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The comparative

The adjective or adverb has 3 degrees:

Positive: small

Comparative: smaller/ less small

Superlative: the smallest

1ESO

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Types

  • Inferiority🡪Peter is less intelligent than Mary

  • Equality🡪Peter is as intelligent as Mary

  • Superiority🡪

With inflection🡪Peter is taller than Mary

With periphrase🡪Peter is more intelligent than Mary

Less+adj+than

As+adj+as

More+adj+than

Adj-er than

1ESO

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Inflection/periphrase

  • With inflection
    • 1 syllable: tall🡪taller
    • 2 syllables
      • Ending in vocalic sound: pretty, narrow, clever
      • Ending in syllabic l: simple
      • Stress on the last syllable: polite
    • Frequent adjectives: handsome, quiet, pleasant
  • With periphrase
    • Peter is more intelligent than Mary

1ESO

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Superlative

  • Inflection: Peter is the tallest

  • Periphrase: Peter is the most intelligent

The+adj+est

The most+adj

1ESO

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Spelling changes

  • Consonant+y🡪consonant+i+er/est

Dry🡪drier/driest

  • C+v+c🡪x2

Big🡪bigger/biggest

Thin🡪thinner/thinnest

1ESO

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Irregular comparatives

  • Good/well🡪better🡪best
  • Bad/ill🡪worse🡪worst
  • Far🡪farther/further🡪farthest/furthest

  • Survivals of Old English
    • Old🡪elder🡪eldest
    • Late🡪latter🡪last

1ESO

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Practice so far

Compare The White Queen and The Red Queen of Alice In Wondeland

Sing along

Comparative: If I could reach higher (Gloria Stefan) with lyrics

Superlative: The Best (Tina Turner)

A video explanation

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Comparative expressions

  • Cycling is the same as riding a bike.
  • Football is different from rugby.
  • I’m not as tall as Magic Johnson.

Comparative expressions

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Correlative comparative

  • Progressive (cada vez más..)

Harder and harder/more and more difficult

  • 2 things vary together

(cuanto más/menos.. más/menos..)

The more you practice the more you learn

The more you eat the less thin you are

Comp+and+comp

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Adjectives with �2 possibilities Nuances

  • Quiet🡪quieter/more quiet
  • Simple🡪simpler/more simple
  • Healthy🡪healthier/more healthy
  • Happy🡪happier/more happy
  • Easy🡪easier/more easy
  • A little, a bit, much, a lot, far, way +comparative

He’s way taller than his brother

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Practice

http://www.xtec.cat/~pmarti46/actibank/level2.htm

And go to n 48

For correlative comparative:

http://www.xtec.cat/~pmarti46/actibank/level3.htm

And go to n 56b