Comparison

Session 2
 Comparative adjective

We use comparative adjective + than when we want to compare one

thing with another:

She is two years older than me.

New York is much bigger than Boston.
He is a better player than Ronaldo.
France is a bigger country than Britain.
 How to Form Comparative Adjectives
add –er to one-syllable words.
old older

long longer

If an adjective ends in –e, we add –r:

nice nicer

large larger

If an adjective ends in a vowel and a consonant, we double the

consonant:
big bigger

fat fatter
 How to Form Comparative Adjectives

If an adjective ends in a consonant and –y, we change –y to –i and add –er

happy happier

silly sillier

We use more to make comparatives for most two syllable adjectives and
for all adjectives with three or more syllables:
careful more careful

interesting more interesting

 How to Form Comparative Adjectives
However, with these common two-syllable adjectives, you can either add –er/–r
or use more.

common narrow
cruel pleasant
gentle polite
handsome simple
likely stupid
 As … as
We use as + adjective/adverb + as to make comparisons when the things
we are comparing are equal in some way:

The world’s biggest bull is as big as a small elephant.

You have to unwrap it as carefully as you can. It’s quite fragile.

Not as … as
We use not as … as to make comparisons between things which aren’t
equal:

Rory hasn’t grown as tall as Tommy yet.

She’s not singing as loudly as she can.
 Exercise
Use comparative adjectives in the sentences below.
1.Dogs are ____________ (intelligent) than rabbits.
2. In the UK, the streets are generally ________
(narrow) than in the USA.
3. My garden is a lot _________ (colourful) than this park.

Use either as ... as or not as ... as in the sentences

below.
1. The blue car is ___________the red car. (fast)
2. This copy is ___________________ the other one. (bad)