Grammar-A1_4-present-continuous

Grammar A1 comparative & superlative adjectives

Recommended for:

Gold Experience

Focus

High Note

2019

Comparative and superlative adjectives

Let’s look at:

• When we use comparative and superlative adjectives.
• How we make comparative adjectives.
• How we make superlative adjectives.

When do we use them?

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Function: When do we use comparative adjectives?

My sister’s dog is bigger than my dog. My dog is more intelligent. Its hair is shorter and curlier, and it is friendlier than her dog. In my opinion, my dog is better than my sister’s!

Which picture is correct?

A.

My dog My sister’s dog

B.

My dog My sister’s dog

A.

Comparing them.

Is she describing the dogs or comparing them?

Two dogs: her dog and her sister’s dog.

Six.

Look at what the woman says: ‘ My dog is better than my sister’s dog.’ Is she talking about one or two dogs?

How many examples of comparing can you find in the conversation?

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Function: When do we use comparative and superlative adjectives?

1. Comparative adjectives: to compare two people, things or places.

My dog is better than my sister’s!

My sister’s dog is bigger than my dog.

Here are the two objects

Its hair is shorter and curlier.

My dog is more intelligent.

In these two examples, we don’t need to mention both objects because we know we are talking about the two dogs.

Its hair is shorter and curlier (than my sister’s dog’s hair).

My dog is more intelligent (than my sister’s dog).

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Function: When do we use superlative adjectives?

My family has a lot of animals, but my cat is the best! He is the smallest animal in the house, but he is the happiest! He has the biggest personality and is the most intelligent.

Look! Comparatives and superlatives are different.

Comparative: compares two objects .

My dog is more intelligent than her dog.

Superlative: compares one object to a group of objects.

My cat is the best (animal in the house).

Look at what the man says: ‘ My cat is the smallest animal in the house.’ Is he comparing his cat to one other animal or all the animals in the house?

How many examples of superlative adjectives can you find in what the man says?

All the animals (a group of animals).

Five.

Let’s see where they are…

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Function: When do we use comparative and superlative adjectives?

1. Comparative adjectives: to compare two people, things or places.

My dog is better than my sister’s!

My sister’s dog is bigger than my dog.

Here are the two objects

Its hair is shorter and curlier.

My dog is more intelligent.

In these two examples, we don’t need to mention both objects because we know we are talking about the two dogs.

Its hair is shorter and curlier (than my sister’s dog’s hair).

My dog is more intelligent (than my sister’s dog).

2. Superlative adjectives: to compare one person, thing, etc. to a group.

He is the happiest!

My cat is the best!

Here, the man is comparing one animal to all the animals in the house ( a group of animals).

How do we make comparative adjectives?

He is the smallest animal in the house.

He is the most intelligent.

He has the biggest personality.

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Form: How do we make comparative adjectives?

My sister’s dog is bigger than my dog. My dog is more intelligent. Its hair is shorter and curlier, and it is friendlier than her dog. In my opinion, my dog is better than my sister’s!

Look at what the woman says again and use the examples to complete the table below. The first one is done for you.

types of adjectives

comparative adjectives

short adjectives (one syllable)

one syllable adjectives ending in a vowel and then a consonant

two syllable adjectives ending in

- y

long adjectives (more than two syllables)

irregular adjectives

shorter (short)

Now look at the rules and add them to the table. The first one is done for you.

bigger (big)

friendlier (friendly)

double consonant + - er

more intelligent

better (good)

no rule

+ - er

more + adjective

delete - y + - ier

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Form: How do we make comparative and superlative adjectives?

types of adjectives

comparative adjectives

short adjectives (one syllable)

one syllable adjectives ending in a vowel and then a consonant

shorter (short)

+ - er

bigger (big)

two syllable a djectives ending in

long adjectives (more than two syllables)

double consonant + - er

- y

friendlier (friendly)

more intelligent (intelligent)

irregular adjectives

delete - y + - ier

better (good)

more + adjective

no rule

worse (bad)

further (far)

We use the comparative adjectives + than to compare two objects, people or places. Look…

My sister’s dog is bigger than my dog.

My dog is more intelligent than my sister’s dog.

Here are some other examples of irregular comparative adjectives.

comparative adjective + than …

e.g. My sister’s dog is bigger than my dog.

How do we make superlative adjectives?

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Form: How do we make superlative adjectives?

My family has a lot of animals, but my cat is the best! He is the smallest animal in the house, but he is the happiest! He has the biggest personality and is the most intelligent.

Look at the conversation again and use the examples to complete the table below. One example is done for you.

types of adjectives

superlative adjectives

short adjectives (one syllable)

one syllable adjectives ending in a vowel and then a consonant

two syllable adjectives ending in

the happiest (happy)

long adjectives (more than two syllables)

- y

irregular adjectives

the smallest (small)

Now look at the rules and add them to the table. The first one is done for you.

the biggest (big)

the + double consonant + - est

the most intelligent

the best (good)

no rule

the + - est

the most + adjective

the + delete - y + - iest

Copyright © 2019 by Pearson Education      Gold Experience | Focus | High Note

Form: How do we make comparative and superlative adjectives?

Don’t forget the!

types of adjectives

comparative adjectives

short adjectives (one syllable)

shorter (short)

one syllable adjectives ending in a vowel and then a consonant

+ - er

bigger (big)

superlative adjectives

two syllable adjectives ending in

the smallest (small)

long adjectives (more than two syllables)

double consonant + - er

- y

friendlier (friendly)

more intelligent (intelligent)

delete - y + - ier

the + - est

the biggest (big)

irregular adjectives

the happiest (happy)

more + adjective

the + double consonant + - est

better (good)

the + delete - y +

the most intelligent (intelligent)

worse (bad)

no rule

the most + adjective

- est

the best (good)

further (far)

the worst (bad)

no rule

the furthest (far)

We often use expressions like in the world, in the school, in the class, in the shop with superlative structures.

The rules are very similar for both.

comparative adjective + than …

e.g. My sister’s dog is bigger than my dog.

Let’s practise!

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Practice activities

Complete the gaps using comparative adjectives. Use the adjectives in brackets.

• My house is………………………..(beautiful) than my best friend’s house.

• Emily’s hair is…………………………(curly) than her brother’s hair.

• His dog is………………………………..(thin) than your dog.

• Trevor and George are……………………………..(interesting) than our other neighbours.

more beautiful

curlier

thinner

more interesting

Complete the gaps using superlative adjectives. Use the adjectives in brackets.

• Berlin is………………………………….(good) city in the world.

• That film was………………………………(bad) – so boring!

• My friends are……………………………….(funny) people in the world.

• This is……………………………………………(expensive) coat in the shop.

the best

the worst

the funniest

the most expensive

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