Comparative and superlative forms are also occasionally used for other purposes than comparison. In English comparatives can be used to suggest that a statement is only tentative or tendential: one might say "John is more the shy-and-retiring type", where the comparative "more" is not really comparing him with other people or with other impressions of him, but rather, could be substituting for "on the whole" or "more so than not". In Italian, superlatives are frequently used to put strong emphasis on an adjective: means "most beautiful", but is in fact more commonly heard in the sense "extremely beautiful".
comparative and superlative forms are also occasionally used for other purposes than comparison in english comparatives can be used to suggest that a statement is only tentative or tendential one might say "john is more the shy-and-retiring type" where the comparative "more" is not really comparing him with other people or with other impressions of him but rather could be substituting for "on the whole" or "more so than not" in italian superlatives are frequently used to put strong emphasis on an adjective means "most beautiful" but is in fact more commonly heard in the sense "extremely beautiful"