Sébastien Mourot (seb_mourot@hotmail.com)
Introduction
- Comparative or Superlative ?
- We use a comparative
to compare one person, thing, action, or group with another
person, thing etc.
- We use a superlative
to compare one person, thing,... with the whole group that he/she/it
belongs to.
Ex : Mary is taller than
her three sisters. Mary is the tallest of the four girls.
I
- HOW TO BUILD A COMPARATIVE ?
3 cases :
|
-er
|
Short adjectives (one-syllable adjectives)
Hard è harder ; cheap è cheaper
Two-syllable
adjectives, especially those ending in -y
Lucky è Luckier ; Quiet è Quieter ; Simple è Simpler
|
|
More & Less
|
Some two-syllable adjectives & Longer
adjectives
More
modern ; more expensive
Adverbs that
end in -ly
More
seriously ; more slowly
excepted early,
fast, hard, late, near, sonn
earlier,
faster, harder, later, nearer,
sooner
|
|
Irreg. forms
|
Some adjectives and adverbs have irregular
comparative forms
Good / Well
è better ; bad / badly
è worse
Old è Older & Elder
He looks older
than he really is.
We use elder when
we are talking about members of a family
My elder
brother is a pilot
but only before
a noun
My brother is
older than me.
Far è Further / Farther
We use both of
them to talk about distance :
I am very tired.
I can't walk much further/farther.
Further can also
mean more or additional :
Let me know
immediately if you hear any further news.
More & Less
as comparative words
I smoke more
than I used to.
|
II
- COMPARATIVE STRUCTURE
After
comparatives we use than
- It is cheaper
to go by train than to go by car.
|
Before
the comparative of adjectives and adverbs we can use :
- Informal : a
(little) bit ; a lot
- More formal
: a little ; much ; far
- Let's go by
train. It is much cheaper.
- Her illness
was far more serious than we first thought.
|
| We
also say more often :
I don't play
tennis much now. I used to play more often.
|
| Equality
- Inequality - Intensity
As ... As : to say that people or things
are equal in some way
- I am sorry I
am late. I got here as fast as I could.
Not so ... as
/ Not as ... as : to say that people or things are
unequal in some way
He didn't
do as well on his exam as he had hoped
He is not
so rich as his sister.
Twice as ...
as / Three times as ... as : intensity
Their house
is about three times as big as ours.
Cigarettes are
twice as expensive as they were a few years
ago.
|
After
than & as it is more usual to say me/him/her/them/us when
there is no verb :
- You are taller
than I am è You are taller than me.
|
| We
can use double comparatives to say that things are changing
:
It is getting
colder and colder.
These days more
and more people are learning English.
|
| The
+ comparative the better :
What time shall
we leave ? The sooner the better.
|
| We
can use the structure the ... the ...
(with two comparatives) to say that one thing depends on another
thing.
Why study ?
- The more
I study, the more I know.
- The more
I know, the more I forget.
- The more
I forget, the less I know.
So why study
?
|
Exercises
· Translation
Plus intelligent que - le plus intéressant - le plus long
- le pire - meilleur que - mon meilleur ami - plus tôt que
- le plus drôle - plus dur que - le plus dur - le plus paresseux
- plus paresseux que.
· Comparative or superlative
History is … than geography (interesting)
Spring is the … season of the year (nice)
I think the … thing in life is to be happy (important)
I'm … at football than at volley- ball (good)
The … planet from the sun is called Pluto (far)
Biology is … than maths (easy)
· Better, best, worse, worst
My … friend has just decided to go to Canada
The film last night was … than I expected
The … experience of my life was a car accident last year
This winter is even … (=encore pire) than last winter
· Less , least or fewer
It's the … interesting book I've ever read
£1 is worth … than 20 francs
I was … nervous than thought would be
I need at …. eight hours' sleep every night
There are …. exploited workers than there used to be
Sources
:
Raymond Murphy Grammar
in Use : Reference & Practice for Intermediate Students of
English, Cambridge University Press, 1996, 9th
ed.
Michael Swan & Catherine
Walter How English Works : A Grammar Practice Book with Answers,
Oxford University Press, 1998.
IF
YOU WANT TO DO SOME EXERCISES ABOUT THIS GRAMMAR POINT,
CLOSE
THIS APPLICATION, GO TO "DEMARRER", "PROGRAMMES", "GRAMSTER"
AND
CHOOSE A LEVEL ON THE MENU OF TENSE BUSTER
