Did you do a double think on the grammar here?

[Awumminnscotland]

My 7 yr old was reading the "blub" as she calls it on the back of her reading book and tells me that her teacher said this was wrong, that it should be "strongest". I'm afraid my eyebrows couldn't get any higher on my head and my mouth dropped. But maybe my expectations are too high?
I'm 52 and in primary didn't get taught much grammar but I knew this...
Not a teaching bashing thread just a v surprised mum and I know most mums of 7 yr olds are younger so just looking for perspective really.

The word “stronger” is a comparison not a superlative. The blurb is correct and the teacher is wrong and stupid.

The blurb is correct. As is @CharlottenBurger.

What would your mil think of this:

“… teachers written communication.” ?

(the use of a comparative with "the" is very formal though. I'd imagine the book is quite old?)

Formal is not wrong.🙄

Between is only two things

This needs to be in pedants corner

Comparative adjectives compare two things. Superlative adjectives compare more than two things.

Commonly, adjectives that contain only one syllable or end in 'y' use 'er' to form comparatives and 'est' to form superlatives. For adjectives ending in y, change the 'y' to 'i' before adding the 'er' or 'est'.

• old – older – oldest
• young – younger – youngest
• pretty – prettier – prettiest
• long – longer – longest
• short – shorter – shortest
• bright – brighter – brightest
• close – closer – closest
• happy – happier - happiest

Your sentence would not be permitted to enter. You probably know why…

@Cam22 😃

It's correct.

Indeed.

For all you lovely pedants out there, I do see the green lines come up when I'm typing so sometimes that tells me there's something incorrect and sometimes I know anyway. But...I'm soo rock nd roll I just.... ignore it! I know right!!

That seems more than a little unlikely in someone who is interested enough in correct grammar to start a thread about it. There's nothing rock 'n roll about typing 'alot'. It's an extremely common mistake.

As for the stronger/strongest thing - the teacher is wrong to say it's incorrect, but it is slightly old-fashioned usage to stick to that rule. That doesn't make it a 'fake rule' though, @CharlottenBurger . And yes, for British English, why use Merriam Webster?

The comparative is correct. The use of 'the' is not.

Aka as the definite article, of course…

…aka as…

I don't know why you are surprised.

You can get on a PGCE with a 2:2 and GCSE Maths and English at grade C.

The skills test requirement was removed in 2019 (though it was pretty basic anyway).

In England, perhaps.

Child of the 60s here, also in Scotland but that makes no difference to this - OP you are absolutely correct, stronger is used to compare 2 , strongest for 3 or more. I was brought up in a family of English teachers and grammar was taught from early on in primary school.

The stronger is a bit archaic, most people would say who is stronger or who is the strongest. If a small child was talking about who is the stronger some might think they're wrong or a bit pretentious in their choice of language. It would be legitimate of the teacher to say it's not commonly used rather than tell a child that it's wrong.

"Who is the stronger" is formally correct, if a little old fashioned.

I wonder if anyone on the thread has had their judgment affected by the proximity of the half-rhyme between "contest" and "strongest" in the text?

🤣🤣🤣🤣

No, it isn't. That's why I didn't say "which is wrong".

Strong
Stronger
Strongest

The book is correct. The teacher is wrong

“It would be legitimate of the teacher to say it's not commonly used rather than tell a child that it's wrong.”

What a pointless thing to say. I think the child would be more interested in what was correct. Children are like that.

Anyway the woman was clueless and was trying to be smart. Lol