Question

Fill in the blank with the comparative degree of the adverb.
He worked ____ than ever before.
a- most diligently
b- more diligently
c- diligently
d- diligent

Answer 1

Hint: Adverbs are those words that modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. Degrees of comparison of adverbs are used to describe and compare different qualities of people, things, animals, and places.

Complete answer:
As given in the hint, there are three degrees of comparison-
1) Positive degree- It is used to emphasize a particular quality or trait of someone or something. For example- He ran fast.
2)Comparative degree- It is used to show a comparison between two people based on a particular quality or characteristic. For example- He ran faster than her.
3) Superlative degree- It is used to show a comparison between two or more people based on a particular trait. For example- He is the fastest in the class.
In the given question- We can conclude that he worked more diligently than ever before. Here, we have used ‘more diligently’ because it is the comparative degree of adverb of ‘diligently’. ‘Diligently’ has been formed from the adjective, ‘diligent’.
Now, let’s examine the given options-
Option a- ‘most diligently’ is an incorrect option because ‘most’ indicates that it is the superlative degree of comparison.
Option b- ‘more diligently’ is the correct option because ‘more’ indicates that it is the comparative degree of comparison.
Option c- ‘diligently’ is an incorrect option because it is a positive degree of comparison.
Option d- ‘diligent’ is an incorrect option because it is an adjective. The correct answer is Option ‘b’.

Note:
Keep in mind, many adverbs and adjectives form their comparative and superlative degree by adding more and most to the base word. For example- More beautifully, most humble, etc.