UNIT 8. Comparing Things

We use the comparative to compare one person or thing with another. We use the superlative to compare one person or thing with more than one person or thing of the same group. We often use than after a comparative and the before a superlative. After superlatives we use in with places. She is younger than me. She's the youngest person in the room, but This is the happiest day of my life.

Formation of comparatives and superlatives from adjectives and adverbs:

· with one-syllable adjectives, we add -(e)r to form the comparative and -(e)st to form the superlative, large-larger-largest

Note: for one-syllable adjectives ending in a vowel + a consonant, we double the consonant:

big-bigger-biggest

· with two-syllable adjectives ending in -ly, -y, -w, we also add -er/-est. narrow - narrower - narrowest

Note: for adjectives ending in a consonant + y we replace the -y with an -i. heavy-heavier-heaviest

· with other two-syllable adjectives or adjectives with more than two syllables, comparatives and superlatives are formed with more/most. intelligent- more intelligent - most intelligent

Note: clever, common, cruel, friendly, gentle, pleasant, polite, shallow, simple, stupid, quiet can form their comparatives and superlatives either with -er/-est or with more/most:

clever - cleverer/ more clever - cleverest/most clever

Types of comparisons:

· As + adjective +as to show that two people or things are similar in some way. In negative sentences we use not as/so... as. The blue dress is as beautiful as the red one.

· Less + adjective + than expresses the difference between two people or things. The opposite is more … than. Comedies less interesting than thrillers.

· The least + adjective + of/in compares one person or thing to two or more people or things in the same group. The opposite is most... of/in. Claire is the least ambitious person in the company.

· Much/a lot/far/a little/a bit/slightly + comparative expresses the degree of difference between two people or things. Brian is slightly taller than Bill.

· Comparative + and + comparative to show that something is increasing or decreasing. The Earth gets warmer and warmer.

· The + comparative..., the + comparative shows that two things change together, or that one thing depends on another thing. The harder she studies, the more easily she'll pass the exam.

· by far + the + superlative emphasises the difference between one person or thing and two or more people or things in the same group. Fred is by far the best student in the class.

Grammar extra: Comparing nouns

We can compare how similar things are using like, the same (as), similar to:

Older athletes can achieve the same degree of physical improvement as those in their twenties and thirties.

He swims like a fish.

This film is similar to this director's last one.