Comparison

Whenever you compare two things when writing, you must make the statement complete, parallel, and logical.

I. Comparisons that are Incomplete

If I say, "Mel likes Fred more than Mort," you have no idea whether I'm asserting that Mel likes Fred more than Mel likes Mort or claiming that Mel likes Fred more than Mort likes Fred. I must complete such a statement by saying exactly what I mean: "Mel likes Fred more than Mort likes Fred."

If I say, "Linda is taller than any girl in her class," you are left wondering how Linda could be taller than Linda. She is in her class; isn't she? I must complete this comparison by adding a crucial word, "Linda is taller than any other girl in her class."

If I say, "I hope to learn this skill as well if not better than the last skill," I have forgotten that usage expects a complete phrase: "I hope to learn this skill as well as if not better than the last one."

II. Comparison that lack Parallel Structure

This requirement of comparitive statements is a specific instance of the requirement for parallelism in English. If I say, "Eating tomatoes is more healthful than hamburgers," I am comparing an action to an object. Grammatically, I'm comparing a gerund to a noun. If it's the action I'm interested in, I need to compare it to some other action: "Eating tomatoes is more healthful than eating hamburgers."

III. Comparisons that Lack Logic

Comparisons must be logically parallel. If I say, "Serena's pasta salad is more tasty than any Lucy," you don't know if I'm a cannibal or not. Of course, you might hope that I made a grammatical error and that I meant to say, "Serena's pasta salad is more tasty than Lucy's." Turning "Lucy" into a possessive noun saves her from being consumed.

IV. Mistakes in the Form of Comparative Words

If you compare two things, use the comparative form of the adjective: "Of the two sports - football and wrestling - wrestling is harder [not "hardest"]." Use the superlative form of the adjective when comparing three or more things: "Wrestling is the hardest of sports."

In general, with one syllable words use the endings to show degree of comparison. The word "hard" is "harder" and "hardest" in its comparative and superlative forms. With two or more syllable words use "more" and "most." The word "grandiloquent" is "more grandiloquent" and "most grandiloquent" in its comparative and superlative forms. And don't use both forms. "More grandiloquenter" is not allowed.

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