Comparative and Superlative Adjectives in English - Comparative Adjectives

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so in today's live stream we are going to be  talking about comparatives and superlatives  

and next week we'll be talking about  conditionals which is an intermediate uh  

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so today we will be talking about  comparatives and superlatives  

so today i am going to give a ppt lesson and while  i am talking you can post questions or comments  

and after the lesson i will go through and see  your comments answer your questions okay so  

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all right so let's go ahead and begin  today's lesson so here we see my ppt is up  

so please follow along and i hope that  you learned something useful today  

okay guys today we are going to learn  about comparative and superlative  

adjectives these are two kinds of  adjectives we can use to compare in english  

uh some of these things maybe it sounds familiar  to you but hopefully today i can give you some  

tips and tricks for how to use these words  and how to know how to use them correctly  

all right let's get started so first today we  are going to talk about comparative adjectives  

so here in the word comparative this comes  from the word compare do any of you know  

well what does it mean to compare if i have two  things what does it mean if i am comparing them

to compare is to talk about what is the  same or different between two or more things  

so first today we're going to  look at comparative adjectives

so comparative adjectives there are actually  two ways we can use comparative adjectives  

the first is er than and so  we'd have our adjective here

and the second way is more than more  adjective than so how do we know which to use  

for example if i wanted to use the adjective  short would i say shorter than or more short than  

i would say shorter than right  what if i had a word like expensive  

i say expensiver than or more expensive  than i would say more expensive than  

that may sound right to you but do you know why  there is a simple trick to help you remember which  

one to use and that has to do with how  many syllables are in a word so to use er  

our adjective should have one or two syllables  more adjective than our adjectives have three or  

more syllables so what's a syllable a syllable  is how many vowel sounds we hear in a word  

and if you guys know a vowel these are certain  letters in english a e i o and u so for example  

uh let's say i have a word like banana how  many vowels do i hear in that word banana  

three what if i go back to the word expensive  how many vowels do i hear expensive also three  

what about that adjective short  well there i only hear oh short  

this can be a little confusing though so we  can use the clap test when you clap along  

as you say a word it's much easier to hear  how many syllables there are which we'll  

get some practice with in just a moment so  going back to comparative adjectives we use  

er than for adjectives with one or two syllables  and more adjective than adjectives with three  

or more syllables a quick note also so we also  use more than for adjectives that end in ed ing  

ful and l-e-s-s even if they only have  two one or two syllables for example  

let's say i have the adjective tired tired two  syllables right i hear the i and the e tired  

but i wouldn't say tireder than i would say more  tired than because that adjective ends in ed  

and it would be the same for adjectives  ending in ing uh like um boring  

math class is more boring than english class  ful i think english is more useful than  

uh pottery or l-e-s-s um she is not as helpless  or she is less helpless than uh her friend  

something like this so let's take a look at  some adjectives and see if we can sort them  

would we use er then or more adjective than  so we'll go through so first we have big  

big right we just hear that i big  which we can also do the clap test with  

so how many syllables big one so we would use  bigger than okay next one we have exciting  

exciting so there we again we hear three exciting  exciting so we would say more exciting than

okay we'll go through these next ones a  little quickly next we have salty salty has  

two syllables so we'd say saltier  than tasty also two syllables  

tastier than all right our next word  we have is comfortable or comfortable  

so three or four syllables depending on how  you say it so we'd say more comfortable than  

next we have smart can you hear how many syllables  smart smart one so we would say smarter than  

next we have the word helpful ooh this  one's a little tricky helpful helpful  

two syllables right but would i say helpfuler  than no helpful is an adjective that ends in  

f-u-l so i would say more helpful than next we  have quiet two syllables quieter than friendly  

two syllables friendlier than our next word  interesting four syllables more interesting than  

okay next one tired two syllables right but it  ends in ed so i would say more tired than and our  

last one healthy two so healthier than so this is  an easy way to figure out do i use er than or more  

than we need to figure out how many  syllables are in these adjectives  

there are some exceptions to this rule that don't  really follow this one or two or three or more  

syllables rule the first word is good so if i'm  comparing two things would i say gooder than or  

more good then no i would say better than  i think that uh pizza is better than pasta  

how about bad would i say badder than or more bad  than no i would say worse than there are two more  

words that are common exceptions and the first one  is the word fun so fun one syllable but we don't  

say funner than in english we say more fun than  this is because when fun became an english word  

it was first only a noun over time it became  an adjective so because of that we still use  

it differently than other adjectives and say more  fun than famous is similar famous two syllables  

but do we say famous or then here we would say  more famous than as well for a similar reason  

so be careful about these exceptions so let's  go ahead and compare some things let's see  

if we can come up with some sentences to  compare two things so here we have winter  

and summer so if i want to compare i can think  of some words to describe winter like cold uh  

summer of course is hot i might say summer is  fun uh so if i use this in a sentence i could say  

winter is colder than summer i  could say summer is hotter than  

winter or with our word fun which  remember is an exception so i don't say  

funner then i say more fun than summer is more  fun than winter how would you compare these two  

let's look at a couple more here we have a  delicious fried chicken and a uh delicious apple  

so some words we could use to describe them an  apple of course sweet and apple is very healthy  

uh the fried chicken i could  use words like crispy oily  

tasty right a lot of words that end in  y to describe taste so if i wanted to  

compare these using comparative adjectives i  could say the apple is healthier than the chicken  

or i could say something like the uh chicken  is oilier oilier than the apple we can also do  

less than so it doesn't have to be a more uh  let's say healthier it could be less healthy  

as well right so we can do more or less when  we compare so if we had a word like expensive

i could say something like  apples are less expensive  

than chicken we don't have to always use more  okay let's do one more example here we have  

math class and art class so what do you think if  i put the words up here like fun uh interesting

how about a word like creative

difficult what do you think  which one is more difficult  

so difficult three syllables we use more difficult  than so it might be your opinion maybe you think  

math class is more difficult than art class  or maybe art is not easy for you and you think  

art class is more difficult than  math or less difficult than math

so the last thing we will look at for comparatives  is questions often when we ask questions to  

compare things we use which for example which  is more enjoyable reading or watching movies  

which is better japanese food or chinese food  so here we see the basic structure is which  

is and our adjective right our comparative  adjective better more enjoyable more expensive  

more fun uh bigger stronger taller  and then our two options blank or  

blank so which is better watching a video  or having a live lesson what do you think  

so why don't you go ahead and practice using  this question structure in the chat you can ask  

me for my opinion about different things try  to do that using some comparative adjectives

okay guys next we're going to talk about  superlative adjectives so what does that word mean  

superlative this means the most the highest amount  of something and instead of using er than and more  

than we use the ist and the most and  again here is where we put our adjectives  

so just like with comparative adjectives we use  the same rule to figure out which one to use  

we use the if with adjectives that have one  to two syllables and the most with adjectives  

that have three or more syllables or  have these endings e-d-i-n-g-f-u-l  

or l-e-s-s so let's see if we can match so  first we have tall one syllable so the tallest  

boring two syllables would i say the boringest

ends in ing the most boring creamy two syllables  

the creamiest greasy two syllables same the  greasiest fried chicken is the greasiest fast food  

convenient three syllables so  i'd say the most convenient  

i think uh having a car is the most convenient  way to get around new one syllable the newest  

cheerful two syllables but  ends in f-u-l the most cheerful  

loud one syllable the loudest  busy two syllables the busiest  

here we have that word again interesting four  syllables the most interesting i think doing  

live streams is the most interesting because i  love to talk to you guys and see your questions  

excited three syllables and it ends in ed the  most excited and finally messy two the messiest  

so if you are ever confused about which to use  remember the same rule we use the same rule here  

as we do with comparatives how  many syllables do those adjectives  

have and we have the same exceptions so  remember we don't say gooder than we say  

better than and likewise we don't say the  goodest or the most good we say the best  

with bad just like we would say worse than  we don't say the baddest or the most bad  

we say the worst and r2 other words fun remember  we don't say funner than we say more fun than  

and likewise we don't say the funnest we say  the most fun and we don't say the famousest but  

the most famous so remember these four words are  really common exceptions to this rule all right  

let's practice using some superlatives so here  we have a lion a zebra and an elephant so if i  

want to use a superlative we're talking about the  most something so what superlative will start easy  

well what superlative could i give to the  elephant i could say something like where  

did my mouse go there it is i could say  something like the elephant is the biggest  

right i could say the lion is the smallest  in this picture or what if i wanted to  

see which one is the most terrifying the most  scary animal well i would say the lion is the most

terrifying the most scary i would not want to run  into a lion and i don't think you would either  

for the zebra maybe we could say it's the  

shyest right maybe uh not we might see  uh elephants being social right uh zebras  

maybe they just run away they're the shyest all  right next we have three people so we'll start  

with some again with some easy superlatives on  the right here we could say he is the tallest

and of course we could also talk about him  right here the shortest or from the looks of it  

the oldest

and how about our person in the middle what  superlative could we use for this person well  

i think it looks like he is ready for summer so i  would say maybe his clothes are the most summery

the most summery clothes right he's got  shorts and flip-flops looks like he's ready  

for summer so when we use superlatives  we're talking about the highest the most  

when we are asking questions with superlatives  we often use what for example what is the  

most exciting action movie or what is the  spiciest food you have eaten but don't forget  

we can use all other wh questions as well who is  the friendliest person you have met who is the

most interesting person you've  met when is the best time  

for me to see you we can use maybe maybe  that's not the best example but we can use  

uh the other whs as well so just like i hope  you did for comparatives go ahead and try to  

write a superlative question what  is the and here if we use what  

what is the and then our superlative  adjective i'm just gonna put s a

and then what it is the most exciting  action movie spiciest food you have eaten  

like this okay so try to ask me some questions  

all right guys the last thing we're going to  do before i take your questions is see if we  

can figure out what word do we use how do we  know when to use a comparative or superlative  

so let's go ahead and go through and see if we  can figure it out okay number one nirmala is  

then james okay so number one are we comparing  two things or are we talking about the most  

of something well in number one we're comparing  two people and another clue is the word than  

so here i would say nirmala is older than  james we are comparing so we use er than  

okay next one mount kinabalu is the mountain in  southeast asia okay and number two am i comparing  

two things or talking about the most of something  and number two i am not comparing i'm only talking  

about this mountain so i would use a superlative  it is the highest notice we don't use than  

that's also a clue so you know which one to use  it is the highest mountain in southeast asia  

number three she is the biology teacher we have  okay so am i comparing do we see then in there we  

do not but we do see the which means we're about  to use a superlative and good do we say goodest  

she is the best biology teacher we have

number four it is today than yesterday okay so are  we comparing talking about the most of something  

again we see this word then which is a clear  giveaway that we are comparing so we would  

say it is cooler today than yesterday so we are  comparing today's weather to yesterday's weather

okay number five a carpet is expensive than a rug  so here we see van and we're comparing a carpet  

and a rug a carpet is more expensive than rug  right expensive three syllables so more expensive  

number six they are the students in this school  

okay so we're talking about in the whole school  they are something the highest the most the

cleverest okay almost finished guys is susan then  her sister so hopefully you can see by now how  

it's set up we're comparing susan and her sister  and we see that word then is susan would i say  

popular or more popular than more popular than  right popular three syllables more popular than  

number eight he is the person i know we're using  lazy we're not comparing so we want to use a  

superlative lazy two syllables he is the laziest  person i know angel falls is the waterfall in the  

world so just like we saw in the school in the  world we are talking about a superlative and here  

high would become highest the highest waterfall  in the world and last one before we take some  

questions this cheesecake is delicious delicious  than the chocolate cake so could be your opinion  

more delicious or less delicious than the  chocolate cake so remember the syllable rule that  

helps you choose is it or than or more than is it  the ist or the most something remember syllables  

are the way that we can figure it out and when  you're looking at sentences should i use a  

comparative should i use a superlative words like  then and the really give away which one to use

okay guys let's mix it out okay  uh so that's the lesson for today  

i see we have here justina hello  teacher nice seeing you again  

nice seeing you too thank you so much for your  comment thank you for your time it's very late  

or should i say early yes depends where you are  right it is only it's the afternoon here uh but  

i know depending on where you're watching maybe  it's very late or very early uh where am i from  

what do you think i am from america and i am  actually from uh new york but i have lived in  

many other states how about you where are you  from maybe you can let me know in a comment

hello nice to meet you from tunisia  well very nice to meet you too thank  

you so much for tuning in on today's lesson  i have doubt about friendly uh i'm not sure  

what you mean by that question do you do you mean  how to use friendly in uh like comparatives or  

superlatives is that about the lesson friendly uh  if this is what you're asking if not you can leave  

another comment to maybe try to ask again friendly  we have two syllables so we would say friendlier  

than or the friendliest if we're using it in that  way danny is as fluent in english as you yes it is  

true uh and actually what you brought up there  as as is another way we can compare maybe we'll  

talk about that in a future lesson as adjective as  means the same as fluent as the same if i met you  

and you are my same height you are as tall as me  same yeah good a good another great way to compare  

uh very well the review of the comparatives  more than what about less than uh so thank  

you very much pedro for your question uh  so less than all of the same rules apply  

we're just changing one word right so the syllable  rule uh all of that is still exactly the same  

we're just changing the word and the meaning of  the sentence right so let's say i am using the  

word expensive uh easy easy word easy adjective  to think of uh so i could say for example  

um the house is more expensive than the car  if i want to use less expensive if i have car  

and house houses more expensive the car  is less expensive so if i want to use less  

the car is less expensive than the house so  we use them we use less than in the same way

ah so here uh please give us some homework to so  you could practically be practically involved i  

think that is a wonderful idea and i think  that's something we uh we will try to do on  

future live streams is uh maybe post a worksheet  that you guys can download so as you follow along  

you can fill it in and have a real a real  lesson and have some practice for after hello  

hello nice way of teaching thank you very much  in superlatives is the always necessary uh  

yes so for example let's say i want to i'll give  you two examples so when we have superlatives we  

say the ist or the most so let's say let's use  a one or two syllable word so in the lesson  

we talked about i did an example about uh the  biggest so i could not say the elephant is biggest  

we yes we must use the the elephant is the  biggest or with the three or more syllable word um  

let's say uh comfortable or how about yeah  comfortable i could say uh i think going to  

a cat like cafes are the most comfortable  place to study we do have to use the yes

great job with good explanation thank you  muhammad who is the cleverest of the meeting  

oh magic mirror like mirror mirror on the wall  who's the fairest of them all it sounds better  

the most clever ah so um yes and i i will say  we we do say the cleverest uh the most clever  

would also be accepted so one thing with  these is if you're talking to a native  

english speaker they will understand what you mean  so if you say the most clever or the cleverest  

they will understand right uh so who is the  cleverest in the meeting uh maybe in our in  

our live stream today who is the cleverest  all of you of course you are the cleverest  

wonderful lesson thank you very much well thank  you thanks for your lesson thank you thank you  

guys for all of your wonderful comments um i and  thank you from gulam from pakistan thank you very  

much for your very kind comment i appreciate it  the world the most world fastest animal is cheetah  

so uh thank you so much for your question  so here uh if we well i won't pull  

up the ppt again but so i'll i will just tell  you um we want to make sure that the most  

and our adjective stay together we don't want to  split that up in our sentence so here instead of  

the most world fastest animal is cheetah we  would say the fastest animal in the world  

is a cheetah because it's our adjective as  fast one syllable we just say the fastest the  

fastest animal in the world is the cheetah or  we could say the cheetah is the fastest animal  

in the world but we need to keep our superlative  together there the fastest animal is the cheetah

do i know british in american english yes of  course british english often has different  

spellings sometimes extra vowels like a u thrown  in there uh and a different accent i cannot speak  

with a british accent but i do know british  english yes and some british slang as well

uh let's see if we have do we have any more  questions thank you guys very much for all of your  

comments and questions um so and just so you  guys know this was left as a comment on our live  

stream as well so this week is kind of a more um  lower level or beginner lesson right comparative  

superlatives next week my live stream will be  an intermediate lesson so a little bit harder  

so next week we're going to learn about the  four conditionals in english using words like if  

then right so we're gonna talk  about some conditionals next week so  

if you enjoyed the live stream this week but  maybe you thought a little too easy then be sure  

to tune in next week also for a lesson that's  a little more difficult or even if you are um  

even if today was you know little challenging  still come next week because you'll definitely  

learn something from the lesson so make sure to  tune in next week so you guys uh that is it for  

the live stream today thank you everyone  for joining i love seeing your comments  

and interacting with you guys and answering  your questions so thanks again guys i hope that