positive degree

English

Noun

positive degree

1. (grammar) That state of an adjective or adverb indicating simple quality, without comparison or relation to increase or diminution; as in wise, noble.

Usage notes

English has three degrees of comparison: positive, comparative, and superlative. For short adjectives, English adds the suffix "-er" to an adjective to form the comparative degree, and adds "-est" to form the superlative degree. For adjectives longer than about two syllables, and for adverbs, English precedes the word with "more" for the comparative and "most" for the superlative.

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
wise	wiser	wisest
beautiful	more beautiful	most beautiful
slow (adjective)	slower	slowest
slowly (adverb)	more slowly	most slowly

Related terms

• comparative degree
• superlative degree

Translations

that state of an adjective or adverb indicating simple quality, without comparison

Albanian: shkalla pohore f Breton: derez-plaen (br) m Czech: pozitiv (cs) m Dutch: stellende trap (nl) Finnish: positiivi (fi), perusaste (fi) French: degré positif m, positif (fr) m Georgian: დადებითი ხარისხი (dadebiti xarisxi) German: Positiv (de) m Hungarian: alapfok (hu) Icelandic: frumstig (is) n Irish: bunchéim f Japanese: 原級 (ja) (げんきゅう, genkyū) Manx: bun-cheim f Polish: stopień równy m Russian: положи́тельная сте́пень (ru) f (položítelʹnaja stépenʹ) Slovak: pozitív, prvý stupeň Slovene: osnóvnik m Welsh: gradd gysefin f