'More strict' vs 'stricter'

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Linguist__

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Grammatically speaking, there is no such thing as "more strict" even though it is commonly used. Lots of native speakers make mistakes, even us in our 1st lge. I compared "more strict" to "beautifuler" because the latter is incorrect both syntactically & grammatically.
beautifuller & beautifuler don't exsist, & neither does "more strict" - again grammatically speaking.

Grammatically speaking, the word 'stricter' means 'more strict'!

No one (outside a standard language exam perhaps) is going to call saying 'more strict' incorrect. Grammatically or otherwise.

It is not a mistake, and it is not dialectal. It is an exception to the rule.
 

Jimmy08

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Grammatically speaking, there is no such thing as "more strict" even though it is commonly used. Lots of native speakers make mistakes, even us in our 1st lge. I compared "more strict" to "beautifuler" because the latter is incorrect both syntactically & grammatically.
beautifuller & beautifuler don't exsist, & neither does "more strict" - again grammatically speaking.

If "more beautiful" is correct, than "more strict" should be correct as well. Both are adjectives - strict and beautiful.
 

Trance Freak

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If "more beautiful" is correct, than "more strict" should be correct as well. Both are adjectives - strict and beautiful.
Based on your analysis, more pretty is correct eh?
I'm not dealing with what is commonly used/said, grammar is grammar.
short adj + -er
long adj + more etc
 

Linguist__

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Based on your analysis, more pretty is correct eh?
I'm not dealing with what is commonly used/said, grammar is grammar.
short adj + -er
long adj + more etc

I can't help but feel this is as much a 'grammatical rule' as 'i before e except after c' is a 'spelling rule'. That is, it is more an observation of the pattern of language. Like 'i before e except after c' I feel this 'rule' can be flouted, as it isn't a rule.

If someone could put an end to it by showing the rule from some authority that doesn't then say 'but there are exceptions', then that would be grand!
 

Jimmy08

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I googled and found an old thread in this forum titled, "more pretty or prettier". One poster mentioned that it's really to do with personal choice.

Most people prefer to use the word "prettier" over "more pretty".

More pretty is the same as 'prettier'.

"she's more pretty"... sounds okay to me.
But "she's prettier"... takes up less words.
 

Trance Freak

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I googled and found an old thread in this forum titled, "more pretty or prettier". One poster mentioned that it's really to do with personal choice.

More people prefer to use the word "prettier" over "more pretty".

More pretty is the same as 'prettier'.

"she's more pretty"... sounds okay to me.
But "she's prettier"... is takes up less words. :shock: huh?

WOW, so we better change the forum link from usingEng to usingpersonalEng.
What about grammar?
 

Jimmy08

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You quoted an old post - the one before editing.

It should read , "she's prettier" - takes up less words than "she's more pretty".
 

Trance Freak

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You quoted an old post - the one before editing.

It should read , "she's prettier" - takes up less words than "she's more pretty".
There is no "more pretty" !!!!
It is "prettier" GRAMMAR RULES!
 

Linguist__

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Trance_Freak, you seem to be ignoring my invitations for a citation of the grammatical rule, and that is fine.

My view is that for every comparative/superlative affix, you can alter this to be 'more ___' and it is correct. The affix exists to make things more efficient.

Which words don't retain the 'more' and use the affix is the rule we are trying to find here, and I doubt there will be any real rule. Apart from the words that don't follow the observation 'small adjectives = affix' (good, bad etc), there appear to be words which are used equally as 'more ___' or with the affix.

As I said before; it is not a mistake (no one is going to correct you), and it is not dialectal. It is an exception to the observation, "small adjectives = affix".

I hope this progresses to show how I am wrong in saying it is merely an observation, no more so than 'i before e except after c', and how it is a rule which can be applied in all cases.

To call something a rule, and then say 'however' before listing a host of exceptions, I must question the strength of this rule.
 

Trance Freak

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Trance_Freak, you seem to be ignoring my invitations for a citation of the grammatical rule, and that is fine.

My view is that for every comparative/superlative affix, you can alter this to be 'more ___' and it is correct. The affix exists to make things more efficient.

Which words don't retain the 'more' and use the affix is the rule we are trying to find here, and I doubt there will be any real rule. Apart from the words that don't follow the observation 'small adjectives = affix' (good, bad etc), there appear to be words which are used equally as 'more ___' or with the affix.

As I said before; it is not a mistake (no one is going to correct you), and it is not dialectal. It is an exception to the observation, "small adjectives = affix".

I hope this progresses to show how I am wrong in saying it is merely an observation, no more so than 'i before e except after c', and how it is a rule which can be applied in all cases.

To call something a rule, and then say 'however' before listing a host of exceptions, I must question the strength of this rule.

Sowwy. I know it is correct to say "more prettier" but not "more pretty".
+ Ima ask my doctor & see if there is any rule conserning "the more strict" pt.
 

Linguist__

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Sowwy. I know it is correct to say "more prettier" but not "more pretty".

Oh dear. I would have said 'more prettier' is not correct. Either the 'more' or the '-ier' is redundant, as they both mean the same.:-?
 

Trance Freak

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Oh dear. I would have said 'more prettier' is not correct. Either the 'more' or the '-ier' is redundant, as they both mean the same.:-?
How about much more prettier, could be!
 

Linguist__

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How about much more prettier, could be!

For me:

Pretty - correct
More pretty - correct
Prettier - correct
More prettier - incorrect
Much prettier - correct
Much more pretty - correct
Much more prettier - incorrect

I really hope there is a rule. Rules are good. I'm very much of the disposition that a language should be defined by how it is used, however. A rule, at least, would let me say that how it is used is correct or not, rather than this 'could be' that exists just now.

If there is no real rule, then we will just continue going round in circles, and 'agree to disagree' will prevail.
 

linako

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What I learned from back in junior high school English class was that as a general rule, "-er" ending is used with the words that are less than 6 letters long while "more" is used if they are longer than 6 letters. For instance, "beautiful" should be more beautiful while "tall" should be taller. Some words that are 6 letters long, such as strict, can go both ways as an except to the rule. The rule doesn't apply all the time but most of the time it works.
 
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