Comparative

A. SITUATION

They are carrying a chair heavy.

→ They are carrying a heavy chair.

Her house is more larger than my house.
→ Her house is larger than my house.
I. Adjectives

 Adjectives describe nouns. Adjectives give us more

information about a noun.
 For example:
They are carrying a heavy chair.
Positions of adjectives

There is a small dog in the Before a noun

garden.

Jane is feeling cold. After linking verbs

(become, feel, get, look,
seem, …)

The weather is nice today. After to be

B. Adverbs

 An adverb is a word that describes a verb, an adjective or

another adverb
 Adverbs tell you how something happens or how somebody
does something.
 For example:
She speaks slowly.
 Adverb formation
• Adjective + -ly adverb

Adjective quick bad sudden careful

Adverb quickly badly suddenly carefully
 Positions of Adverbs: Adverbs of manner

He drove carefully.
These adverbs (e.g.: slowly, carefully, awfully) are put behind the direct object (or behind
the verb if there is no direct object).

Subject verb object adverb

He drove the car carefully.

He drove carefully.
C. Comparative adjectives

Her house is larger than my house.

Subject + to be + Adj_er + than + Noun
C. Comparative adjectives
$15 $200.000
million

Her house is more expensive than my house.

Subject + to be + more + Adj + than + Noun
C. Comparative

If the word has more than two syllables, you add MORE

Adjective Comparative

intelligent more intelligent

successful more successful

C. Comparative adjectives
 One syllable:
• We add –er (clean→cleaner)
• With suffix –e: we add –r (simple→simpler)
• Adjectives ending with one vowel and one consonant: we double the final
consonant before adding –er (big→bigger) Two syllables (with suffix –y):
 Adjectives ending in –y: change to –i and add –er (friendly→friendlier)
 Two syllables (without suffix –y) or more syllables:
more + adjective (beautiful→more beautiful)
C. Comparative adjectives
IRREGULAR FORM

Adjective Comparative

good better

bad worse

far Farther/ further

much more

A little less
D. Comparative adverbs
• The comparative form of an adverb compares two actions.

He runs faster than I do.

SA + VA + adv_er + than + SB + VB

more + adv + than

D. Comparative adverbs
If the word has one syllable, just add –er to the end

Adverb Comparative

hard harder

fast faster

late later

high higher
D. Comparative adverbs
If the word has more than two syllables, you add MORE

Adverb Comparative

carefully more carefully

happily more happily

E. Comparison of equality

 We use as + adjective/adverb + as to make comparisons when

the things we are comparing are equal in some way:

She is as tall as her brother.

E. Comparison of equality
 We use not as … as to make comparisons between things which aren’t equal:

He’s
She’s 56. 63.

She’s old, but she’s not as old as he is.

(~ He is older than her)
Practice

19.1 Which is right?

1. Can you speak slow/slowly, please?

2. Come on, Dave! Why are you always so slow/slowly?

3. Sam is a very careful/carefully driver.

4. ‘Where’s Anna?’ ‘She was here, but she left sudden/suddenly.’

5. Please be quiet/quietly. I’m working.

Practice
19.2 Write the comparative.
1. old older
______________
2. nice nicer
______________
3. slow slower
______________
4. late later
______________
5. cheap cheaper
______________
6. big bigger
______________
7. hot hotter
______________
8. thin thinner
______________
Practice
19.3 Complete the sentences. Use a comparative.
quicker
1. Writing an email is (quick) ____________ than writing a letter.
longer
2. A novel is always (long) ____________ than a short story.
shorter
3. An SMS is usually (short)____________ than an email.
hotter
4. I prefer (hot) ____________ temperatures. That’s why I love
summer.
smaller
5. My old laptop was a lot (small) ____________ than my new one.
Practice
19.4 Complete the sentences. Use a comparative.
more boring (boring) than the second one. I don’t
1. The first movie is ____________
remember it.
more important (important) than money.
2. Love is ______________
more useful (useful) than a hammer?
3. Do you think a screwdriver is ____________
more dangerous (dangerous) than driving in my city.
4. Driving in this city is ______________
more popular (popular) than handball.
5. Football is ____________
 Practice
19.4 Complete the sentences. Use a comparative.

6. better than a holiday in the mountains.

A holiday by the sea is (good)____________

7. worse than last summer.

The weather this summer is even (bad) ____________

8. less
We find that we have (little) ____________time to relax now that we have
children.

9. easier than it was 50 years ago.

Communication these days is a lot (easy) ____________

10. farther/further than

My new school is a little (far) _______________________ my old one.
Practice
19.5 Write the comparative.

1. rapidly
more rapidly
________________ 4. carefully _________________

2. quickly more quickly

________________ 5. importantly ________________

3. hard harder
___________
more carefully

more importantly
 Practice
19.6 Complete the sentences. Use a comparative.

1. harder
Now that Gerry’s a manager, he works a lot (hard) ____________ than he used to.
2. longer
Non-smokers usually live (long) ____________than smokers.
3. faster
Mary can run (fast) ____________ than Jane.
4. more accurately than
My new watch can keep time (accurately) ______________________my old watch.
5. more quietly please – I’m trying to work.
Can you talk (quietly)____________,
6. more carefully
After the accident, he drives (carefully)__________________ now.
7. more recently
This house was constructed (recently) ________________ than the one across the street.
8. more effectively
This course teaches you how to manage your time (effectively) ______________.
Practice
19.7 Use either as … as or not as … as in the sentences below.

1. as good as
This drawing is _______________ the other one. (good)

2. as optimistic as Peter. (optimistic)

Tom is _______________

3. not as windy as it was yesterday. (not/windy)

Today it’s _______________

4. not as heavy as the other material. (not/heavy)

This material is _______________

5. as much money as you do. (much/money)

I earn _______________

6. as polite as
She is _______________ her friends. (polite)
19.8 Translate these sentences

1. Trung Quố c lớ n hơn nướ c Anh.

China is bigger than the UK.
2. Nhà củ a tô i nhỏ hơn nhà củ a cô ấy.
My house is smaller than her house.
3. Con đườ ng này hẹp hơn con đườ ng kia.
This road is narrower/more narrow than that road.
4. Thá ng hai có ít ngày hơn thá ng ba.
February has fewer days than March.
5. Cá sấ u nguy hiểm hơn cá heo.
Crocodiles are more dangerous than dolphins.
19.8 Translate these sentences
6. Ô nhiễ m mô i trườ ng trong thà nh phố củ a tô i tệ hơn so vớ i trướ c đây.
The pollution in my city is worse than it used to be.
7. Bạ n có nghĩ tiề n quan trọ ng hơn sứ c khỏ e tố t?
Do you think money is more important than good health?
8. Nhiều ngườ i nghĩ rằ ng cuộ c số ng hiện đạ i tố t hơn cuộ c số ng trong quá khứ .
Many people think modern life is better than life in the past.
9. Cá i lò nướ ng mớ i củ a tô i hoạ t độ ng tố t hơn lò nướ ng cũ .
My new oven works better than my old one.
10. Brad gõ máy tính nhanh hơn Lynn.
Brad types more quickly than Lynn.
19.10 Put the words in order to make
sentences.
1. more / notebooks / than / desktop computers / are / expensive /
→ Notebooks are a bit more expensive than desktop computers.
2. aren't / as / expensive / nearly / as / youth hostels / hotels.
→ Youth hostels aren’t nearly as expensive as hotels.
3. a / easier / to learn / Chinese / English / is / lot / than.
→ English is a lot easier to learn than Chinese.
4. a / more / for / long / trains / are / bit / comfortable / journeys /
than / buses
→ Trains are a bit more comfortable than buses for long
journeys.
19.10 Put the words in order to make
sentences.
5. think / is / quite / as / physics / I / don’t / chemistry / as /
difficult
→ I don’t think chemistry is quite as difficult as physics.
6. planes / much / safer / according / to / statistics / are / than /
cars
→ According to statistics, planes are much safer than cars.
7. is / warming / up / lot / than / the / climate / a / faster /
people / think
→ The climate is warming up a lot faster than people think.
19.9 Write the opposites using the
adjectives in the box.

cooler
noisier narrower
cleaner sadder
more beautiful slower
more interesting cheaper

lighter more dangerous

19.11 Complete the second sentence
using the word in brackets.
1. Cycling is faster than walking. (as)
→ Walking isn’t as fast as cycling.
2. iPods are more fashionable than other types of mp3 players.
(as)
→ Other types of mp3 players aren’t as fashionable as iPods.
3. Motorcycle racing isn’t quite as exciting as Formula 1. (slightly)
→ Formula 1 is slightly more exciting than motorcycle racing.
4. Health is a lot more important than money. (nearly)
→ Money isn’t nearly as important as health.
19.11 Complete the second sentence
using the word in brackets.
5. This year’s course isn’t nearly as easy as last year’s. (much)
→ Last year’s course is much easier than this year’s.
6. This computer is much faster than the old one. (a lot)
→ The old computer is a lot slower than this one.
7. It isn’t quite as hot today as yesterday. (almost)
→ It is almost cooler today than yesterday.
8.Today’s exam was much shorter than yesterday’s. (a lot)
→ Yesterday’s exam was a lot longer than today’s.
HOMEWORK: write a sentence with the word
given using comparatives

 Famous  Soon
 Interesting  Clearly
 Noisy  Frequently
 Healthy  Impressively
 Shiny  Neatly