We use comparatives to compare people and things with other people and things.
1 Comparatives with ? er for short words.
|
Cheap old |
Cheaper older |
2 One-syllable words, and two-syllable words ending in ?y- generally add ?er to make the comparative form (with ?y changing to ?i). Words ending in ?e add only ?r.
|
Late early |
later earlier |
3 If the word ends in one vowel + consonant, double the consonant:
|
Hot big sad |
Hotter bigger sadder |
4 If the words ends in two vowels and one consonant, don?t double the consonant.
|
Great poor |
Greater poorer |
5 Comparative with more or less. Two syllable words, and words of more than two syllables use more or less
|
More modern less interesting |
6 Some two-syllable words are used with either ?er or more. Examples of this kind are: clever, common, narrow, simple.
7 Irregular comparatives
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Good Bad Little far |
Better Worse Less Farther/further |
8 The comparative of old is older, as in the example: Tom looks older than he really is. We can use elder or older when you talk about people in a family. We can say ?my elder brother?, but we don?t say ?somebody is elder?.
9 We can use any and no comparatives (any longer/ no bigger).
Do you feel any better today?
1 These are normally made with more and less:
|
More quickly less carefully |
2 Some adverbs, which are not formed from adjectives have a comparative formed with ?er. Examples are:
|
Faster harder |
3 Irregular comparatives of adverbs
|
Well Badly Much/many |
Better Worse more |
1 The simplest kind of comparison is with a comparative and than.
|
You don?t look older than your brother |
2 Comparatives can be repeated to suggest continuing change.
|
This lessons seems to be getting longer and longer Jim started feeling more and more tired |
3 Comparatives can be made stronger by using these words:
much, far, quite a lot, a lot, a little, slightly, a bit, a little bit.
4 Comparatives can be used in parallel constructions with ?the?. This structure is used to say that one thing depends on another thing.
|
The faster you drive, the more petrol you use |
5 Expressions with best
|
Sorry, but this is the best I can do, I tried my best |
1 With than
|
Food is more expensive than I thought |
2 We use not as/so?as to say that people and things are (not) the same in some way.
|
Being a nurse is not as interesting as being a doctor |
3 We can put just, nearly, not quite, and half, twice, three times before as?as.
|
Living in the country is just as expensive as living in London. |
4 We can also use the same + noun + as and different from
5 with such?as
I?ve never been to such a good party as that one |
6 We can use as much and as many with nouns, when the comparative is not a quality or an adjective but a quantity:
|
Deborah doesn?t work as many hours as I do |
7 Parts of the comparison that repeat the main verb can be left out, though auxiliaries (can, be, have, will) are repeated and the verb can be replaced by a form of do.
|
You paid more for your house than I did |
7 We usually say: than me/ than I am (not than I)
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He is not as clever as her (not ?as she?) |
We use superlatives (usually with ?the?) to compare people and things with all they group that they are in. We normally use the before a superlative.
1 Adjectives with one syllable add –est:
|
Great small |
greatest smallest |
2 Adjectives with two and more syllables use the most
|
careful |
the most careful |
3 They can be made stronger by the use of: by far, easily.
|
It?s by far the most expensive car in the world |
It?s easily the most expensive car I have ever seen |
4 After superlatives, we normally use in before the name of places and before singular words for groups of people:
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Everest is the highest mountain in the world. |
Sam is the youngest player in the orchestra |
In most other cases, we use of after superlatives:
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Ann?s the tallest of the three sisters. |
5 Sentences with superlative adverbs are not very common: John drives the most dangerously.
8 The superlative of old is oldest. We use eldest when we are talking about people in a family:
|
My eldest son is 13 years old. |
9 Sometimes we use most + adjective to mean ?very?
The book you lent me was most interesting
· English grammar with exercises, Madrid, Pearson Education, 2001.
· Murphy, Raymond: English Grammar in Use, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2 edition 1994.
· Swan, M., Walter, C.: The Good Grammar book, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2001.
· Vince, Michael: First Certificate language practice, Oxford, Heinemann, 1993.
Walker, E: Grammar Practice for Intermediate Students, Essex, Longman, 1993.
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