Unit 11.

Describing your world

Listening & reading Grammar Vocabulary Writing & recording Quiz

Listening: A beautiful Adjectives Shapes and textures Describe an object Listening quiz:
landscape Grammar exercises Vocabulary exercise description
Listening & reading test Comparative Expressions with get
Reading Grammar exercise Vocabulary exercise
Superlative
Grammar exercises

Listening & reading

Listening: A beautiful landscape

Listen to the text paying attention to the vocabulary

and try to answer the questions. Then, check the
answers with the text.

Listening & reading test

1. Where did they go for the picnic? 6. What colour are the flowers?
A. The city. A. Red.
B. The beach. B. Orange.
C. The countryside. C. White.

2. What season was it? 7. Which of the things below you can’t see are there?
A. Summer. A. Cows.
B. Spring. B. Other people.
C. Winter. C. A factory.

3. What colour is the church’s roof? 8. Did they swim?

A. Blue. A. Yes.
B. Green. B. No.
C. Red. C. Maybe.

4. What was the church like inside? 9. What colour was the water?
A. Boring. A. Green.
B. Ugly. B. Blue.
C. Nice. C. Clear.

142 5. Apart from a tree, what is next to the church? 10. How many things did they eat?
A. A waterfall. A. One.
B. A dam. B. Two.
C. A river. C. Three.

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Reading
A beautiful landscape
Last weekend my brothers and I went to the
countryside for a picnic. We saw a beautiful
landscape - above I have inserted a picture of the
place. The sky looks a bit cloudy, but it was a warm
summer’s day.
You can see a mountain in the background and
a beautiful white church with a red roof in the
foreground. We visited the church, it was very nice
inside, and it had an altar, a lot of paintings and a
mosaic.
In the photograph you can also see a river next to
the church, and a tall green tree on the left. Right
in front of the church, you can see very green
grass, some rocks and some orange flowers.
Vocabulary
Go to the countryside for a picnic: ir a
hacer un picnic
In the background: en el fondo
Roof : tejado
In the foreground: delante
Inside: dentro
On the left: a la izquierda
Right in front of: justo delante de
Rocks: rocas
Behind: detrás
Hills: colinas
Either: tampoco
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You can’t see them in the picture, but there are also
some cows and horses in the countryside around,
because behind one of the hills there is a very big
farmhouse. You can’t see the birds either, but there
are a lot, especially small blue birds that fly around
and then sit on the tree branches.
As it was hot, we decided to swim in the river. In the
picture the water appears to be green but it’s really
crystal clear. We sat on the rocks to dry off after
the swim and then we had lunch. Our lunch was a
delicious meat pie my mother made, some boiled
eggs, and strawberries. After lunch, we cleared
up our picnic and we went back home. It was a
beautiful day and we all enjoyed it a great deal.
Fly around: vuelan por todos los lados
Tree branches: las ramas de los árboles
The water appears to be green: parece verde
It’s really crystal clear: es cristalina
To dry off: secarnos
Meat pie: pastel de carne
Boiled eggs: huevos cocidos
We cleared up our picnic: limpiamos todo
We all enjoyed it a great deal: lo disfrutamos
mucho
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 Grammar
Adjectives
The adjectives describe:

®® People’s appearance: fat/slim, tall/short

®® Age: young/old Adjectives are words that describe
®® Feelings: happy/sad or modify nouns (things).
®® Colours: black, white
®® Size: big/small
®® Shape: square, round
®® Opinion: interesting/boring
®® Etc.

Genre, number
English adjectives don’t have any genre or number:
She is very tall. He is very tall. They are very tall
Ella es muy alta. Él es muy alto. Ellos son muy altos
As you can see, the adjective “tall” doesn’t change.

Order

In Spanish, adjectives usually go after the noun. In English, the adjective goes before the noun.
For example: For example:
La casa verde The green house

Sustantivo + adjetivo Adjective + noun

When there are several adjectives before a noun, the order will be...

Subjective adjectives (opinion) + objective adjectives (noun’s characteristics):

Nice big expensive plastic pen
Beautiful dark Spanish woman
Horrible enormous hairy black spider

Some subjective adjectives are: beautiful, ugly, nice, friendly, smart…

The objective adjectives usually appear in this order:

®® Opinion (how good?): wonderful, nice, great,

awful, terrible…
®® Size (how big?): big, small, huge, great, medium-
sized
®® Most other qualities: quiet, famous, important,
soft, wet, difficult, angry
®® Age (how old?): old, adult, new, young, (also
“little”)
®® Colour: red, yellow, white
®® Origin (where from?): English, Spanish, European
®® Material (made of?): plastic, wooden, woolen,
144 Example:
metallic
®® Type (what kind?): an electric kettle, political
A pair of nice, small, new and grey-metallic glasses
matters, road transport
Unas gafas bonitas, pequeñas, nuevas, grises y de metal
®® Purpose (what for?): a bread knife, a bath towel

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Let’s now look at some examples of adjectives categorized by topics.

Adjectives used to describe appearance

Adjective Spanish Example
beautiful bonito/bello That’s a beautiful house
ugly feo She isn’t that ugly
clean limpio Is the carpet clean?
dirty sucio Your shirt is dirty
handsome guapo (hombres) What a handsome boy!
pretty guapa (mujeres) She is a pretty girl
good-looking guapos (hombre/mujer) They are both good-looking

Adjectives used to describe size

Adjective Spanish Example
big grande It’s a big box
small pequeño/a It’s a small world
little pequeño/a It’s a little dog
huge enorme Those ships are huge
tiny diminuto/a The book is tiny
short corto/a That’s a short song
long largo/a That is a long story
enormous enorme It’s an enormous animal
broad ancho Broadway is a broad street

I can’t afford this ring, it’s too expensive

No me puedo permitir este anillo, es demasiado caro

Adjectives of opinion
Adjective Spanish Example
good bueno/a He isn’t very good
bad malo/a They are very bad
alive vivo/a He’s still alive
dead muerto/a Is she dead?
expensive caro/a It’s an expensive trip
cheap barato/a The present is very cheap
rich rico/a They are rich people
poor pobre They aren’t poor
important importante It’s an important piece of news
useless inútil That’s a useless argument
right correcto/a, adecuado/a Is that right? 145
wrong equivocado/a She is wrong
interesting interesante That’s an interesting film

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 Adjectives used to express negative emotions
Adjective Spanish Example
lazy perezoso/a They are lazy people
angry enfadado/a She is very angry
nervous nervioso/a Why is he nervous?
jealous celoso/a We are jealous
envious envidioso/a She is envious
scary que da miedo That’s a scary story
This cat is very angry because a dog
worried preocupado/a Why is he worried? chased him
embarrassed avergonzado/a They are embarrassed Este gato está muy enfadado porque un
perro le persiguió

Adjectives used to express positive feelings

Adjective Spanish Example
calm calmado/a You have to keep very calm
brave valiente He’s a very brave boy
happy feliz They have a happy life
This excellent scientist is happy proud orgulloso/a We’re very proud
and proud because she’s got the
acknowledgment she deserves glad alegre/contento/a I’m glad to see you

Esta excelente científica está feliz y nice simpático/a/ agradable They are very nice people
orgullosa porque ha conseguido el kind amable She is a kind woman
reconocimiento que merece
excited emocionado/a I’m excited about the trip

Grammar exercises

1. Match an adjective in A with its opposite in B. Check the meaning of new words in your dictionary.
A B
1. Expensive   A. Big
2. Fast   B. Cheap
3. Good   C. Slow
4. Clean   D. Boring
5. Small   E. Bad
6. Safe   F. Unfriendly
7. Quiet   G. Unhealthy
8. Interesting   H. Dangerous
9. Friendly   I. Modern
10. Healthy   J. Noisy
11. Old   K. Dirty

2. Which adjectives describe life in the country? Which describe life in the city? Write them beside the
photograph on the list.

Quiet Noisy

146

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Comparative
Comparative adjectives

When you compare two or more items you use the comparative forms of the adjective + than.

Examples:

The man is old and the boy is young

Old Old + er
than
The man is older than the boy Young Young + er
Adjective Comparative form
The boy is younger than the man

Expensive More expensive than The city is expensive. The country is cheap.

Adjective Comparative form The city is more expensive than the country

Comparative adjectives and its formation

San Francisco is (much/a bit/…) cheaper than London

Comparative adjective + than
San Francisco es mucho más/un poco más barato que Londres
San Francisco is not as expensive as London
(not) as + adjective + as
San Francisco no es tan caro como Londres

Formation: short adjectives (1 or 2 syllables)

1 or 2 syllable adjectives add -er small - smaller

dry - drier
adjectives ending in -y change -y into i before adding -er
happy - happier
adjectives ending in consonant + double the last consonant and big - bigger
vowel + consonant add -er thin - thinner
large - larger
adjectives ending in -e add only -r
nice - nicer

Formation: long adjectives (3 or more syllables)

more expensive
regular adjectives use more + adjective
more comfortable

Irregular adjectives

good/bad better/worse little less

far further much / many more 147

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 Grammar exercise
Make sentences comparing life in the country and city: Is the city cheaper than the country? Is the country
quieter than the city? Use the adjectives from the list: cheap, expensive, etc. Use a dictionary for any doubts.

Superlative
Superlative adjectives

A room at the Ritz Hotel costs 154$ per night

A room at the Palace Hotel costs 115$ per night
A room at the Hilton Hotel costs 175$ per night

The room at the Palace Hotel is the cheapest one

The room at the Hilton Hotel is the most expensive one

cheap the cheap + est (one) expensive the most expensive (one)
adjective the + superlative form Adjective superlative form

Superlative adjectives and its formation

Formation: short adjectives (1 or 2 syllables)

1 or 2 syllable adjectives Add the adj + est rich the richest

easy the easiest

adjectives ending in -y change -y into i before adding -est
early the earliest
adjectives ending in consonant+ double the last consonant and hot the hottest
148 vowel+ consonant add -est fat the fattest
wide the widest
adjectives ending in -e add only -st
larg the largest

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Formation: long adjectives (3 or more syllables)

intelligent the most intelligent

regular adjectives use the most + adjective
interesting the most interesting

Exception: Some two-syllable adjectives form the superlative with the most. For example:

Charles is the most boring person I’ve ever met

Sam is the most famous player in the orchestra

Irregular adjectives

good / bad The best / the worst little The least

far The furthest much / many The most

®® After superlatives, we normally use in before the names of places:

Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world

®® After superlatives, we also use in before singular words for groups of people:
Mr. Phillips is the oldest minister in this government

®® In most other cases, we use of after superlatives:

Ann is the tallest of the three sisters

Compare the photographs of these three houses for sale and the information given.

Flat in Kenston Wren Cottage Oak House

£ 90.000 £ 200.000 £ 140.000
Built in 1960 Built in 1990 Built in 1985
1 bedroom, bathroom, breakfast 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living
room room, breakfast room room
300 miles from the sea Beautiful garden, 30 metres long 100 miles from the sea
30 metres from the town centre 30 miles from sea 100 metres from the centre
1 km from the shops and town next to the park
centre

Practise

Here are some sentences about the houses. Are they true or false? Rewrite the false sentences to make them true.

True False True sentence

The flat is the cheapest  ----------
Oak House is the most modern
Oak House is the biggest 149
The flat is the nearest to the town centre
Wren Cottage is the furthest to the sea

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 Revise some of the commonest adjectives in English and practise with the pronunciation and
common sentences.

Grammar exercises
1. Put the adjectives into the correct word order.

1 The old grey big writing table

2 The Italian young handsome man

3 The blue fountain expensive pen

4 The old English useless dictionary

5 The antique bedside tiny table

6 The ugly wine crystal glasses

7 The summer hot long days

The Scottish broad-shouldered hard-working

8
fisherman

9 The old kind nun

10 The rain dirty old coat

2. Underline the correct answer in each sentence:

Emily is older/the oldest than all of her sisters

Isabella is taller/the tallest person in her family

A. All the girls are nice, but Sylvia is the nicer/the nicest

B. This is the better/best women’s basketball team in the country.

C. Armani’s clothes are more expensive/the most expensive than Zara’s.

D. Ice hockey is a more dangerous/most dangerous sport than tennis.

E. Which is the more/most expensive car? Ferrari or Lexus?

3. Fill in the gaps using the comparative or superlative form of the adjective between brackets.

A. I think Martha is (intelligent) person in our class.

B. My bedroom is (cold) room in the house.

150
C. Computers are much (intelligent) than me.

D. Which is (boring) thing to study?

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Vocabulary
Shapes and textures
English Spanish Example
long largo That’s a very long table - Esa mesa es muy larga
short corto It’s a short day - Es un día corto
soft suave What a soft cushion! - ¡Qué cojín tan suave!
hard duro This armchair is very hard - Este sillón es muy duro
round redondo The Earth is round - La Tierra es redonda
square cuadrado I want a square table for the kitchen - Quiero una mesa cuadrada para la cocina
triangle
triángulo Triangles always have three sides - Los triángulos siempre tienen tres lados
triangular
circle círculo It’s a circle, not a square - Es un círculo, no un cuadrado
wrinkled This paper is completely wrinkled/creased
arrugado
creased Este papel está completamente arrugado
liso, suave
smooth Velvet is a very smooth material - El terciopelo es una tela muy suave
(superficie, piel)
liso / plano
flat These wheels only run on flat surfaces - Estas ruedas son para superficies lisas
(terreno)
straight recto, liso (pelo) My hair is not straight - Mi pelo no es liso
cube cubo The Rubik’s cube is very famous - El cubo Rubik es muy famoso
rectangle rectángulo You have to draw a rectangle - Tienes que dibujar un rectángulo
pyramid pirámide There are many pyramids in Egypt - Hay muchas pirámides en Egipto
hollow hueco That tree is hollow - Ese árbol está hueco

Vocabulary exercise
Translate the following sentences. Look up the words you don’t know in a dictionary.

1 Es una calle muy larga

2 Esta cortina es muy corta

3 Es un triángulo, no un círculo

4 Me gusta el pelo liso

5 Es una superficie plana

6 Sus manos (de él) son muy suaves

7 Las pirámides no están en Europa

8 Es una crema muy suave

9 Su camisa (de él) está arrugada

10 Dibuja un rectángulo
151
11 Esta silla es muy dura

12 Es un cuadrado no un rectángulo

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 Expressions with get
Get + adjective

English Spanish Example

get divorced divorciarse Mary got divorced last year - Mary se divorció el año pasado
Mark got angry when he discovered we had lost his suitcase
get angry enfadarse
Mark se enfadó cuando descubrió que habíamos perdido su maleta
Caroline is getting fit because she wants to run the New York Marathon next year
ponerse en
get fit Caroline se está poniendo en forma porque quiere correr la maratón de Nueva York el
forma
año que viene
get married casarse Dan got married two years ago - Dan se casó hace dos años
We got lost in London because we didn´t have a map
get lost perderse
Nos perdimos en Londres porque no teníamos mapa

Get + comparative

English Spanish Example

get older hacerse mayor Anna is getting older so quick! - ¡Anna se está haciendo mayor tan rápido!

get worse empeorar In Spain, the economy is getting worse - La economía en España está empeorando

get better mejorar Sam is in hospital but he is getting better - Sam está en el hospital pero está mejorando

Get = buy/obtain

English Spanish Example

conseguir un Myles got a job at his girlfriend’s company
get a job
trabajo Myles consiguió trabajo en la empresa de su novia
comprar una I finally got my tickets for the concert!
get a ticket
entrada ¡Por fin compré las entradas para el concierto!
Sam is in hospital but he is getting better
get better mejorar
Sam está en el hospital pero está mejorando

Get + preposition (phrasal verbs)

English Spanish Example

get on (well) Scott doesn’t get on well with his wife so they are getting divorce
llevarse bien
with Scott no se lleva bien con su mujer así que se están divorciando
subirse
Brian couldn’t get on the bus because it was full
get on (autobús, metro,
Brian no pudo subirse al autobús porque iba lleno
tren, avión)
We got into the taxi at Oxford Street
get into subirse (coche)
152 Nos subimos al taxi en la calle Oxford
I get up very early because I go to the gym before going to work
get up levantarse
Me levanto muy pronto porque voy al gimnasio antes de ir a trabajar

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Get = arrive

English Spanish Example

Anna got to work late because there was a traffic jam
get to work llegar al trabajo
Ana llegó tarde a trabajar porque había un atasco
It takes me an hour to get home
get home llegar a casa
Tardo una hora en llegar a casa

Get = receive

English Spanish Example

recibir la After two months, I finally got my salary yesterday
get a salary
nómina/paga Después de dos meses, finalmente ayer recibí la nómina/paga
recibir una Sally got a letter from her brother in the USA
get a letter
carta Sally recibió una carta de su hermano en Estados Unidos
Caroline got a present for her birthday
get a present recibir un regalo
Caroline recibió un regalo por su cumpleaños
Nikky got an email from her teacher
get an email recibir un email
Nikky recibió un email de su profesora

Vocabulary exercise
Fill in the gaps with get + an expression from the box.

Be careful with the tenses.

a taxi his e-mail dark ready lost

a good salary some milk married angry nervous

A. Mark wrote to you last month. Did you ?

B. Samantha has got a very important job. She .

C. I don´t want to walk. I´m really tired. Let’s .

D. If you go out, can you ?

E. My brother last month. His wife’s name is Andrea.

F. It´s . It´s time to go.

G. We were trying to find your house but we .

H. “What is Sally doing?” “She’s to leave”.

153
I. Why did Mark with Scott? It was Mark’s fault.

J. People before exams.

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 Writing & recording
Describe an object
1. Choose an object from this picture and describe it. Use different adjectives to describe colour (black, white,
yellow…), shape (round, square…) and size (big, small…). Check the example and change what you think is
appropriate.

My diary
I have a diary that I use for writing down notes
and appointments.
It’s made of cardboard and paper.
It is rectangular.
Its hard covers are red.
Its dimensions are: 20cm high and 10 cm wide
(height, width, length).
Its covers are hard and very smooth. The paper
is yellowish in colour.
It’s very handy/useful.

Title:
Vocabulary
I have a that I use for
It’s made of Writing down: apuntar
It is (in shape) Appointments: citas
Cardboard: cartón
Its is/are
Hard covers: tapas duras
Its dimensions are:
Yellowish: amarillento
It’s good/useful for Useful: útil
It can

2. Now, you need to record yourself using the expressions and grammar learnt from this and previous units.

Quiz
Listening quiz: description

Listen to the description and then choose the best answer. 7. What is the house made of?
A. Wood and concrete.
B. Wood and stone.
1. What window are they looking 4. What colour is the beach? C. Wood.
through? A. Black.
A. Kitchen. B. White. 8. What colour is the house?
B. Bedroom. C. Yellow. A. Grey.
C. Living room. B. Brown.
5. What is the oldest tree in the C. White.
2. What size is the window? garden?
A. Big. A. An apple tree. 9. How many chairs are there outside?
B. Medium. B. A pear tree. A. Four.
C. Small. C. An orange tree. B. Six.
C. Eight.
3. The person can see the beach and 6. What is under the fruit trees?
154 what else? A. Strawberries. 10. When do they use the fire-place?
A. Mountains. B. Blueberries. A. In summer.
B. Lakes. C. Cherries. B. In winter.
C. Garden. C. In summer and winter.

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