IRREGULAR COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES 135
hateful to the enemies of the commonwealth.
- The Romans always inflicted the severest[1] punishment on faithless allies.
- I was quite ill, and so I hastened from the city to the country.
- Marcus had some friends dearer than Cæsar.[2]
- Did you not seek a more recent report concerning the battle?
- Not even after a victory so opportune did he seek the general’s friendship.
N.B. Beginning at this point, the selections for reading will be found near the end of the volume. (See p. 197.)
LESSON LIV
IRREGULAR COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES • THE ABLATIVE WITH COMPARATIVES WITHOUT QUAM
307. The following six adjectives in -lis form the comparative regularly; but the superlative is formed by adding -limus to the base of the positive. Learn the meanings and comparison.
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|---|
| facilis, -e, easy | facilior, -ius | facillimus, -a, -um |
| difficilis, -e, hard | difficilior, -ius | difficillimus, -a, -um |
| similis, -e, like | similior, -ius | simillimus, -a, -um |
| dissimilis, -e, unlike | dissimilior, -ius | dissimillimus, -a, -um |
| gracilis, -e, slender | gracilior, -ius | gracillimus, -a, -um |
| humilis, -e, low | humilior, -ius | humillimus, -a, -um |
308.
From the knowledge gained in the preceding lesson we should translate
the sentence Nothing is brighter than the sun
Nihil est clārius quam sōl
But the Romans, especially in negative sentences, often expressed the
comparison in this way,
Nihil est clārius sōle
which, literally translated, is Nothing is brighter away from the sun; that is, starting from the sun as a standard, nothing is brighter. This relation is expressed by the separative ablative sōle. Hence the rule
