Comparatives_TOEFL Part 12 Writing Skill

 

TOEFL MASTER

WRITING SKILL

“MODIFIER: COMPARATIVES“

 

 

Hi, sobat!

Tahukah kamu apa itu modifier? Ya, modifier merupakan sebuah kata atau sekumpulan kata yang memodifikasi kata lainnya dalam sebuah kalimat. Modifiers dalam bahasa Inggris dapat berupa adverb (kata keterangan), adjective (kata sifat), conjunction (kata hubung), article (kata sandang), dan sebagainya.

 

Apa itu Comparatives?

Comparative, disebut juga comparative degree, merupakan ungkapan atau kalimat yang membandingkan dua hal, seperti orang, binatang, benda, atau lainnya, yang mana salah satu di antara mereka memiliki sifat atau karakter yang lebih dibandingkan dengan yang lainnya. Perbandingan dengan tipe comparative degree ini ditandai dengan adanya imbuhan suffix (akhiran) pada adjective (kata sifat) atau adverb (kata keterangan), yaitu akhiran –er atau more yang berarti lebih.

Comparative Degree ini memiliki makna “lebih ... dari ...”. Sementara itu, adjective mendapatkan akhiran “-er” jika kata tersebut yang terdiri dari satu atau dua suku kata; serta, sebelum adjective memperoleh tambahan “more” jika memiliki tiga suku kata atau lebih. Contoh adjective dalam comparative degree yaitu cold-colder, patient – more patient, happy – happier, etc. Sedangkan, contoh adverb dalam comparative degree yaitu fast-faster, gently – more gently, slowly – more slowly, etc.

Ketika berada di dalam kalimat, comparative degree ini biasanya diikuti kata than, yaitu dengan pola sebagai berikut:

“Subject + Verb/Be + Adjective/Adverb–Er + Than + Objek”

atau

“Subject + Verb/Be + More Adjective/Adverb + Than+ Objek”

Baca Juga: Degree of Comparison

 

Pada kesempatan kali ini, kita akan membahas terkait comparatives dalam sebuah kalimat.  Yuk, simak penjelasannya berikut ini!

 

Comparatives

Ada beberapa hal yang perlu diperhatikan dalam kalimat comparative di antaranya yaitu:

1.      Adjective yang terdiri dari satu suku kata (one-syllable adjectives) maka berakhiran “-er” dan adjective yang terdiri dari dua suku kata maka berakhiran dengan “-er”; jika kata adjective tersebut memiliki akhiran “-y”dan huruf sebelumnya berupa huruf konsonan maka ubahlah huruf “-y” menjadi “-ier”. Bentuk adjective yang memperoleh akhiran “-er” ini disebut juga regular comparative. Perhatikan contoh berikut.

John is tall, but Bill is taller.

Mr. Smith is busy, but Mr. Brown is busier.

 

2.      Beberapa adjective yang terdiri dari dua suku kata (two-syllables adjective), seperti yang berakhiran “-ly”, “-d/ed” (past participle), dan “-ing” (present participle), dan adjective yang terdiri dari tiga suku kata (three-syllables adjective) maka tambahkan kata more sebelum kata adjective tersebut. Perhatikan contoh berikut ini.

Betty is beautiful, but her sister is more beautiful.

 

3.      Beberapa adjective memiliki bentuk irregular comparatives, yaitu bentuk kata adjective yang berbeda dalam kalimat comparative, seperti good – better, bad – worse, dan lain-lain. Perhatikan contoh berikut ini.

This book is good, but that one is better.

This soup is bad, but that soup is worse.

 

4.      Than selalu digunakan dalam kalimat comparatives setelah comparative adjective. Perhatikan contoh berikut ini.

Their problem is worse than your problem.

 

Catatan:

a.      Jangan gunakan bentuk adjective-er dengan more secara bersamaan dalam struktur kalimat comparative.

b.      Perhatikan untuk hanya menggunakan than dalam struktur kalimat comparative.

c.       Perhatikan untuk hanya menggunakan dua hal untuk dibandingkan, tidak tiga ataupun lebih.

 

Error Examples

Terdapat dua jenis kesalahan utama dalam kalimat comparatives yaitu errors in structure (kesalahan struktur kalimat) dan errors in logic (kesalahan logika kalimat). Perhatikan beberapa contoh comparatives yang salah pada kalimat berikut ini dan pembenarannya!

 

a.      Structure Errors

Terdapat dua jenis struktur yang digunakan dalam kalimat comparative yaitu 1) dengan adjective-er + than atau 2) more adjective + than. Perhatikan contoh berikut ini.

 

Wrong Sentence	Right Sentence
Betty is more smarter than her classmates.	Betty is smarter than her classmates.
This building is more expensive as that one.	This building is more expensive than that one.
Jane had much longer hair that her sister.	Jane had much longer hair than her sister.
I own two cars, a Ford and a Chevrolet. I like the Chevrolet the best.	I own two cars, a Ford and a Chevrolet. I like the Chevrolet better.

 

b.     Logic Errors

Kalimat comparative harus membandingkan dua hal (noun) yang sepadan atau seimbang. Jangan membandingkan dua hal yang tidak bisa dibandingkan. Juga membandingkan sebuah hal dengan dirinya sendiri. Perhatikan contoh berikut ini. 

 

Wrong Sentence	Right Sentence
John’s salary was much larger than Bob.	John’s salary was much larger than that of Bob. atau John’s salary was much larger than Bob’s
The number of people at the meeting is larger than last week.	The number of people at the meeting is larger than that at last week’s meeting.
Mary is smarter than anybody in her class.	Mary is smarter than any other student in the class. atau Mary is smarter than anybody else in the class.
Alaska is larger than any state in the United States.	Alaska is larger than any other state in the United States.

 

Skill Builder 12: Comparatives

Direction: There is some Comparatives in these sentences. Decide if the sentences below are correct “C” or incorrect “I”.

(_____) 1.  This book is more better than that one.

(_____) 2. This year’s prices will certainly be much higher as last year’s prices.

(_____) 3. Since there were two possible ways to get to New York, we had to decide which one was better.

(_____) 4. The customs in his country are more traditional than those in the United States.

(_____) 5. Her letter was more friendlier than his.

(_____) 6.  She was happier than anybody in her family.

(_____) 7.  Nancy was luckier than Fred in Las Vegas.

(_____) 8. Betty’s homework is usually more organized than that of any other student’s in the class.

(_____) 9.  The weather was much hotter this year than 1970.

(_____) 10.  The final exam was more difficult than the mid-semester exam.

(_____) 11.   The first performance was more crowded as the second one.

(_____) 12.  The new student reads faster than anyone else in the class.

(_____) 13.   Fred’s project proposal was much more economical than Brad’s.

(_____) 14.  Robert’s new home is more expensive than any house in the neighborhood.

(_____) 15. Henry had a rather bad accident, and it was a miracle that he was not hurt more worse than he was.

 

Key Answer & Its Correction

(I) 1.  This book is better than that one.

(I) 2. This year’s prices will certainly be much higher than last year’s prices.

(C) 3. Since there were two possible ways to get to New York, we had to decide which one was better.

(C) 4. The customs in his country are more traditional than those in the United States.

(I) 5. Her letter was friendlier than his.

(I) 6.  She was happier than anybody else in her family.

(C) 7.  Nancy was luckier than Fred in Las Vegas.

(C) 8. Betty’s homework is usually more organized than that of any other student’s in the class.

(I) 9.  The weather was much hotter this year than that in 1970.

(C) 10.  The final exam was more difficult than the mid-semester exam.

(I) 11.   The first performance was more crowded than the second one.

(C) 12.  The new student reads faster than anyone else in the class.

(C) 13.   Fred’s project proposal was much more economical than Brad’s.

(I) 14.  Robert’s new home is more expensive than any other house in the neighborhood.

(I) 15. Henry had a rather bad accident, and it was a miracle that he was not hurt worse than he was.

 

See Also:

1.      Part of Speech

2.      Part of Speech: Adjective

3.      Part of Speech: Noun

4.      Part of Speech: Verb

5.      Degree of Comparison

6.      List of Comparative Adjective

 

Source

Peterson`s (www.petersons.com). (2007). Peterson`s Master TOEFL Writing Skills. Peterson`s, a Nelnet Company

 

Demikian tadi sekilas Pembahasan TOEFL Writing Skills terkait “Modifier: Comparatives”. Semoga bermanfaat dan dapat menambah wawasan baru bagi kita dalam mempelajari bahasa Inggris; serta, terutama bagi kalian yang ingin atau akan mengikuti tes TOEFL.

Penulis mengharapkan saran dan kritik yang membangun dari para pembaca berkaitan dengan konteks atau isi tulisan sehingga nantinya hal tersebut dapat penulis jadikan inspirasi dan motivasi untuk melakukan perbaikan dan pengembangan tulisan berikutnya. Terima kasih 😊