COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES

When we want to compare two or more things, we use the comparative or superlative form.
The comparative and superlative forms of an adjective have three forms as well as a few
irregular forms.
When we make a comparative or a superlative, the form changes as in the table below:

-ier/-iest
-er/-est more/most
adjective ends in
one or two syllables three syllables or more
y

tall happy fashionable

old angry important
narrow busy interesting
tight heavy ambitious

Why not add more adjectives you know to the table?

Comparative structure
be + comparative adjective + than
They are more fashionable than a lot of other clothes.

Superlative structure
be + the + superlative adjective
I am the most ambitious person in my family.

Irregular comparative/superlative forms

There are a few irregular forms to remember:
good - better - best
bad - worse - worst

Grammar: comparatives and superlatives 1

There are a number of ways we can add more detail when making comparisons.
One way is to add -er, -est, more, most, less or least before or after adjectives to form
the comparative and superlative:
Well, their trail shoes are probably going to be cheaper than ours.
We can use a number of other phrases with the comparative and superlative, for example:
 be a bit
be quite a bit
can be + comparative/superlative
going to be
will be

Finally, we can use another phrase which is only formed with the superlative:
Yes, they were our third biggest competitor last year, right?
Here, third is an ordinal number, which means it shows the position of something compared
to something else. In this case, it shows the position of Speedrunners compared to other
competitors. Take a look at the table to see how we use ordinal numbers with superlatives:

+ These shoes will be  the most modern  in the

the/our
superlative market.

the/our + ordinal number

+
(first, second, third, fourth, fifth, They are our second most popular product.
superlative
sixth ...)

Grammar: comparing and contrasting

At work you will often compare and contrast products and services. One way to do this is to
use the comparative structure. In the video you heard several expressions to compare
products. For example:
Their shoes are going to be heavier than our shoes.
This sentence contains a comparative adjective: heavier.
When you want to compare the weight of two things, you can say A is heavier than B. It's
important to add the than after the adjective.
If two things have a similar weight, you could say A is as heavy as B. In this sentence you
need to add as, and you use the base form of the adjective, heavy, not the comparative form.
Remember with longer adjectives, for example comfortable, you add more to make the
comparative form. For instance:
This chair is more comfortable than that one.
Another way is to use linking expressions such as but, even though, on the one hand, as well
as and however.

W QUESTIONS
We ask people questions to find out for information or details, some of the W questions are:
What? Why? When? Where? Who? How?

- We use “What” to ask about things –

- We use “Why” to ask the reason for something –
- We use “When” to ask about time –
- Whe use “ Where” to ask the location of something –
- We use “Who” to ask about people –
- We use “How” to ask about the method of something –

GRAMMAR: SINGULAR AND PLURAL FORMS

When using singular and plural verb forms, remember that the form of the verb changes to
match the subject.

What is he/she/it ... ?

What are you/we/they ... ?
What am I ... ?

What he/she/it ... ?

does I/you/we/they ...
What do ?

For example:
What is he doing tonight?
What are they having for dinner?
What does she like to do for fun?
What do we need to work on?

GRAMMAR: GIVING ADVICE

To give advice we use modal verbs and fixed expressions.
When we think something is a good or bad idea:
should + verb
shouldn't + verb
why don't you + verb
it's a good idea to + verb
it's a bad idea to + verb

When we think it is necessary to do or to avoid something:

must + verb
mustn't + verb
necessary to + verb
When we think it is important or morally right to do something:
ought to + verb
ought not to + verb
important to + verb

Grammar: verbs + prepositions

A useful way to remember verb + preposition expressions is to make a table and write
examples.

  for in at on

I worked Working
I work at Mega on improvi
for a Bank for ng my
wor
large I work in accounts. two years English is
k
company after something I
. graduatin aim to do
g. this year.
I studie
d for a I studied
stud degree I studied marketing in Lon at a
 
y in don. university
marketin in the UK.
g.

Grammar: questions with 'would'

You will notice that when people ask questions with would, they follow these structures:
Would + subject + verb in the infinitive form
Would I work with lots of different clients?
Would + subject + be + past participle
Would I be based in just one office?
Would + subject + be + verb + -ing
Would you be supervising me?
Would + subject + be + adjective
Would it be acceptable to work from home sometimes?

Grammar: direct speech and reported speech

Sometimes, as part of our job, we have to report what others have said. This is especially
important when we give feedback or explain problems. When we report what someone has
said, we can use direct speech or reported speech.
In reported speech there may be a change in the tenses, word order and pronouns compared
with the original direct speech sentence.
Direct speech: When we phone you, you make us wait for too long.
Reported speech: A number of people said that when they phoned us, we had made them
wait for too long.
The following table shows the change in tenses:

Direct speech  Reported speech

 am/is/are was/were

present simple past simple

present continuous past continuous

will would
 can could

should should

might might

present perfect past perfect

past perfect past perfect

present perfect continuous past perfect continuous

past continuous past perfect continuous

In some cases, we don't need to change the present tense into the past if the information is still
true at the moment of speaking. This is mostly true for things that are facts, for example:
Direct speech: The company is international.
Reported speech: He said that the company is/was international.

Two of the most popular reporting verbs are say and tell. However, there are a number of other
verbs we can use, such
as mention, report, complain, state, indicate, recommend, suggest, promise, insist and claim.
Note it is not necessary to follow these verbs with that. In fact, it is becoming much more
common to leave out the word that.
These next two activities will give you practice with reported speech.

Grammar: reported speech 1

When writing the minutes of a meeting or a report, you often have to report what people have
said. This is reported speech. Simple verbs to report speech include say and tell but these are
not formal enough for most business writing. Instead, in the final version of the discussion
paper, Sally uses verbs like complain, report and promise.
Be careful with the grammar of reporting verbs. As we are talking about something that
happened in the past, we use past tense verbs in reported speech: said, not say.
Ann said that she would be late.
If using tell, use told + person + what was said.
Ann told me that she would be late.
With the verb offer, use offered + to + infinitive verb.
Ann offered to help me finish the project.
With the verb promise, use promise + to + infinitive verb or promise + clause (change the tense
of the verb).
Ann promised to help me finish the project.
Ann promised that she would help me finish the project.

Grammar: modal verbs 4

From these activities, you will have noted we can use modal verbs
like need, should, must, ought, can/could, had better and have to talk about courses of action.
They are usually followed by the base form of the verb: subject + modal verb + base form.
We should get reviews of hotels and airlines from our own clients.
In questions, we change the word order to modal verb + subject + base form.
Sally, can you make a note of those?
The verbs need,ought and have are followed by to + base verb.
We need to do more inspections.
We ought to have a new automatic system.
Need can also be followed by a noun or pronoun (or a quantifier, article or adjective before the
noun).
We need more people on the night shift.

Grammar: past tense

When we are in a review meeting, we look back on our performance. We are looking in the
past. This means we often use the past simple.
Verbs in the past tense have two forms: regular and irregular. For regular verbs, we add ed at
the end of the present simple form, for example:
watch – watched
Irregular verbs have a number of different spellings.
Also, be careful which past form of the verb to be you use: was or were.
This table shows the positive, negative and question forms in the past tense. Notice how the
verb stays in the present simple form in negative sentences and questions. The auxiliary verb
(helping verb) did is the past form of do.

Positive form Negative form Question form

I started I didn't start Di I start?

d
You You you
He He he
She She she
 It It it
We We we
They They they

I I I
You You you
He He he
Di
She found She didn't find she find?
d
It It it
We We we
They They they

Grammar: 'going to' 1

In the meeting Sally gives a number of work objectives for the next six months. When we make
plans, we use going to.
This table shows how we create sentences and questions with going to. When speaking it is
usual to use contractions (I'm rather than I am).

Positive form Negative form Question form

I'm going to work in HR. I'm not going to work in HR. Am I going to  work in HR?

You/We/They're going You/We/They're not going to Are  you/we/they going

to  work in HR. work in HR. to work in HR?

He/She's going to  work in He/She's  not going to work in

Is  he/she going to  work in HR?
HR. HR.
 Useful language: describing a product 1
A product description contains important information about the product you are going to
launch, such as its price, style and function. This information can be presented to colleagues at
work and is a useful way to get feedback or tips from them.
There are a few expressions we can use. It is important to follow these expressions with the
correct preposition so that the meaning of the sentence is clear. For example:
The range is designed to attract new customers. (This means the purpose of the new range
is to bring in new customers.)
The range is designed for younger people. (This means younger customers will enjoy this
design.)
The expressions follow this pattern:

forecast
predicted
to base verb
designed
expected

to be (is/are) + designed + for +

noun/verb + -ing
aimed at

based on
noun
anticipated over

One common mistake to make is using the wrong form of to be – whether to use is or are.
Another area English learners find difficult is using the correct preposition.

Grammar: simple passive 1

Greenwood are designing the range for younger people.
In this sentence, the subject (Greenwood) is doing the action – it is designing the range. This is
known as an active sentence.
Look at the following sentence from the activity:
The range is designed for younger people.
The subject of the sentence, range, is having an action done to it – it is being designed. This is
known as a passive sentence.
Sometimes we state the subject who is doing the action if it is not obvious:
The range is designed by the company for younger people.
You may notice that the passive follows the following form: subject + to be + past participle.
In a product description we may need to explain what developments are happening now and
also what will or could happen in the future.
 

Passive sentences in the present tense:

subject + am/is/are + past participle

It is designed ...
Passive sentences in the future tense:
subject + will/going to + be + past participle

It will be designed ...

Passive sentences in the conditional tense:
subject + can/could/might/may + be + past participle

It can be designed ...

Grammar: 'going to' 1

In the video Faisal asked Karen to help him prepare his presentation. Since the presentation
has not happened, they talk at times about actions in the future. They use going to when they
refer to these future actions. This is because we use going to when we want to refer to a
planned action in the future.
To create a sentence with going to we use the verb to be. I am going to + verb.
 

I am

You
We are
They going to + verb

He
She is
It

 
For example:
I am going to present at the conference.
We are going to hire a new office assistant.
She is going to write a report on the meeting.

Grammar: past perfect 2

From the previous activity, you'll have noticed that we use the past perfect tense to describe
the action that happened first.
It's common to use contractions in the past perfect, for example:
I'd instead of I had
hadn't instead of had not
To form questions in the past perfect we change the order of the words. Notice the order of the
words plane and hadn't in the following examples:
The plane hadn't even taken off.
Had the plane taken off?
Had the plane not taken off?*
*Note we don't start a question with hadn't.

Grammar: 'when' and 'while'

We use when and while to talk about two things that are happening at the same time. Usually
we use while when there are two long actions.
He was cooking dinner while she was watching television.
Usually we use when if one action is long and the other is short.
He was cooking dinner when the phone rang.
We use when if there are two short actions.
He opened the door when the phone rang.
We use when if we talk about periods of our life.
I learned accountancy when I studied in London.

Grammar: present continuous for future arrangements

In his email, Diego talks about future arrangements which are close to now:
We're starting work on the detailed plans for the launch tomorrow.
This form is often called the present continuous. Here the form is used with a future meaning.
Its form is:

Positive sentences in the present continuous

subject + be + -ing form

we are launching
he is coming
Negative sentences in the present continuous
subject + be + not + -ing form

we are not launching

he is not coming
Questions in the present continuous
Be + subject + -ing form

Are you launching ...?

Is he coming ...?

Useful language: reminding and requesting politely 1

Chris promised to send some information but he didn't do it. To remind him, Jan writes:
You mentioned that you were going to send us some technical information ... I'm afraid I
haven't received anything yet.
Why does Jan write in this way? This is because it's more polite than writing 'you forgot to send
us the information'.
There are other polite expressions for making reminders and requests, such as:
Could you ...?
I would appreciate it if ...
I look forward to hearing from you.
I'm grateful for your help.

Grammar: the third conditional 1

We use the third conditional to talk about something in the past that would have happened if
our actions had been different. So we use it to talk about imaginary or impossible situations.
The third conditional takes the following form:

Condition Result

subject + would + have + past

If + subject + had + past participle
participle

If the presenters had given us more

we would have understood better.
handouts,
We can shorten I had to I'd and I would have to I'd have. In the negative form, I
had becomes I hadn't and I would have becomes I wouldn't have.
We can also change the order of the sentences and put the result at the start of the sentence
without a comma in between:
We would have understood better if the presenters had given us more handouts.