5. Write a paragraph describing someone who is important to you.

What are they like? Are they easy to deal with?

What kind of relationship do you have?

Ways of Comparison I

1. A learner wrote the composition below, which compares her home city and her

capital city. Underline ten more mistakes in it and write the corrections on

the right.

If you want to visit my country, you should try to visit my city and the capital, but there are some differences. My city is much more far north, so it gets colder in the rainy season, but you can sunbathe and swim in the sea in summer. It’s more beautiful that the capital, too, because it’s by the sea, and it has more hill, park and garden. It’s bit more difficult to visit my city than the capital because we don’t have an international airport, but there are the best train and coach services than there used to be. One of the most interesting thing you can do near my city is take a tour into the jungle, and we also have some of the oldest buildings of the country. The capital is more modern, of course, so the buildings are more taller, and it has much more exciting nightlife. It's also hoter in the dry season. But I think the people of my city are friendlier – maybe friendliest in the world! So do come and visit. The sooner you visit, happier I’ll be.

much further 1_________________2_________________3_________________4_________________5_________________6_________________7_________________8_________________9_________________10__________________________________

2. If it is difficult for you to find all the mistakes, study the information in the charts

below and try again.

Comparative adjectives

We use comparative adjectives to compare two things or compare the same thing at different times. Comparatives are often followed by a than ... clause. To give more information about a comparison, we can add a word or phrase before the comparative: much/ a lot/ far/ a bit/ a little/ slightly. Ex.: The consequences of the reform turned out to be far more serious than we thought. We can use the + comparative, the + comparative to link two things that change. Ex.: The longer she stays in Canada, the less likely she will ever go back to England.

Superlative adjectives

We use superlative adjectives to show that something is different from all the others it is compared to. We usually put the or a possessive (my, your, her, Japan’s etc.) before a superlative. We can also use one of the/some of the + superlative + plural. We often use in + place and of + period of time with superlatives. Ex.: The Prime Minister is probably the most powerful person in the country.

Plural nouns		Uncountable nouns
more/the most fewer/the fewest	cars , people, clothes fish, women, men	more/the most less/the least	information, cheese luggage, fuel

	Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
Most one-syllable words: + er, + est	fast cheap	faster cheaper	the fastest the cheapest
One-syllable words ending in consonant + vowel + consonant: double the last consonant	hot thin	hotter thinner	the hottest the thinnest
Two-syllable words ending in y: y + ier, + iest	heavy dirty	heavier dirtier	the heaviest the dirtiest
Three or more syllables: more, the most ..., less, the least ...	expensive reliable	more expensive more reliable	the most expensive the most reliable
Irregular	good bad far	better worse farther/ further	the best the worst the farthest/ furthest
Some adjectives with two syllables (particularly participle adjectives, adjectives ending in –ful, -less and some others) are only used or most commonly used with more/less, the most/the least	pleased, worried, boring, careful, careless, afraid, alike, alert, ashamed, alone, aware, cautious, certain, complex, eager, exact, formal, frequent, modern, recent	more pleased more careful more certain more formal more modern etc.	the most pleased the most careful the most certain the most formal the most modern etc.
Most other adjectives with two syllables take either form	quiet clever narrow shallow simple	quieter/ more quiet cleverer/ more clever narrower/ more narrow shallower/ more shallow simpler/ more simple	the quietest/ the most quiet the cleverest/ the most clever etc.
Some adjectives have a comparative or superlative meaning so they are rarely used with –er/est or more/ less/ most/ least	complete equal* favourite ideal unique	--------- --------- ---------- ---------- ----------	---------- ---------- ----------- ----------- -----------

* An exception ‘All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.’ (George Orwell: ‘Animal Farm’)