Re-write the following sentences according to the instructions given after each. Make other changes that may be necessary, but do not change the meaning of each sentence.
This is the funniest movie I have ever seen. (Begin: Never ..................)
Topic: Degrees of comparison — superlative to comparative
Answer
Never have I seen a funnier movie than this.
Two rules operate together.
FIRST, INVERSION. Beginning with the negative adverb NEVER puts the auxiliary before the subject — "Never HAVE I seen". Ordinary order ("Never I have seen") is wrong.
SECOND, THE DEGREE. A superlative ("the funniest") becomes a COMPARATIVE in this construction ("a FUNNIER movie THAN this"), not the positive. Writing "Never have I seen a funny movie" says something quite different and rather insulting.
Note the TENSE: the original is present perfect ("have ever seen"), so the transformation keeps "have", not "had".
The three ways of saying the same thing, worth learning together: Superlative: This is the FUNNIEST movie I have ever seen. Comparative: This movie is FUNNIER THAN any other I have seen. Negative: NEVER HAVE I SEEN a funnier movie than this.
The 2019 paper sets the identical conversion with "ill-fitting".