14. He only spoke of two causes of the loss in trade.
15. I only decided to take the Western instead of the Eastern trip at the last moment.
Exercise 93—Comparison
Adjectives are compared so as to express different degrees of quality. There are three degrees of comparison, the positive, the comparative, and the superlative. When the object modified or described by the adjective is not compared with another, the first or positive degree is used. When two objects are compared, the second or comparative degree is used to denote more or less of the quality expressed by the adjective. When several objects are compared, the superlative degree of the adjective is used to express the highest or the lowest possible degree of the adjective.
The usual method of comparing an adjective is to add er to the positive to form the comparative, and est to form the superlative. Frequently, however, especially for an adjective of two or more syllables, the comparative is formed by prefixing more or less to the positive, and the superlative by prefixing most or least. Besides the adjectives in these two classes there are some which do not follow any regular method and must, therefore, be watched a little more closely.
The following table illustrates the different methods of comparison:
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
| bright | brighter | brightest |
| dangerous | more dangerous | most dangerous |
| beautiful | more beautiful | most beautiful |
| good | better | best |
| bad | worse | worst |
| ill | worse | worst |
Be careful to avoid using a double sign for the comparative degree; as,
Wrong: This writing is more neater than yours.