Base word: good
Comparisons: better, best, more better, most better, less better
471. Base word: much
Comparisons: mucher, more, muchest, most, less much
472. Base word: bad
Comparisons: worse, worser, worst, worster, more bad
473. Base word: unique
Comparisons: uniquer, uniquest, more unique, most unique, least unique
474. Base word: well
Comparisons: better, best, weller, wellest, more well
475. Base word: perfect
Comparisons: perfecter, perfectest, more perfect, most perfect, more nearly perfect
476. Base word: badly
Comparisons: badlier, more badlier, badliest, less badliest, worse
Avoiding Incomplete, Illogical, or Vague Comparisons
477–501 How should the underlined expression be changed to create a correct comparison? Note: Check the parentheses, if present, for clues to the intended meaning of the sentence.
477. Alice is happier. (comparing Alice to her sister)
478. When Peter quit his job, he was poorer.
479. George Washington may be more famous than any President of the United States.
480. This allergy season is equally as bad as last year’s season.
481. Compared to his brother, Levi has the most freckles.
482. During the boring lecture, five people fell asleep, and Darian snored the loudest.
483. Dmitri Smith and his wife Alicia Alvarez are both dentists, but Alicia earns the least.
484. My parakeet Robbie has the curviest tail. (comparing Robbie to all birds)
485. Veronica likes Archie less than her friend Bob.
486. The invention of the touchscreen was more important than any technological innovation of that year.
487. Ending on page 1,000, that Victorian novel is longer than most modern novelists.
488. The dance teacher claimed that Fred, nervous and self-conscious, tried not to look dumb and “ended up looking dumber.”
489. After examining 50 antique statues, the curator said that the one from Mesopotamia was more incomparable.
490. Elizabeth Bennet, the main character in Pride and Prejudice, is less self-aware than she thinks she is.
491. “Oranges are juicier than any fruit,” exclaimed Ann as she bit into a freshly picked piece.
492. Julia’s accent is less comprehensible than Alicia.
493. A circle that is 2 inches in diameter is rounder than one with a 4-inch diameter.
494. Marcy loaned money to her friend, whose house is the messier in the neighborhood.
495. Henry’s strategy for achieving a perfect score on the SAT was less efficient as referenced to mine.
496. Of all the minutes in a day, the baby had to pick the worse one to fall asleep!
497. My suitcase is as heavy, perhaps even heavier than, yours.
498. George does a better job repairing shoes than either Mac or Nelson.
499. Sidney’s hair, before his recent trip to the salon, was curlier than Anthony.
500. Discussing his role in the negotiations, Mr. Alexander claimed to be the more effective of the two union representatives.
501. This lamp is as bright, if not brighter than, all the others in my house.
Chapter 11
Correct with a Capital C: Capitalization
Capital letters are also called “uppercase” because early printers kept them in the upper, harder-to-reach case. As they set type, the printers needed capital letters less often than the more common, noncapital letters, which they kept close at hand in the lower case. (That's why noncapital letters are “lowercase.”) Nowadays, you don't have to reach for anything except a keyboard when you're writing, but you still have to use capitals properly. In this chapter you practice inserting capital letters where they’re needed and nowhere else.
The Questions You’ll Work On
In this chapter, you work on these questions:
Deciding when to capitalize people’s names and titles, relationships, and ethnicity
Choosing capitals or lowercase letters for dates, seasons, geographical names, and regions
Selecting capitals for the titles of literary and scientific works and historical eras or events
Placing capitals in references to school years and courses
Following the rules for capital letters in quotations
What to Watch Out For
Keep these points in mind when you’re answering the questions in this chapter:
Proper names and the personal pronoun I are capitalized. Also capitalized is a title used as a name or preceding the name of the person holding that title.
Seasons of the year aren’t capitalized, but the names of months and days are.
The proper names of countries, regions, and geographical features are capitalized. Generic geographical references are in lowercase.
The first letter of a sentence, title, or subtitle is always capitalized. In headline style, nouns, verbs, and other important words in titles are capitalized; less important words aren’t. Titles of scientific works generally follow sentence style, capitalizing only the first word of the title and subtitle, as well as any proper names.
School years are in lowercase. Subject areas, except for languages or references to countries, aren’t capitalized. The names of courses are capitalized in headline style.
The first word of a quotation that is connected to a speaker tag (he said, I stated, and so forth) is capitalized. Quotations inserted into a sentence without a speaker tag begin with a lowercase letter unless the first word is a proper name or the pronoun I. The second half of an interrupted quotation begins with a lowercase letter.
