UPPER-INTERMEDIATE LEVEL GRAMMAR REVISION

COMPARATIVES

Part 1: Fill in the blanks with the appropriate comparative adverb from the box

half as much as by far barely

slightly a bit considerably hardly

Weddings are hard to plan because they require the collaboration of many people, and usually the
bride and the groom go through a lot of stress during the preparations. You believe that you have
planned everything but even if you are an amazing planner, things may not go according to plan
sometimes. You may expect 100 people to come but when only 50 people show up the crowd
will be 1.________________ you expected. In other cases the opposite happens and the crowd
becomes more than initially expected. A huge sum of money needs to be kept aside, especially in
Turkey. Traditional Turkish families usually want a big wedding and they even organize two
different weddings at different cities so that both families’ relatives can attend the wedding.

Most of the time the groom is 2.________________ happier than the bride; both of them go
under a lot of stress. Some people think the groom is a little happier than the bride because the
bride has more things to worry about.

The parents tend to interfere in the decision making process but it is best if they leave everything
to the bride and the groom. There is a generation gap and the parents are 3. ________________
more old-fashioned than their children. I have been to many weddings, I started attending them
when I was a child. However, I wish my parents hadn’t taken me to weddings back then. A
wedding is not a suitable place for children which is why I agree with people who type the
following note on their invitation: “We are sorry we are unable to accommodate children”. Some
people get very angry at this and do not attend a wedding just because children are not allowed,
or some ignore the message and bring their kids anyway! We need to be understanding of the
decisions of the future husband and wife. As I said previously, I have attended and seen a lot of
weddings. The one of Princess Kate and Prince William was 4. ________________ the best of
them all because it was the most elegant one. Kate’s wedding gown was beautiful and the
ceremony was simple. I wish all weddings are simple and elegant but it doesn’t even matter,
because I think any wedding is 5. ________________ better than the others. They are all pretty
same.

Part 2: Below is the chart to define and exemplify some comparative adverbs.

MEANING EXAMPLE SENTENCE

Half as much as The size, amount, or quality of one This dress costs half as much as this one.
thing is half or nearly half that of
another
A bit Somewhat, rather The play was a bit more boring than the
other one.

Considerably…er Large in extent or degree It was considerably better than the

previous one.

Barely…er Not quite His IQ score is 100 while mine is 98. He

is barely smarter than me.

Slightly…er Somewhat, rather His health is slightly better than last year.

Hardly Almost not This dress is hardly better than the other
one, both of them are out of fashion.

By far By a great amount This is by far the best birthday I’ve ever
had.

Part 3: Use the information given to write a sentence with the comparative adverbs.
 1. Jef Bezos’ wealth is approximately 114 Billion and Mark Zuckerberg’s wealth is
approximately 69.3 Billion.

__________________________________________________________(considerably)

2. They expected much better results but sales rose only 0.3 percent.

The results were ________________________________________________. (slightly…er)

3. One portion of bananas is 60 calories whereas one portion of plums is 30 calories.

___________________________________________________________. (half as much as)

4. Mount Everest is 29.000 meters high and Makalu is almost 28.000 meters high.

________________________________________________________________(barely…er)

5. Some of them want to move away from the academic environment but the situation may
not be so good if they do so.

For people who ________________________, the situation is ___________________________.

(hardly…er)

6. America has experienced the worst hurricane season this year.

It ______________________________________________________________(by far)

7. Jennifer Lopez is 49 years old and surprisingly Salma Hayek is 52 years old.

__________________________________________________________________. (a bit)

Now rewrite these sentences so they mean the same thing, using the word in
brackets ().

She's not nearly as good at cooking as you.

You are cooking than her. (MUCH)

1. Fast food isn't nearly as healthy as fruit.

Fruit is fast food. (FAR)

2. My book is a bit more interesting than yours.

Your book isn't mine. (QUITE)

3. She's much better than all the other singers in the world.

She's singer in the world. (BY)

4. My computer is a lot newer than yours.

Your computer is mine. (MUCH)

5. It's not quite as sunny today as it was yesterday.

Yesterday was today. (BIT)