Lesson 85 👩‍🏫 Basic English with Jennifer: Equatives, Comparatives & Superlatives 🎓

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When you study English, find time to review. It's very important to practice

and review. Do you remember how we use adjectives to compare two things?

For example, which city is bigger, Moscow or Boston? Moscow is bigger than Boston.

Boston is smaller than Moscow. Which country is hotter, Canada or Cuba?

Cuba is hotter than Canada. Canada is colder than Cuba. Let's practice using these

comparative adjectives, adjectives with the ending -er.

Ladies, let's remember how we compare things.

One thing can be bigger. One thing can be smaller.

And we add on -er. Right? But these are different when we write. When we say it, it's all "er."

Here smaller. With "nice" we just add -r. With "heavy" what do we change?

Change y. Y becomes...

-er? I. Y becomes i and then -er. Heavier. When we write, y changes to i.

"Heavier." "Bigger." What happens? Double g. Mm-hm. Two g's. All right because we vowel and consonant.

Bigger. Okay. So let's find more. What is "hotter"

similar to? Where does it go? Bigger? Mm-hm. Two t's: hotter.

How about "light"? Where does it go? Light? I don't remember. Lighter? Lighter. Yeah. Yes. Just add -er. That's all. "Cold"?

-Er. Yes, -er. Yeah. Most adjectives, you just add -er. Most of them. Right? "Young?" Younger. Younger.

"Friendly." I don't know. Do you think we say "more friendly" or "friendlier"? More friendly.

You hear both. You can check dictionary, but I think most dictionaries will say "friendlier." Mm-hmm.

When you don't know, you check. Friendlier. So actually y changes, so where does it go?

Yeah. You might hear some people say "more friendly." Mm-hm. You might, but usually

we say friendlier. "Pretty." Prettier.

"Fast."

Double t?

Mm-mm. No? Because vowel - consonant. And this is two consonants. S-T. Faster. Dirty. Dirtier. Okay. Then we have

these longer ones and we don't say "interestinger." What do we say? More. More.

Right? More -- more interesting. And please don't say "more interestinger." Sometimes

I hear my son say "more bigger." I'm like, "No, no, no, no!" More interesting. More interesting.

No -er. So we can say more beautiful, more delicious, more intelligent

because these are long adjectives. Right?

I have some new ones, though. Where does "cute' go? Cute? Cute.

It ends with an e. Just -r? Cute, cuter. Do you know the word "cute"? Uh-huh. Right?

Like the cat is cute. This? Yes, because it ends with E. So you just add -r. Right? Nicer.

Ah. Okay. Just the -r. Yes. Nicer. Cuter. "Strong."

Strong. Stronger.

"Loud."

Loud. -er. Mh-hm.

"Soft." Softer. Uh-huh.

We're running out of room.

Many, many adjectives.

"Exciting." More. Yes. More exciting. "Funny." Funnier. Mm-hmm, with y, so we change the y to an i.

"Easy." Easier. Exactly.

"Expensive." More expensive. "Cheap." Cheaper. Mm-hmm. Right? These are opposites. Cheaper, more expensive.

"Weak." Weaker. Down here.

Okay. We have lots of adjectives. Most adjectives, you add -er. Most adjectives

that are very long, work with "more." Okay? So now we get to practice. I was thinking

of sisters. I don't have a sister. Do you have sisters? Yes. Or brothers?

Some sisters are friends. That's great. Some sisters fight. They do, especially if

they're close in age, like one is 16 and one is 17 or 15. Maybe they're friends,

but sometimes they fight. I was thinking of sisters. Let's say Anna and Ava. Imagine

the sisters fight, for example, Anna says, "I have a cat. You have a cat. My cat is

prettier." Mm-hmm. So, think of the sisters who like to compare and always think I have more.

My cat is prettier. Can you think of another situation? Think of Anna and Ava.

These two sisters. Tell me about them.

One is more beautiful than another.

"Than the other." Or it maybe Ava says, "I'm more beautiful than my sister." What do

you think the sisters say? "I am older than you." I'm older than you. Yeah.

I'm thinking maybe these are adults, and Anna has a car. Ava has a car, and Ava says

"My car is newer. My car is more beautiful."

What else? What else do the sisters fight about? Maybe they both have boyfriends?

My boyfriend...is more intelligent. My boyfriend is more intelligent than your boyfriend.

What else?

What would they have?

Ooh. They have purses. A very nice purse. A bag they carry.

Hmm. A purse, a bag. My purse is prettier. Mm-hmm. Prettier

than yours. Or my purse is more expensive than your purse.

What else could they fight about? I can sing louder, or

something like that. Yeah. Louder. I don't know this word. Oh. Loud. Soft. Right?

I can speak soft. Say, "Jennifer, I can't hear you. Speak louder." Soft and loud.

So let's actually practice...let's find opposites. For example, young and old or old and new. Right?

We know "soft" is the opposite of "loud." "Weak" is the opposite of...weak -- strong.

Fast -- slow. Dirty -- clean. Clean. Cheap -- expensive. And heavy...

Light? Light. Actually, I don't have it here, but what's the opposite of "cold"?

Hot. Mm-hmm. Small? Big. Oh there's "hot." Hot and cold. Small -- big.

And do we have anymore? Ah. I didn't give you this, but do you know the

opposite of "beautiful"? Ugly. Good. Uglier, uglier. With a y.

Uglier. So Anna can say to Ava, what? "Your shoes is...are uglier than mine." Very good. Than mine.

My shoes are prettier. Right? I don't know. Oh what's the opposite of "interesting"?

It's not here. Do you know? No. Starts with b.

Interesting. Remember? How do I feel? I'm bored.

But the adjective, the opposite of "interesting" is "boring." Yeah.

An interesting movie. Like, "Oh wow! That's really interesting!" Or, "Boring!" Interesting -- boring.

How do you feel? Bored. I'm bored. But when we describe things like a movie, a book,

it's interesting. It's boring. Interesting --boring.

Your turn. Have some fun. Imagine two brothers. Each one thinks

that he's better than the other. Look at the photos and make sentences.

Use comparative adjectives.

Aw.

They're also measuring cups. See?

Matryoshka? Yes!

Many people in the U.S. don't say "matryoshka." They say "nesting dolls."

Nesting dolls? Doll. Like little girls play with dolls.

Yeah. Dolls.

Nesting dolls. How do you know "matryoshka"?

What do they say in Portuguese?

Matryoshka. Really?

Probably because there are Russians in Brazil.

Yeah. Because Americans would not say "matryoshka." They would say "nesting dolls."

Interesting. Okay. So we have measuring cups. Which ones are more interesting?

You can say "the matryoshka." The nesting dolls are more interesting. Which ones

are more beautiful? These ones are more beautiful. And because "beautiful" is a big a big word, a long word,

we say more beautiful, more interesting. Okay. But we could also use

the opposite...if I can find it.

Less. Less. More beautiful. Less beautiful.

So if these ones are more interesting,

these ones are less less interesting. These ones are more beautiful. These ones

are less beautiful. Mm-hmm. Less beautiful is similar [to] "ugly"?

Well, no. I mean, because you can have two things that are beautiful, but one is

more beautiful...less beautiful. Not ugly, but less. Okay. Less beautiful. Right?

So, again remember with long adjectives, we can use "more" or "less." More or less.

With the shorter adjectives, we add the -er: easier, cuter. But these are more

interesting and more beautiful. Which ones do you think were more expensive?

The nesting dolls. Yeah, probably. Yeah. The nesting dolls were more expensive.

Do you know what these are? For what? Books. For books. Because I like to...to read and

if you have a book with many pages, you need to put this in the book. Right?

It's a bookmark. Mm-hmm. Bookmark. You use a bookmark. You can see the

different kinds, like a piano keyboard, but the colors are like a rainbow. Maybe.

This one is Japanese. Feel. It feels nice. Yeah. It feels nice. It's good paper. Yeah.

Okay. When we make comparisons, we have two things, like this is more beautiful.

These are smaller. Two. But here I have more than two, so I can ask, "Which one is

the most interesting?" All right? What do you think? Which is the most beautiful?

Which? This. This is what? [It] is more beautiful..is more beautiful than...those.

Those. Okay. You could say this is more beautiful than those and compare.

Or 1, 2, 3, 4 . This is...oops...the most...the most...most...of all of them.

This is the most beautiful...the most beautiful bookmark. This is the most

beautiful bookmark. Right? Which one is the most colorful? This is the most

colorful one, or this is the most colorful bookmark. Which one is the

funniest? Very good. This is the funniest of all. So you could use: This is the funniest.

This is the funniest bookmark. This is the funniest bookmark of all.

"Of all" because we have 1, 2, 3, 4. Of the whole group. Um, I can say I guess...

I like the piano, so for me this one's the best. This is the best bookmark. This

is the best one of all. The best one of all. Of all.

I have questions.

You have to listen. Which wild animal is the most beautiful of all? Mm-hmm. it's

I think it's [a] lion.

So I think that the lion or a lion is the most beautiful of all.

Um, what's the most difficult language of all?

I'll give you some choices: Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Arabic, Hindi, Portuguese...

Portuguese is difficult.

Arabic. Arabic. Arabic is...is the most difficult language of all. Mm-hmm.

Which language...? Of all. Arabic is the most difficult language of all. (repeats)

Which language do you think is more difficult, Arabic or Chinese?

Chinese is more difficult than Arabic. Yeah. I think they're both are difficult.

Okay. Which car is more expensive, a BMW or a Toyota? BMW. A BMW is the most...

Now I have two, so you need to pay attention. Am I saying two or more? Which car is more expensive?

A BMW or a Toyota? Two. So a BMW is

more expensive than Toyota..Toyota..a Toyota.

What is the most expensive car in the world?

I don't know, but maybe. Maybe Ferrari. Maybe a Ferrari is the most expensive of all. Yeah. Maybe.

We use the ending -est with short adjectives when we talk about three or more things.

We use "the most" and "the least" before long adjectives when we talk

about three or more things. Sometimes we add "of all" to make our statement strong

and clear: the biggest of all, the most interesting of all, the least interesting of all.

Look at the photos and answer the questions.

Okay. You remember my nesting dolls, the matryoshka. These are measuring cups.

Measuring cups. We use them to measure. Measure. We can measure sugar,

measure flour, measure rice. How much is this? One cup. And how much is that? Can you see?

One cup. Right?

So is one bigger than the other? They're different, but this is one cup and this

is one cup, so this cup is as big as this cup. They're the same. They're the same.

Two-thirds. Do I have two-thirds?

No, I don't.

One-third. You see? One-third. Uh-huh.

Are they different or the same? Different. Well, they look different, but this is one-third

and this is one-third, so they're the same. Right? This is as big as this. As big as.

So when two things are equal, we use "as...as," for example,

this cup is as big as this cup. They're the same. As big as. As small as. That's the same. As big as.

The nesting doll cup is as big as this cup. I can talk about other things and use other adjectives.

So for example, Rio de Janeiro and

Fortaleza. Fortaleza. Okay. So they're both hot. So I could say, "Fortaleza is as hot as

Rio." Right? Because they're both hot. Yes. Fortaleza as...You need a verb: is.

Fortaleza is as hot as Rio de Janeiro. And Rio de Janeiro is as hot as Fortaleza.

They're equally hot. This is like math! Okay. Half. This is easy. Half. One cup. Okay. Which one is bigger?

This is bigger than this. Very good.

Yeah. So this is bigger. This is smaller. The opposite is saying

oops..."not as." And then you make the comparison. That's the opposite.

Are they equal? Are they the same? No, this one is bigger. This one is smaller.

This one is not as big as the other. It's just the same idea. Right?

If I say, "This is smaller. This is bigger. This is not as big as the other." As that one.

That one. Not as big. So you can use this with adjectives when they're equal.

And you can flip it and say "not as" when they're different. "Not as."

You said that your city is hotter. Yes. So that means that your city is

Cold.

What's the name of your city? Porto Alegre is not as hot as São Paulo.

Which also means that São Paulo is a little colder. Right?

And you could also do that if the difference is small, you can say "a little" or "a lot."

Is São Paulo a lot colder or a little colder? A little colder. A little colder. All right.

So, for example, just differences. A little? You can say "a little smaller."

A little smaller. They're both small. This is a little smaller than that one.

This is not as bigger? Not as big. This is not as big as that. That one. You got it.

We can also say "handsome."

"Beautiful" is for women. "Handsome" is for men. Handsome, handsome, handsome. We use "more."

More. More handsome. Less handsome. For men. For men. Who is more handsome so you

Johnny Depp is more handsome than Brad Pitt.

So you think that Brad Pitt is not as handsome as Johnny Depp.

I disagree. I think Brad Bitt is very handsome.

I think Johnny Depp is cute. He's funny. Johnny Depp is funnier, but

I think that Johnny Depp is not as handsome as Brad Pitt. What do you think?

Johnny Depp is not as handsome as Johnny Depp...ah! Brad Pitt. Oh.

I can't use "beautiful" for men?

You can, but it's it's more common to use "beautiful" for women. I mean

there can be a man that's just beautiful. Right? You know one word we could use for men and women

is gorgeous. Gorgeous. Gorgeous. He is gorgeous. She's gorgeous. It's very beautiful.

And then with "gorgeous" it sounds strange to talk about more gorgeous or

less gorgeous. Just gorgeous. Mm-hmm. Either you are gorgeous or not gorgeous.

We can either use "as" or "not as." So, for example, the two sisters they always fight.

Maybe both have cats. "My cat is pretty. No, my cat is prettier." Anna says that

your cat is not as pretty as my cat. So let's use the "not." All right? Can you give me another example?

Your car is not as fast as my car. Mm-hmm. It's not as fast as my car. My car is faster.

What else do they fight about? Your hair! Your hair is not as beautiful as mine.

Horrible sisters. I know!

We can use "as...as" with adjectives and adverbs to compare two things. We say

"as...as" to say the two things are the same. They're equal. We use "not as...as" to say they're not equal.

For example, Moscow is big. Boston is big. But Boston is not as big as Moscow.

Read my sentences. Then make a new sentence and use "as...as" or "not as...as."

At least, I think so!

What do you think?

Here's a hint. Don't make a negative sentence.

You can say:

Note how I use "just" here. I use "just" before "as." They're both fun. They're equally fun.

One is just as fun as the other.

Remember what you learned.

You can say:

Can you make good soup?

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