Basic Adjective Comparisons - Learn English Grammar

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Hi, everybody, and welcome back to EnglishClass101.com's youtube channel.

My name is Alisha, and today we're going to talk about basic adjectives comparisons.

So today I'm going to explain how to make a basic adjective comparison, we'll talk about

short adjectives, long adjectives, and some sample question patterns, and some sample

statement patterns you can use with this grammar.

So, let's get started.

Okay, so first I want to talk about short adjectives.

So short adjectives are adjectives that are one to two syllables long, a syllable is the

beat of a word.

So, for example, the word small has one beat, small.

The word "fast" has one beat, fast.

"Pretty" has two syllables, pretty; so a syllable is like the beat of a word.

So for short adjectives, adjectives which have one to two syllables, to make the adjectives

comparative form, we use the adjective plus ER, this is how we make the adjective form,

the comparative form of the adjective.

However, please note if the adjective ends in a Y, like pretty, the form is still the

same, it's the adjective plus an ER sound, but the spelling does change, so if your adjective

ends in a Y, please drop the Y from the end of the adjective and add IER, instead of only

ER.

This is special, it's only for adjectives which end in Y, so please be careful with

spelling.

In pronunciation, it doesn't make that big of a difference, but just please note it when

you're writing things.

Okay, so for example, with the three adjectives I just mentioned, small, fast, and pretty,

we just add ER to the end.

Small becomes smaller, fast becomes "faster," pretty becomes "prettier" here.

So this is how we make the adjective the comparative form of an adjective, a short adjective, one

to two syllables.

Okay, let's talk about how to make the comparative form of an adjective with three or more syllables.

So, for a long adjective with three plus syllables, the adjective does not change, the adjective

stays the same, however, we have to add more or "less" before the adjective.

So for example, with the adjective "beautiful," we can add "more" or "less" in front of the

adjective, before the adjective, to make the comparative form.

The same thing applies to the adjective "expensive"; so expensive also gets "more" or "less" before

the adjective, and this makes the comparative form.

So please remember there is no need to change the adjective if the adjective is more than

three syllables.

If it's fewer than three syllables, please make sure to use this pattern, the short adjective

pattern.

However there are a few adjectives which have an irregular form, an irregular comparative

form, a few of them are up here on the board.

So, some irregular adjectives are "good," "bad," and "fun".

Good does not become good-er or more good.

Good in fact changes to "better," so please be careful here.

"Good" becomes "better".

Bad becomes "worse", we do not use batter or more bad, please use "worse".

Bad becomes worse in the comparative form.

For "fun," the long adjective rule applies to fun, so please use "more" or "less" in

front of the adjective "fun" to make the comparative form.

Okay, so now that we know how to make a comparison, let's talk about a few different patterns

that you can use to explain a comparison, to make a comparative statement, or to make

a question, to make a question asking someone to compare two or more items.

So, first, to make a positive comparison, we'll say A is plus the comparative adjective,

then B. So for example I could say, let's see...

This book is more expensive than that book.

I've used the comparative adjective form here, to use a short adjective, I could say, let's

see...

That shop is smaller than this shop.

So just make sure to use the comparative form here.

In the negative comparison, however, you'll see it's slightly different, when you make

a negative comparison, you'll say A is not as, plus the regular adjective, there's no

change to the adjective in this sentence pattern, as B.

So, for example, A is not as big as B. A is not as expensive as B. So please be careful,

when you're making a negative comparison, you're not changing the adjective, the adjective

will remain the same, there's no need to update this part, so please be careful here.

Finally, I want to talk about a few questions, so these are a few question patterns that

you can use along with your comparatives.

So for example, which is, plus your comparative adjective, A or B?

So, for example, which is more expensive A or B?

Or, which is bigger, A or B?

Here you need to use the comparative form of the adjective in your question.

The same thing here, is A or B, comparative adjective.

So, is A or B bigger?

Is A or B more expensive?

You can use both of these patterns to ask simple information questions using the comparative

form, so let's try this out in a few example sentences.

Okay.

So the first sentence that I have, My brother is _____ than me.

I want to use the adjective "funny" here.

So funny has two syllables, funny, it also ends in Y, so I know I need to apply this

rule I just talked about here.

So the correct answer is funnier.

My brother is funnier than me.

This is the correct answer.

Okay!

Let's go to this one, Thai food is ______ than French food.

For this one, I want to use the adjective spicy.

So spicy, just like funny, ends in Y and it's a short adjective, so again, I need to apply

this rule here.

So, Thai food is spicier then French food is the right answer for this one.

Okay, next I have, a new house is more, so this is a big hint word for me, more, ______

than a new car.

I want to use the adjective "expensive," I know that expensive is a long adjective, so

this is the rule that applies, this means there's no change to the adjective.

A new house is more expensive than a new car is the correct sentence here.

Okay, let's go to the next one, French fries are ______ than onion rings.

French fries are what?

So I want to use the irregular one, the irregular adjectives "good."

French fries are, good becomes better in the adjective comparison form, so French fries

are better than onion rings is the example sentence.

Okay, so let's go to next, Batman is ______ than Superman.

Alright!

So for this one, I want to use the adjective "exciting," so exciting has three syllables,

I know I need to use the long adjective rule here.

So, Batman is more exciting than Superman is the correct answer for this one.

Okay!

So let's go to the next one, shopping for clothes is not as _____ as shopping for food.

So we learned here there's no change to the adjective when I'm making a negative sentence.

So I want to use the adjective "fun" here.

Sun therefore does not change in this sentence.

So, shopping for clothes is not as fun as shopping for food.

Okay, the final example sentence, listening to music is more _____ than driving a car.

So here, again, I have this hint word, more, so that means that it's probably going to

be a long adjective, okay.

I want to use the adjective “relaxing” in this sentence.

So, more relaxing than driving a car.

Alright!

So these are a few examples of ways that you can use the adjective comparative form to

make a lot of different sentences, to make positive statements, to make negative statements,

and you can try to make a few questions with this grammar as well.

Just, if you, if you're not sure which adjective form to use, just think about the number of

syllables in the adjective you'd like to apply, and you can try using the rule we talked about

on this side of the board.

So I hope that you enjoyed this lesson!

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