Grammar Focus. Degrees of Comparison.

	Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
One-syllable adjectives Note: adjectives which end in one vowel and one consonant double the consonant.	old safe big hot	older safer bigger hotter	the oldest the safest the biggest the hottest
Adjectives ending with -y	noisy dirty	noisier dirtier	the noisiest the dirtiest
Adjectives with two or more syllables	boring beautiful	more boring more beautiful	the most boring the most beautiful
Irregular adjectives	good bad far	better worse further	the best the worst the furthest

We use than after comparatives (older than… more expensive than…):

- Athens is older than Rome.

We say… than me/than him/than her/than us/than them:

- I can run faster than him. Or I can run faster than he can.

More/less than…

- The film was very short – less than an hour.

As … as…

- He is as old as me.

Not as … as …:

- Rome is not as old as Athens.

Not as much as …/not as many as …

- I don’t know as many people as you.

Ex. 1 Find sentences with the adjectives in the superlative degree in the text, read and translate them. Give the nominative and the comparative degrees.

Ex. 2 Change adjectives according to the model.

Model: small - smaller – the smallest

important – more important – the most important

1. large, cold, big, long, deep, pure, new, few, huge.

2. independent, famous, beautiful, charming, serious.

3. many, good, bad, little.

Ex. 3 Answer the questions according to the model.

Model: Which is longer: a mile or a kilometer? A mile is. A mile is longer than a kilometer.

1. Which is longer: an hour or a minute?

2. Which is higher: a mountain or a hill?

3. Which is bigger: a ship or a bus?

4. Which is more difficult: to go on foot or to go by train?

5. Which is more convenient: to ride a horse or to go by Cadillac?

Ex.4 Ask you group mates and write down the answers.

1. Which do you like better: fish or meat?

2. What do you like better: summer or winter?

3. Which do you like better: tea or coffee?

4. Which seasons do you like best of all?

5. Which of the fruits do you like best?

Ex.5 Open the brackets.

1. February is (cold) than March.

2. Lake Baikal is (deep) than this lake.

3. Peter is (tall) than Boris.

4. The Volga is (long) than the Ob.

5. Russia is (large) than Great Britain.

6. The Russian language is (difficult) than the English language.

Ex. 6 Answer the questions.

1. Which country is bigger, France or England (Spain or Italy, Sweden or Denmark, Holland or Finland)?

2. Which sea is deeper, the Black Sea or the Azov Sea?

3. Which sea is colder, the Black Sea or the Baltic Sea?

4. Which city is older, Moscow, St. Petersburg (London or Washington)?

5. Which is the best time for a holiday? Which is the worst?

6. Which month is shorter, June or July?

7. Which is the hottest season of the year, and which is the coldest?

8. Which is the busiest day of the week and why?

9. Are you better at English than at other subjects?

10. Which subject is the easiest for you? Which is the most difficult? Which is the most interesting? Why are you more interested in it than in the other subjects?