Comparative and superlative adjectives

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Comparative and superlative adjectives
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When do we use comparative and superlative
adjectives?
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We often compare people, things or places using
the comparative or superlative form of an
adjective.
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We use comparative adjectives to compare two
(groups of) people, things or places.
Two IFC is taller than One IFC. This watch is
more attractive than that watch. These new shoes
are less comfortable than my old ones.
When do we use more or less to form comparative
adjectives?
We use more or less to form comparative
adjectives when the adjective has three or more
syllables, e.g. more beautiful.
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We form other comparative adjectives like this.
with most short adjectives
with short adjectives ending in a consonant y
with short adjectives ending in e
with short adjectives ending in a vowel a
consonant
er
y ier
double the consonant er
r
large ? larger
pretty ? prettier
big ? bigger
long ? longer
easy ? easier
fat ? fatter
safe ? safer
cheap ? cheaper
lazy ? lazier
wide ? wider
new ? newer
hot ? hotter
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Note
For some adjectives, we have to change the word
completely.
better
good
worse
bad
farther / further
far
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We use superlative adjectives to compare three or
more (groups of) people, things or places.
These sports shorts are the smallest size. What
is the most popular mobile phone model this
year? This is the least expensive car Ive ever
seen.
We use the most or the least to form superlative
adjectives when the adjective has three or more
syllables, e.g. the most beautiful.
When do we use the most or the least to form
superlative adjectives?
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We form other superlative adjectives like this.
with short adjectives ending in e
with short adjectives ending in a consonant y
with most short adjectives
with short adjectives ending in a vowel a
consonant
the est
the y iest
the st
the double the consonant est
long the longest
pretty the prettiest
big the biggest
large the largest
?
?
?
?
fat the fattest
easy the easiest
?
cheap the cheapest
safe the safest
?
?
?
new the newest
wide the widest
lazy the laziest
hot the hottest
?
?
?
?
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Note
For some adjectives, we have to change the word
completely.
the best
good
the worst
bad
far
the farthest / the furthest
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Practice
Complete the online conversation.
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Conversation Danny, Steve
ltDannygt Steve, my parents are letting me choose
between the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 and the
Wii for my birthday! ltStevegt Thats great! Which
one are you getting? ltDannygt Im not sure. Since
you know a lot about the three of them, which do
you think is one to get?
ltStevegt Well, the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation
3 both use very expensive technology, so theyre
the Wii and their games
look the
others. If you dont want your parents to spend
so much money, the Wii is machine
and its games are also really fun.
good
the best
powerful
more powerful than
nice
nicer than
cheap
the cheapest
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Conversation Danny, Steve
ltDannygt Of the three choices, is the Wii
to use? I want my parents to share the fun, but
theyre not very good with machines. ltStevegt Yes,
the Wii is very simple to use. If you like
having lots of choices though, the Xbox 360 has
number of games. ltDannygt Whys
that? ltStevegt It was sold a year the
others, so there has been lots of time to make
games for it. Then again, since the PlayStation 2
has been choice for a
long time, the PlayStation 3 should have lots of
games in the future. ltDannygt Thanks Steve!
Youve helped me make up my mind!
easy
the easiest
big
the biggest
early
earlier than
popular
the most popular
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The end