Irregular Comparative and Superlative Forms

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
good	better	(the) best
bad	worse	(the) worst
little	less	(the) least
many/much	more	(the) most
old	older/elder	(the) oldest/eldest
late	later/latter	(the) latest/ last
far	father/further	(the) farthest/furthest
near	nearer	(the)nearest/next

Late: later - latest (refers to time)

latter - last (refers to position)

/ haven't heard the latest news.

Ours is the last house in the street.

Old: elder - eldest (for people only in the same family)

older - oldest (for people and things)

My father is the eldest in our family.

I get on well with my elder sister.

Elder is not used with than following. We use older instead:

/ am five years olderthan my brother.

Far: farther/farthest and further/furthest (about distances)

further / furthest (additional)

You live father than I thought.

I must have a reply without further delay.

Turkey is the farthest/furthest I've ever been.

Near: nearest (denotes distance)

next (denotes position)

This is the nearest post-office to our house.

My uncle lives in the next house.

Comparative Constructions with the Adjectives

to compare things which are the same: as ... as, the same ... as - такой же как; twice as ... as, three times as ... as	The adjective is used in the positive degree.	She is as busy as a bee. Father is the same age as mother. Petrol is twice as expensive as it was a few years ago.
to compare things that are different: not as ... as, not so ... as ( не такой как);	Positive degree	Italy is not so hot as Iraq. He isn 't as poor as I thought.
than - чем than me/ than I am, etc. the ... the - чем ... тем;	Comparative degree Comparative degree	Your spelling is better than mine. The longer is the night, the shorter is the day.

NOTE: Words that can modify a comparative form are: much, a little, a bit, slightly, far, rather, no, a lot, even,etc.

The book is much more interesting than the film.

The son is much richer than his father.

Substantivised Adjectives

Substantive adjectives have acquired some or all of the characteristics of the noun.

a) a native - the natives, a Russian - the Russians,

a German - the Germans;

b) the rich, the unemployed, the good, the evil, the beautiful, the English;

There are many pairs of adjectives in English ending in -ing and -ed

My job is boring. - I'm bored with my job.

Someone is -ed if something or someone is -ing

Or, if something is -ins, it makes you -ed.

Someone is interested because something is interesting.

Bill is interested in politics. He finds it interesting.

Some pairs of adjectives ending in -ed and -ing.

fascinating - fascinated

exciting - excited

amusing - amused

astonishing - astonished

tiring - tired

surprising - surprised

horrifying - horrified

terrifying - terrified

depressing - depressed

worrying - worried

annoying - annoyed

disappointing - disappointed

Word Order

Adjectives can be positioned before a noun. They describe a noun. Sometimes we use two or more adjectives together. One should remember that opinion adjectives usually go before fact adjectives.

opinion	size/age/ shape	colour	origin	material	purpose	noun
lovely	big/old/ round	yellow	English	gold	tea	cup

We also use adjectivesafter link verbs, especially: be, get, become, feel, seem, sound, smell, taste, grow and look (when it means seem). After action verbs we use adverbs. Compare:

She looks nice and happy. She looked at me happily.

I don't feel well today. I swim well.

Adjective forming suffixes and prefixes

less: hopeless, homeless un: unhappy

ful: hopeful, useful in: indifferent

ing: boring, frightening pre: prewar

ous: famous, courageous ir: irregular

en: wooden, woollen im: immortal

al: central, formal il: illiterate

y/ly: windy, lovely dis: dishonest

able: eatable, reliable a: alive

ish: foolish, childish non: non-governmental

ible: responsible inter: international

ant/ent: important, dependent post: post-war

Practice

1. Fill in the missing adjectives in the proper degree. Analyze the adjectives used in the song.

long, green, big, handsome, large, beautiful, strong

A Bigger Heart

His arms are stronger than mine

His legs are ... than mine

His car's always cleaner

And his grass is always ....

But my heart is ... than his

And my love for you is stronger than his.

He's more ..., much more elegant

More charming and more polite than me

He's more responsible, much more dependable

He is everything I long to be.

His office is ... than mine

His martinis are drier than mine

His roses are much ...

And his faults are far fewer.

But my heart is ... than his

And my love for you is ... than his.

2. Give adjectives corresponding to:

policy sun hope bore wool depend

economy wind use frighten wood complicate

Germany rain home interest silk pleasure

nature fog respect amuse gold courage

3. Give the comparative and superlative of the following adjectives:

strong beautiful important good

wide difficult magnificent bad

happy dangerous fortunate little

greedy useful courageous many

5. Write down adjectives opposite in the meaning to the following:

courageous narrow slow healthy

wild beautiful cruel new

hot civilized soft clean

heavy strong expensive friendly

5. Complete the sentences. Use the comparative of the adjectives in the brackets.

1. Sorry I'm late. It took me (long) to get there than I expected.

2. She looks about 18, but in fact she is much (old) than she looks.

3. This problem is not so complicated. It's (simple) than you think.

4. We always go camping when we go on holiday. It's much (cheap) than staying in a hotel.

5. It's (easy) to learn a foreign language in the country where it's spoken.

6. Your English has improved. You speak (good) than you did when we last met.

7. Health and happiness are (important) than money.

8. I like the countryside. It's (healthy) and (peaceful) than living in a city.

9. My toothache is (painful) today than it was yesterday.

10. The second addition of the dictionary was (bad) than the first one.

11. A man's real character will always be (visible) in his household than anywhere else.

12. This railway station is (crowded) today than usual.

6. Complete the sentences with: a) the superlative form, b) one of the + superlative.

Model: It's a very nice house.

a) It's the nicest house in our town.

b) It's one of the nicest houses in our town.

1. He is a very dangerous criminal. He ... in the country.

2. The Mississippi is a long river. It's ... in the world.

3. I have never heard such a funny story. That's ... I have heard.

4. We've never made such a bad mistake. It's ....

5. They haven't had to make such a difficult decision for years. It's ... .

6. It was very bad experience. It was ... in my life.

7. He is a very good player. He ... in the team.

8. She is a very rich woman. She is ... in the world.

7. Use: more and more or less and less if it is necessary.

1. Computers are becoming (expensive). 2. People are living (long). 3. Going to church is becoming (popular). 4. Divorce is becoming (common). 5. (Many) people are giving up smoking. 6. The roads are becoming (crowded) with cars. 7. The book is getting (interesting). 8. The weather is getting (bad). 9. My tooth's getting (painful). 10. Children spend (little) time on reading books but they spend (much) time on watching TV. 11. It's becoming (difficult) to find a job. 12. Your English is getting (good) and (...).

8. Ask and answer the questions, using the proper degree of comparison.

1. What is (large) city in the world?

2. Who is (popular) singer in your country?

3. What is (expensive) thing you have ever bought"?

4. What is (stupid) thing you have ever done?

5. Who is (intelligent) person you have ever known°

6. What is (happy) day in your life?

7. What was (difficult) subject for you at school?

8. Excuse me. Where is (near) metro-station from here⁹

9. What is (easy) way for learning English?

10. What was (interesting) book you read in childhood?

11. Which of you is (good) chess-player?

12. What do you think is (happy) time in a person's life: when you are a child or an adult?

13. What is (bad) thing that has ever happened to you?

9. Complete the sentences using the adjectives given below in the proper degree.

1. It gets ... and ... in autumn and the days become .. and .... But Italian summer is a very ... and ... time of the year.

2. We all grow ... with years.

3. You look ... .What's the matter?-I feel ....

4. I'll try to do my ... to help you -Thank you. It's very ... of you.

5. The hotel was surprisingly cheap. We expected it to be much ....

6. This flat is too small for our family. We need something ... but not very ....

7. The Moon is ... neighbour to the Earth.

8. Venus is ... planet in our solar system.

9. I prefer watching TV sitting in this old armchair. It's ... than a new one.

10. There were a lot of people on the bus. It was ... than usual.

11. This jacket is too small for you. You need ... size.

12. You look ... Have you lost your weight?

13. He is not keen on his studies. He's ... in having a ... time.

14. I was ... with the film. It was not... for me to see it.

15. A man is as ... as he looks and no ... than he feels.

beautiful	pleasant	young	expensive
thin	interesting	comfortable	bad
cold	short	old	sad
good	close	kind	crowded
large	bright	interested	disappointed

10. Use: a)as ... as, b) not so ... as/not as...as.

Model: My grandfather is younger than he looks.

a) My grandfather isn't as old as he looks.

b) My grandfather is not so old as he looks.

1. The examination was more difficult than we expected.

2. The weather is warmer today than it was yesterday.

3. The situation is still unpleasant but yesterday it was worse.

4. I was a bit nervous before the interview but usually I'm a lot more nervous.

5. The exhibition was less beautiful than we hoped to see.

6. This book is less interesting than the one I read last week.

7. Tokyo is exciting but for musicians London is more exciting than Tokyo and, of course, New York is the most exciting of all.

8. London is, of course, much older than New York, but it is younger than Rome.

9. New York has more parks than Tokyo, but less than London.

10. Everything is cheaper in our country than in yours.

11. The shops were more expensive than we thought.

12. The film was less interesting than I expected.

13. This business trip is less important for our firm than you think.

14. We are more tired today after our tiring job than usual.

11. Which meaning goes with which saying?

1. Two heads are better than one.	a) Doing something late is not as bad as forgetting it completely.
2. For better for worse; for richer for poorer.
b) Family ties are very strong.
3. Better late than never.	c) It's easier to find an answer if someone thinks with you.
4. Better the devil you know than the devil you don't.
d) Other situations always seem more attractive than your own situation.

5. The grass is always greener on the other side.
e) In every situation in life. (Man and woman say these words when they get married.)
6. Blood is thicker than water.
7. Better safe than sorry.
8. The least said the better.	f) An unpleasant but familiar situation is better than a new one.
9. The best things in life are free.
10. It's easier said than done.	g) It's better not to talk about it.

h) Take precautions.
i) Money doesn't buy happiness.

j) It's a nice plan but not very practical.