1.

Use of comparatives
Its tempting with comparatives to focus merely on the form. After all, the rules arent that difficult to
explain. But be careful not to oversimplify the use. For example, we often assume that comparatives
are used only to compare two things.
I am taller than my brother.
But we can use it to compare more than two things.
I am taller than my brother and my sister.
We can also use the comparative without stating the other thing if its understood.
I feel better (than I did before).
Maybe it is best to draw students attention to these uses of comparatives if they come up in texts or
class work.
2. Superlatives
Dont forget that in many languages there is no equivalent of the superlative. So something that
seems completely normal to you as a proficient user of English may be in fact very alien to an
English language learner. Be prepared for mistakes like He is the more intelligent. The film has the
bigger budget in history.
Even though we say use THE with superlatives, remember that there are occasions when we
dont (see explanation above). So this rule of thumb does have its limitations.
3. Activity: The people in the room
Using the people in the class is a logical place to start with comparatives. A simple activity is to put
students into groups of four. Tell them to make as many true sentences as they can comparing
each other using the following phrases.
lives close to school; has big family; young
has been learning English long; gets up early; goes to bed late
Set a time limit. Then ask students to read out some of their sentences. E.g. Marta lives closer to
the school than Juan and Pablo.
4. Activity: My family
With lower level students, you can combine superlatives with a revision of family vocabulary into a
speaking activity. Ask students to secretly choose five of the following categories and write a name
for each one on a piece of paper.
The oldest person in my family
The youngest person in my family
The friendliest person in my family
The funniest person in my family
The nicest person in my family
The meanest person in my family etc. (you can think of other categories)
Put students in pairs. Tell each student to ask questions about the others list of names and find out
more information.
Is Johann the oldest person in your family?
No, he isnt. Hes the youngest!
How old is he?
Hes my nephew. Hes only two years old.
This works well in classes where the students have/know about their extended families.
5. Activity: Life in the capital
Comparing city life to country life used to be the mainstay of coursebook activities that focused on
the comparative. Ive found, as a teacher, that most of my students have no idea at all of what life is
really like in the country (and neither do I actually), which has made these activities fall flat
somewhat. However, most people will have something to say about life in the capital city versus life
in another part of the country.
You can set this up as a role play. Ask students to work in pairs, A and B. The As live in the capital
of their country and think its far superior to life outside the capital. The Bs think the opposite. Give
them time to prepare several reasons and then tell them to compare. Who has the most convincing
arguments? You can then develop this into a whole class discussion.
6. Activity: Mobile phones
Ask students to work in small groups. Tell them to take out their mobile phones (be prepared for the
looks of surprise, students are far more used to being told to put their mobile phones away) and to
present their mobile phones to each other. You could write the following information on the board
to help:
When did you buy it? How much did it cost?
Is it your first phone?
What do you like about it?
What dont you like about it?
Once theyve done that, ask students to make comparisons of the mobile phones. Set a target of,
for example, eight sentences comparing the different phones. For example:
Suzys phone is bigger than mine.
Tanyas phone was cheaper than Suzys.
Enzos phone is more interesting than Giovannis.
Of course this activity works best if several people have mobile phones!
7. Activity: The coldest place Ive been to
The superlative can regularly go with the present perfect (as in The best film Ive ever seen was).
You could use this sentence stem to make a questionnaire. Make a worksheet with several
examples. Here are some based around the theme of weather.
The coldest place Ive been to was
The hottest place Ive ever visited was
The worst storm Ive ever seen was in
The strangest weather Ive ever experienced was
Put students in pairs and tell them to interview their partner. To do this they must make questions,
e.g. Whats the worst storm youve ever seen? They can also ask follow-up questions to find out
more information. Do feedback on this as a whole class. Other thematic questionnaires of this kind
could be:
Emotional experiences
The most frightened Ive ever been
The happiest moment Ive ever had
The most nervous Ive ever been
Musical experiences(better with teens):
The best concert Ive ever been to
The worst song Ive ever heard
The longest time Ive ever danced
The best CD Ive ever bought
Places in your life
The most dangerous place Ive been in
The cheapest restaurant Ive eaten in
The most boring town Ive ever visited
8. Activity: Award ceremony
You can also practise superlatives by organizing a class awards ceremony. Have awards for
different categories:
the student with the nicest smile
the friendliest student
the hardest working student
the earliest student
the best-dressed student
the most talkative student
the quietest student etc. (try to have only nice categories!)
You could either decide on the winners yourself or put the awards to a secret vote. Make sure that
everybody gets an award for something (meaning that if you have 20 plus students you might have
to have more than one recipient for an award). Make the awards on little stars. Hold a ceremony in
which you distribute them to great fanfare. This activity works best at the end of the year, or the end
of a Anchor Point:bottomterm.