Comparatives

ACTIVITY 7
NEW CULTURES
Complete the chart with the comparative forms.

Adjective Comparative
Remember!!!
cold Colder than
Short adjectives + -er: cold – colder
big Bigger than Short adjectives ending in one consonant
difficult More difficult than double the last letter +
bad Worse than -er: big – bigger
dry Drier than Long adjectives (more than two syllables):
early Earlier than more + adjective: more expensive
good Better than Be careful of irregular adjectives
high Higher than e.g. good, bad
hot Hotter than
long Longer than
popular More popular than
rain Rainer than
sunny Sunnier than
wet Wetter than

Complete the sentences with the comparative form of the adjectives in brackets.
 Britain is hotter (hot) now than at any time before.
 It’s usually foggier (foggy) in autumn than in summer.
 Places that are sunny are more popular (popular) than places where it rains a lot.
 I think the weather is worse (bad) than ten years ago.
 India is sunnier (sunny) than Britain, but it is also wetter (wet)
 The sea is getting higher (high).
 Summer is shorter (short) now than 25 years ago.

Circle the correct word.

 It’s hoter / hotter in July than inSeptember.
 The weather is badder / worse in London than in my city.
 I think it’s more beautiful / beautifuler when it rains.
 Is it drier / more dry now in the summer?
 I think summer is getting shorter / more short.
 It’s always raining so it’s weter / wetter than before.
Superlative adjectives
Complete the chart with the superlative forms.

Adjective Superlative form Remember

Bad The worst Short adjectives + est: tall – tallest

Beautiful The most beautiful Short adjectives ending in one consonant
Big The biggest double last letter + est: hot – hottest

Dangerous The most dangerous Long adjectives (more than 2 syllables) = most

Difficult The more difficult + adjective: most amazing

Fast The fastest Be careful of irregular adjectives e.g. good.

Friendly The friendliest/the
most friendly
Good The best
Intelligent The most intelligent
Loud The loudest
Popular The most popular
Slow The slowest
Small The smallest
Strange The strangest
Ugly The ugliest

Write sentences about the animals using theprompts.

 tortoise / slow The tortoise is the slowest.
 blue whale / big the blue whale is the biggest
 cheetah / fast the cheetah is the fastest
 mosquito / dangerous Mosquito is the most dangerous
 cat / friendly cat is the most friendly/the friendliest
 hippo / ugly hippo is the ugliest
 dolphin / intelligent dolphin is the most intelligent
 parrot / loud parrot is the loudest

Complete the dialogue with the superlative form of the adjectives in brackets

Katya: Wow! This is a really difficult quiz.

Emily: Yes, but I really want to win.
Katya: Okay, let’s look at the next question. What’s the biggest (big) animal in the world?
Emily: The elephant.
Katya: No, it isn’t. I think it’s the blue whale.
Emily: Yes, you’re right. And the fastest (fast) animal is the cheetah.
Katya: Question 3. Is the Indian cobra the most dangerous (Dangerous) animal in the world?
Emily: No, it isn’t. Mosquitoes are, because their bite can give you malaria.
Katya: What about this question? What is the tallest (tall) animal?
Emily: Oh! That’s easy, the giraffe.
Katya: Of course.
Emily: Okay, here’s the last question. What is the loudest (loud) animal?
Katya: Wow! That’s the more difficult (difficult) question. I don’t know the answer to it.
You will learn how to:
 To talk about the news
 To describe a movie
GUIDE NUMBER 7
NEW CULTURES
READING

Read the interview to Mary Brian, a person who has lived in Australia and United States, next
answer the questions:
Reporter: Mary, please tell us what you think about Australia and The United States.
Mary: Well, they are really nice countries and I love both of them. They are quite different,
though.
Reporter: Tell us about those differences.
Mary: For starters, the US is larger than Australia and there are more people there than in
Australia.
Reporter: What about the food?
Mary: I love Australian food, especially Cabanossi; it is a type of sausage. Food in Australia is
more traditional and spicier than in the States.
Reporter: I’ve heard that Americans drive faster than Australians.
Mary: Yeah, that’s right. Roads in the US are usually safer and bigger than in Australia so people
can drive faster.
Reporter: Is it true that people in Australia are taller and thinner than in the US?
Mary: I don’t know. Probably you are right, but I am not sure.
Reporter: Finally, let’s talk about men.
Mary: Men are most of the times more handsome in Australia. However, my husband is
American and he is pretty attractive.
Reporter: Thank you Mary for your time.

1. Does Mary think Australia and The United States are very similar?
No, she doesn’t
2. What’s the different between Australian and American food?
Food in Australia is more traditional and spicier than in the States.

GRAMMAR

Rules for using comparatives and superlatives

adjectives:
 Almost all the adjectives add the letters “ER” or
“EST” for comparatives o superlatives.
 When the adjective end in the letter “E” only
add “R” or “ST” and normally the Superlatives
use the word “THE” before the adjective.
Now double the consonant if the adjective has only one syllable finishing in a consonant and
one vowel.

ADJECTIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE

hot Hotter than The hottest
fat Fatter than The fastest
sad Sadder than The saddest

For the adjectives which finish in “W”, “X” add “ER” and “EST” to the comparatives and
superlatives respectively.
ADJECTIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
low Lower than The lowest
new Newer than The newest
slow Slower than The slowest

For the adjectives which finish in “Y” add “ER and “EST” for the comparatives and superlatives
respectively and the “Y” has to change to “i”.
ADJECTIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
busy Busier than The busiest
early Earlier than The earliest
noisy Noisier than The noisiest

For all the adjectives that have more than two syllables add “MORE” and “THE MOST” to the
comparatives and superlatives respectively.
ADJECTIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
Difficult More difficult than The most difficult
Polluted More polluted than The most polluted
important More important than The most important

There are some adjectives that are irregular for comparatives and superlatives.
ADJECTIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
Good Better than The best
Bad Worse than The worst
Far Further than The furthest

Now according to the rules read the text again and write the sentences in COMPARATIVES:
1. the US is larger than Australia
2. Food in Australia is more traditional and spicier than in the States.
3. Americans drive faster than Australians
4. Roads in the US are usually safer and bigger than in Australia
5. people in Australia are taller and thinner than in the US
6. Men are most of the times more handsome in Australia
Write the comparative and superlative forms of the adverbs below.
Example:. COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
fast faster the fastest
1. hard harder the hardest
2. carefully more carefully most carefully
3. early earlier the earliest
4. quickly more quickly the most quickly
5. slowly more slowly the most slowly
6. beautifully more beautifully the most beautifully
7. well better than the best
8. clearly more clearly the most clearly
9. late later than the latest
10. far further than the furthest
11. badly more badly the most badly
12. fluently more fluently the most fluently

Complete the following sentences with the correct form (comparative or superlative) of the
adverb provided.
1. I drive more carefully (carefully) than my husband.
2. Angela works harder (hard) than I do, but our secretary works the hardest (hard) of all of
us.
3. Anita sings the most beautifully (beautifully) of all the people in the choir.
4. Our teacher explains the lessons more clearly (clearly) than your teacher.
5. Robert arrived at the meeting earlier (early) than Francis.
6. Ken arrived the earliest (early) of them all.
7. Teenagers usually drive faster (fast) than their parents.
8. My daughter cooks better than (well) than I do, but my husband cooks the best (well) of
all of us.
9. Rene speaks the most fluently (fluently) of all the ESL students in the class.
10. The teacher arrived later (late) than the students.

Write the sentences in the correct order:

a. taller / than / Gary / Rick / is. Gary is taller than Rick.
b. trousers / John / got / has / new / light. John has got new light trousers
c. Mary / clothes / likes / bigger Mary likes bigger clothes
d. an / expensive / Rick / wearing / coat / is Rick is wearing an expensive coat
e. the / Carol / has / scarf / got / shortest Carol has got the shortest scarf
f. the / student / he / tallest / is He is the tallest student
g. actress / Mary / the / was / popular / most Mary was the most popular actress
h. He / the / was / footballer / best He was the best footballer
i. plays / than / better / you / Mary Mary plays better than you
j. father / is / your / than / stronger / mine Your father is stronger than mine