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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