |
| intelligent | less intelligent | least intelligent |
| sensitive | less sensitive | least sensitive |
| thankful | less thankful | least thankful |