Practise Your Comparatives

~

. ;bV0. ;p- ~ Jb ~--==---r:-. ~~- t/ Jo~ ;bV0~ft ~ I

1

=J\J ~

it 4Jt

'~--fJ{

~ Jo~t

kJV0~ J\J~f

I

~

Contents Comparative adjectives 1 Short words and long words: cheap - cheaper but expensive - more expensive 2 Spelling: hot - hotter; lucky - luckier 3 Two-syllable adjectives: narrower or more narrow 4 One- two- and three-syllable adjectives 5 More or less? 6 Negatives: not as ... as 7 Irregular adjectives (bad - worse) and quantifiers (much - more) 8 Negative and positive comparisons 9 Adjective or quantifier + noun: a better job and not such a good job 10 Comparative adjective phrases: not as interesting to talk to as ... Superlative adjectives 11 Short words and long words: the tallest man; the most dangerous snake 12 Spelling: busy - busiest;fit -fittest; blue - bluest 13 Irregular adjectives (far-furthest) and quantifiers (little -least) 14 Superlative adjectives: mixed types 15 Superlative or comparative? best of them all but better than the others 16 Superlatives and comparatives with ever and never 17 One of the -est and the second -est 18 Zero article superlatives: London is hottest in July. Adverbs: Comparative and superlative 19 Comparative and superlative adverbs (regular): more easily - most easily 20 Irregular comparative and superlative adverbs: well- better - best 21 Adverb or adjective comparison? safer or more safely? Comparative structures with adjectives, adverbs and quantifiers 22 Quantifiers, adjectives and adverbs: positive and negative forms 23 Verbal comparisons: It cost more than I thought it would 24 Modifiers: much more quickly; not nearly as many 25 Equal comparison: as ... as; like; the same + noun 26 Twice as ... as; three times as ... as 27 Continuous change: more and moreslowly ..,. 28 Parallel change: the more you earn the more tax you pay Sayings and idioms :2 Popular sayings 30 diorns

Introduction Comparative structures are a source of confusion to many students of English. Practise Your Comparatives provides clear examples and practice exercises for each aspect of these structures that is likely to cause problems for intermediate students. Like the other workbooks in the Practise Your ... series, Practise Your Comparatives is suitable for self-access and classroom use and benefits from the following features: • Language is practised in context to make it easier to see the meanings which determine the choice of a particular form. • There is variety of exercise types, contexts and text types. • The units are graded, from items with simple rules at the beginning of the book to more complex items towards the end. • Pictures, artwork, diagrams, charts, realia and factual and sometimes amusing information all help to maintain interest as well as providing clear contexts and relating language to the real world. • Personalisation exercises at the end of some units enable students to relate structures to their own lives and ideas. These more open-ended exercises are always preceded by controlled exercises in order to minimise the risk of errors. However, students may find it helpful to check their work in these exercises with a teacher. It is hoped that this workbook will be found enjoyable and useful. The author and the publishers welcome comments from users.

[IJ Comparative adjectives: short words and long words Short words and -y words happy - happier cheap - cheaper noisy - noisier old -older Long words expensive - more expensive modern ~ more modern This shop is cheaper than that one. That shop is more expensive than this one .

.D

A letter from New York An English girl, Anna, went to New York on holiday. She wrote a letter to an English friend. Choose one of these adjectives for each space in the letter on the next page. Write each one in its correct comparative form.

(~ ) I I

d

, nnnnnnnnnn-i. nnnnnnnnnnOOh Jor nnnn ' n nnn

r

lJ e cur. .

1Il1. (Jfl. if I He/Te r

If},; L!U!lf f

a-nt. m new YcrvIt .I If)] 8J1eaf.' And dlll&7ercf fo irnr.don.. flze /f.tJ71.M Me

an d.

Lon ger

+1z.aA- WL irnt d. (J7It

2

+Ae huiJdintp Me 3 and IiI e -II..eJ7 e VJ 5 1uterda0_W~M_Y1_i_cer_.

_

2 A It isn't very warm today, is it? B No,

'blAt LV> WClrmer- them l1e1terM~_.

_

3 A It isn't very sunny today, is it? B No,

4 A Isn't it fine today! BYes,

5 A Oh dear! It's cloudy today. BYes,

6 A It's cool today, isn't it? BYes,

"" m,i

Ul"

... - .. ..... ,.

'.,

12'(

9'C .,

,

...•...... ,...

7 A It's been wet today, hasn't it? BYes, /

/

/

"" nt /

8 A It hasn't been very hot today, has it? B No,

24'c

.,-,~

...~.

-'

UJ' " ~~

.

20G

W Two-syllable adjectives: -er or rrwre + adjective II Syllables

I-syllable words

2-syllable words

3-syllable words

blue clean

cru-el care-ful

beau-ti-ful dan-ger-ous

Which of the' words below have two syllables? Write the number of syllables in the brackets beside each adjective, 1 2 3 4 5

m

surprised (2) round (I) serious ( ) straight ( ) useful ( )

6 7 8 9 10

ugly ( ) sensible ( ) strange ( ) quiet ( ) thirsty ( )

11 12 13 14 15

broad ( ) afraid ( ) different ( ) excited ( ) horrible ( )

Adjective + -eror more + adjective? Write one group of examples (a-e) in each of the spaces in the grammar notes below. (a) (b) ( c) (d) ( e)

more surprised, more careful, more boring, more famous narrow, hollow, clever, bitter, simple, gentle happier, heavier, dirtier stupid, pleasant, common, handsome, polite quiet, cruel, tired

Grammar notes Nearly all2-syllable adjectives ending in -y form the comparative with -ier; for example: 1 Most other 2-syllable adjectives form the comparative with more for example: 2

_

+ adjective; _

However, a few 2-syllable words can use either form. They are (a) words which sound almost like I-syllable words; for example: 3 (b) words ending in -ow, -er and -le for example: 4

_

_

(c) 5 other common words

These are

5

Remember: if you are not sure, use more + adjective. It is hardly ever wrong.

_

II

Right or wrong?

Here is a page from a student's exercise book. There are mistakes in six of the sentences. Put a line through the mistakes and write the corrections on the right. Do not put a line through a word unless it is definitely wrong.

Campara1.Lue5 1

l' m cLeverer than my brath.,er.

2 Ne.uJ YOTRh ~n..er

th.arl

pLea.l5a.n.:ter

3 Mary)s

Lon..dan.

th..a.n JQJle.t.

4- Bu:t Jan eLs mare poiite

th.an Mary.

5 TM.y're bU5Ler th...aJ1 we are.

6 Pluvse be qu.i.eter ~

9 en:tLe ! 8 My sen.ten..ce i.,.s carrecter than ~aurs. q ll1.ih ~erMe l,s mare eMy tha.n t:h..o.L one. ro A l..eJnan ~ more b i.i:ter than a..n crra.ng e. 7

Yau flW.,.5t be more

II Yau

rru.vst

12 Why ca.rtt 13 Ca..n.

be carefu.Ler ~

~au be

rTUJT'e

h.one5t

?

you be €h

---

best in Julv and August (although

6

early Autumn. The weather is

--best weather in Europe \) However.,

'7

even then it is certainly not

.--most crowded in August, and

8

the museums and monuments London can be unpleasantly

are

---

h' b hot at this time. So t ISmay e

time to get out of the city and see the rest of the country.

9

best

I!I

Write senteI\s:es \lsmg the words given. 1 Geneva / one of / modern cities in Europe.

GetrevCf i-1Ol1eof the moot modern Me1

Itt1

EIAY'Q12_e_.

_

[ill Comparative and superlative adverbs (regular) carefully - more carefully - most carefully easily - more easily - most easily slowly - more slowly - most slowly Terry drives more dangerously than Jane but not as dangerously as Erica. Erica drives (the) most dangerously of all. (the = formal; t)re People drive most dangerously when they are tired.

=

less formal)

Short adverbs (loudly, slowly, etc) are often given -er and -est endings in spoken English: 'He shouted loudest of all.' instead of 'most loudly' or 'the most loudly'.

'He drives slower than me.' instead of 'more slowly'. But this is considered incorrect by some people.

II

How did they speak? Use the words in brackets to write true sentences, positive or negative.

LOOK what you've done to my CAR! You IDIOT1 LOOK AT ITl

1 Belinda (angry) 2 Belinda and Charles (rude) 3 David (calm) 4 Charles (polite) 5 Charles (loud)

ciU;i_·_rl_o_t_I-l_,Qea R M cmgri ky_CL1 I1_Rake more rlAdeAl1_th_l4_n___

Charles. Angela and David. Charles. David. anybody.

6 David (nervous)

Angela.

7 Belinda(impatient)

Angela.

8 Nobody(impolite)

Charles.

III

Compare yourself with the people in the pictures. First tick (j) the true or false box for each sentence, then write some more true sentences.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

I never speak as angrily as Charles. I usually speak less impatiently than Belinda. I do not always speak as calmly as David. I sometimes speak more nervously than Angela. I do not often shout as loudly as Charles. It's good to speak as calmly as David. _

8

_

9

_

10

_

II

Write the word in brackets in the superlative form to complete the sentence. Then use a tick (j) to show whether you agree or disagree.

1 David spoke (polite)

moot

Q~_

of all.

2 Belinda spoke (angry) 3 Belinda spoke (impatient) 4 Angela spoke (nervous) 5 People get angry (easy) they are tired or worried. 6 In my family I am the one who gets angry (quick)

7 The people who win arguments are usually the ones who can speak (calm) 8 The people who shout (loud) are usually the stupidest people. 9 The strongest people often behave (gentle)

~ Irregular comparative and superlative adverbs Adjective fast good bad

Adverb fast well badly

Comparative faster better worse

Superlative fastest best worst

Other irregular adverbs are: hard - harder - hardest early - earlier - earliest late -later -latest little -less -least near - nearer - nearest long (time) -longer -longest

soon - sooner - soonest far - further - furthest much - more - most

II

After the match. Some footballers are talking about a football match that has just finished. Rewrite the sentences so that they end with the words given.

6 Nobody played as badly as Ernie did today.

9 Leon has never argued with the referee so little.

1 2

P_e_ter"_RLal;1ed harder them J_otJ_rJ_RWl;1W hardfAu

3

_

4

_

than usual. ever before.

5

. ever before.

6

of all.

7

of all.

8

than usual.

9

than usual.

@1J Adverb or adjective comparison? He's a safer driver than I am. (safer = adjective) He drives more safely than I do. (more safely = adverb) Who makes thefastest cars? = Which cars are the fastest? (adjective) Who makes cars the fastest? = Who works the fastest? (adverb)

II

Adverb or adjective?

mcnt

Wj,Q~

__

-spoken

widest or most widely?

languages in the world? 2 Which group of languages has the

_

verb forms? 3 Is it true that most male Japanese speakers do not speak

most complicated or most complicatedly? loud or loudly?

speakers?

more correct or more correctly?

4 Is it true that people in Oxford speak English _________

than elsewhere?

most common or most commonly?

5 Which is the English alphabet?

clearer or more clearly?

6 Which language has English or Italian?

most or mostly?

7 In which country are the nacivelanguagesspoken?

Schmidt from France, can speak

languages more or more languages?

than anyone else. How many languages can he speak? 9 Do girls usually learn boys?

iii

than

languages faster or faster languages?

Here are the answers to the questions in Exercise 1. One answer is wrong. Which one? 1 English and Chinese. 2 Some of the North American Indian languages. 3 Yes. 4 Yes. 5 e. 6 Italian. 7 India. 8 30. 9 Yes.

~ Quantifiers, adjectives and adverbs: positive and negative forms Examples of positive forms Quantifier (much/many - more) I buy more books than you do (more used as a determiner). I've got more (than you) (more uSed as a pronoun). I like books more than you do (more used as an adverb).

D

Examples of negative forms You don't buy as many books as I do. Youhaven't got as many (as I have). You don't like books as much as I do.

Adjective (popular - more popular) Thrillers are more popular than classics. These are more popular books than those.

Classics aren't as popular as thrillers. Those aren't such popular books as these.

Adverb (quickly - more quickly) I read more quickly than you do.

You don't read as quickly as I do.

Nine of the sentences below come from a newspaper article about the kinds of books that men and women read. The information in one sentence is not true. Which sentence do you think is not true? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Romantic books are more popular with women than with men. Romance is a more popular type of book than biography. Thrillers are read more than classics. Men read more thrillers than women do. Men are more interested in humorous books than women are. Men read more books about history (non-fiction) than women do. Men enjoy violent stories more than women do. Men read more classics and modern novels than women do. Women read more biography than men do. Horror is a more interesting subject for men than it is for women.

III,Write the nine true sentences in the correct negative form. 1

RamC«1Uc bCJtJk;.) CArenot M 12QJ2~r wiMl men a1 wilth W0111erT.

2

BiQgr@h~

_

3

_

4

_

5

_

6

_

7

_

8

_

9

_

II

Look at the diagram and answer the questions. Write complete sentences comparing men with women. Women prefer romance, men prefer sci·fi Subject of books being read at the time of the survey, 1986 Source: Research Surveys of Great BritainlEuromonitor

1 percent /_----

~

:£

~

';::

~

[_[1 '"

u

c

E 0

ex:

~

oS



g

'"

.~ "t;

8

__

::'===========::::I~

;;::

~

-0 0

::;;:

g

~ "'e"

u .~

c

U

U)

'"

"-

;;::

0