2.114 comparatives as headwords

Comparative adjectives are sometimes used as headwords in fairly formal English. When you use a comparative adjective as a headword, you put 'the' in front of it, and follow it with 'of' and a noun group which refers to the two things being compared.

• ...the shorter of the two lines.
• Dorothea was the more beautiful of the two.
• There are two windmills, the larger of which stands a hundred and fifty feet high.

If it is clear what you are talking about, you can omit 'of' and the following noun group.

• Notice to quit must cover the rental period or four weeks, whichever is the longer.