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meaning - Does a comparative always need to compare with something?


As I understand it, comparatives compare with something. So something that is colder is more cold than another thing. However, can't a word like colder be used as an adjective without being compared to something else? For example, is it ungrammatical to say the following?



People who live in colder climates should be careful about their heating bills.



The adjective cold could be inserted in place of colder, but I think the meaning would be different. To me colder sounds like 'somewhat cold' as opposed to 'absolute cold.'
So my questions are as follows:
1. Is this use of colder grammatical?
2. If so, is it still considered a comparative?
3. Do you agree with my understanding of colder vs. cold in the example?



Answer



Sure, the name comparative does not proscribe the valency. It is just the form that is used when you are comparing two things.


In cases when you have one thing it can still be used.


Following cases are typical:
- we want to compare to some average
- the thing we are comparing to is already established from the context
- we want to be deliberately vague


In this case it is called null comparative.


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