20.4. Comparative constructions: The Quality Comparative
Models
| 1) | XEM TŦE NE SȻÁ¸ NE MO͸ | ‘My basket is heavier |
| ¸E TŦE EN¸ SȻÁ¸ EN¸ MO͸. | than your basket.’ | |
| 2) | XEM TŦE NE SȻÁ¸ NE MO͸ | ‘My basket is heavier |
| ¸E TŦE EN¸ SȻÁ¸. | than yours.’ | |
| 3) | XEM TŦE NE MO͸ | ‘My basket is heavier |
| ¸E TŦE EN¸ MO͸. | than your basket.’ | |
| 4) | XEM TŦE NE MO͸ | ‘My basket is heavier |
| ¸E TŦE EN¸ SȻÁ¸. | than yours.’ | |
| 5) | XEM TŦE SḴÁXE¸ | ‘The dog is heavier |
| ¸E TŦE PUS. | than the cat.’ |
‣ 1 This is the third of three comparative constructions found in SENĆOŦEN. We will call this the Quality Comparative.
‣ 2 This is called the ‘Quality Comparative’ because its most characteristic feature is that quality being compared is the first word in the sentence.
‣ 3 This is the simplest of the three comparative constructions. This is a simple sentence that has the quality as the main, intransitive verb. Here is the formula for the Quality Comparative:
QUALITY X ¸E Y
‣ 4 This pattern is most frequently used with the emphatic possessive (§5.2). However, it is entirely grammatical to use it without any possessive, as the last model shows.
 | XEM TŦE EN¸ SȻÁ¸ NE MO͸ | ‘Your basket is heavier |
| ¸E TŦE EN¸ SȻÁ¸ NE MO͸. | than my basket.’ | |
 | HÁE. ÁN¸ U¸ ṈEN¸ NE SḴEĆE¸. | ‘Yes. I really harvested a lot.’ |
| STÁṈ OĆE EN¸ SḴEĆE¸? | ‘What did you get?’ |
| ȽEMEȾEṈ SEN ¸E TŦE S₭ELÁLṈEW̱. | ‘I picked blackberries.’ |
| 20.4A. Translate each of the following into English. 1. QOMQEM TŦE NE STIḴIU ¸E TŦE SȻÁ¸S. 2. X̱EṈ TŦE STIḴIU ¸E TŦE SḴÁXE¸. 3. ÍY¸ E TŦE EN¸ S¸IȽEN ¸E TŦE NE SȻÁ? 4. MEMIM¸EN¸ TŦE PUS ȽTE ¸E TŦE EN¸ PUS. 5. ĆEḴ TŦE NE SȻÁ¸ NE SMÍYEŦ ¸E TŦE EN¸ SȻÁ¸. | 20.4B. Translate each of the following into SENĆOŦEN using the Quality Comparative. 1. My dog is bigger than your dog. 2. Your canoe is faster than mine. 3. Is your father older than mine? 4. My cat is stronger than your dog. 5. This one here is better than that one. |
| 20.4C. Make four more SENĆOŦEN sentences using the quality comparative. | |