ADJECTIVE COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE Forming Comparative and Superlative Adjectives One-syllable adjectives.

Form the comparative and superlative forms of a one-syllable adjective by adding er for the comparative form and est for the superlative. One-Syllable Adjective Comparative Form Superlative Form tall taller tallest old older oldest long longer longest Mary is taller than Max. Mary is the tallest of all the students. Max is older than John. Of the three students, Max is the oldest. My hair is longer than your hair. Max's story is the longest story I've ever heard. If the one-syllable adjective ends with an e, just add r for the comparative form and st for the superlative form. One-Syllable Adjective with Final -e Comparative Form Superlative Form large larger largest wise wiser wisest Mary's car is larger than Max's car. Mary's house is the tallest of all the houses on the block. Max is wiser than his brother. Max is the wisest person I know. If the one-syllable adjective ends with a single consonant with a vowel before it, double the consonant and add er for the comparative form; and double the consonant and add est for the superlative form. One-Syllable Adjective Ending with a Single Consonant with a Single Vowel before It Infinitive Comparative Form Superlative Form big bigger biggest thin thinner thinnest fat fatter fattest My dog is bigger than your dog. My dog is the biggest of all the dogs in the neighborhood. Max is thinner than John. Of all the students in the class, Max is the thinnest. My mother is fatter than your mother. Mary is the fattest person I've ever seen. Two-syllable adjectives. With most two-syllable adjectives, you form the comparative with more and the superlative with most. Two-Syllable Adjective Comparative Form Superlative Form peaceful more peaceful most peaceful pleasant more pleasant most pleasant careful more careful most careful thoughtful more thoughtful most thoughtful This morning is more peaceful than yesterday morning. Max's house in the mountains is the most peaceful in the world. Max is more careful than Mike.

 Of all the taxi drivers, Jack is the most careful. Jill is more thoughtful than your sister. Mary is the most thoughtful person I've ever met. If the two-syllable adjectives ends with y, change the y to i and add er for the comparative form. For the superlative form change the y to i and add est. Two-Syllable Adjective Comparative Form Superlative Form Ending with -y happy happier happiest angry angrier angriest busy busier busiest John is happier today than he was yesterday. John is the happiest boy in the world. Max is angrier than Mary. Of all of John's victims, Max is the angriest. Mary is busier than Max. Mary is the busiest person I've ever met. Two-syllable adjectives ending in er, -le, or ow take er and est to form the comparative and superlative forms. Two-Syllable Adjective Ending with -er, -le, or -ow Infinitive Comparative Form Superlative Form narrow narrower narrowest gentle gentler gentlest The roads in this town are narrower than the roads in the city. This road is the narrowest of all the roads in California. Big dogs are gentler than small dogs. Of all the dogs in the world, English Mastiffs are the gentlest. Adjectives with three or more syllables. For adjectives with three syllables or more, you form the comparative with more and the superlative with most. Adjective with Three or More Syllables Infinitives Comparative Form Superlative Form generous more generous most generous important more important most important intelligent more intelligent most intelligent John is more generous than Jack. John is the most generous of all the people I know. Health is more important than money. Of all the people I know, Max is the most important. Women are more intelligent than men. Mary is the most intelligent person I've ever met. Exceptions. Irregular adjectives. Irregular Adjective Comparative Form Superlative Form good better best bad worse worst far farther farthest little less least many more most Italian food is better than American food. My dog is the best dog in the world.

 My mother's cooking is worse than your mother's cooking. Of all the students in the class, Max is the worst. Two-syllable adjectives that follow two rules. These adjectives can be used with -er and -est and with more and most. Two-Syllable Adjective Comparative Form Superlative Form clever cleverer cleverest clever more clever most clever gentle gentler gentlest gentle more gentle most gentle friendly friendlier friendliest friendly more friendly most friendly quiet quieter quietest quiet more quiet most quiet simple simpler simplest simple more simple most simple Big dogs are gentler than small dogs. Of all the dogs in the world, English Mastiffs are the gentlest. Big dogs are more gentle than small dogs. Of all the dogs in the world, English Mastiffs are the most gentle. Form 1. One syllable adjectives Comparative: add er (cheaper) Superlative: add est (the cheapest) 2. One syllable adjectives ending in 'e' Comparative: add r (nicer) Superlative: add st (the nicest) 3. One syllable adjectives ending in consonant - vowel - consonant Comparative: add consonant + er (hotter) Superlative: add consonant + est (the hottest) 4. Two syllable adjectives ending in 'y' Comparative: replace 'y' with ier (happier) Superlative: replace 'y' with iest (the happiest) 5. Two or more syllable adjectives Comparative: add more / less (more / less beautiful) Superlative: add the most / the least (the most / least beautiful) 6. Irregular adjectives good - better - the best bad - worse - the worst far - further - the furthest 7. Equality and inequality as + adjective + as not as + adjective + as 8. Modifying comparatives much / a lot / far / a little / a bit / slightly + comparative adjective 9. Modifying superlatives by far / easily / nearly + superlative adjective Meaning 1. We use comparative adjectives to compare two things. John is thinner than Bob. It's more expensive to travel by train than by bus.

 My house is smaller than my friend's house. 2. We use superlative adjectives to compare one thing with the rest of the group it belongs to. John is the tallest in the class. He's the best football player in the team. This is the most expensive hotel I've ever stayed in. 3. We use as + adjective + as to say that two things are equal in some way. He's as tall as me. Jim's car is as fast as mine. 4. We use not as + adjective + as to say that two things are not equal in some way. Jim's car is not as fast as mine. 5. We can repeat comparatives to say that something is changing. These exams are getting worse and worse every year. She gets more and more beautiful every time I see her. Additional points 1. We can modify comparatives with much, a lot, far, a little, a bit, slightly. Bob is much richer than I am. My mother's hair is slightly longer than mine. 2. We can modify superlatives with by far, easily and nearly. Mario's is by far the best restaurant in town. I'm nearly the oldest in the class. 3. We do not use the with the superlative if there is a possessive. His strongest point is his ambition. 4. If the second part of a comparative or superlative sentence is clear from what comes before or from the context, we can omit it. Going by bus is very fast, but the train is more comfortable. GRADOS DE UN ADJETIVO Los grados de comparacin del adjetivo son tres: POSITIVO: Es el adjetivo en su forma simple, bsica: nice, lindo; big, grande;COMPARATIVO: Establece la relacin o comparacin entre dos cosas; SUPERLATIVO: Denota el ms alto grado de una cualidad. Estos dos ltimos grados se explican a continuacin y tienen siempre como punto de partida el adjetivo en su grado positivo: COMPARATIVOS DE IGUALDAD AFIRMATIVO AS + adjective + AS = TAN + adjetivo + COMO This book is as interesting as that magazine. Este libro es tan interesante como esa revista. Buenos Aires is as expensive as Tokyo Buenos Aires es tan cara como Tokio. NEGATIVO NOT AS + adjective + AS = NO TAN + adjetivo + COMO This flat is not as big as that house. Este departamento no es tan grande como esa casa. Paris is not as expensive as Tokyo Pars no es tan cara como Tokio. DE SUPERIORIDAD Los monoslabos y los bislabos terminados en sonido voclico o con acento en la segunda slaba forman el comparativo aadiendo -er al adjetivo: ADJETIVOS HASTA

2 SILABAS adjective + ER + THAN = MAS + adjetivo + QUE This book is cheaper than that magazine. Este libro es ms barato que esa revista. Con los polislabos se antepone more (ms) al adjetivo seguido de than (quecomparativo): ADJETIVOS DE MAS DE 2 SILABAS MORE + adjective + THAN = MAS + adjetivo + QUE Paris is more interesting than Los Angeles. Pars es ms interesante que Los Angeles. DE INFERIORIDAD Se antepone less (menos) al adjetivo seguido de than (que comparativo): less expensive than, menos caro que; less intelligent than, menos inteligente que. SUPERLATIVOS 1. Los monoslabos y bislabos aaden la terminacin -est al adjetivo: You are the tallest, eres el ms alto; Mount Everest is the highest mountain, el monte Everest es la montaa ms alta. 2. Los polislabos anteponen the most (el ms, los ms, la ms, las ms) al adjetivo: This book is the most expensive, este libro es el ms caro. 3. El superlativo de inferioridad se forma aadiendo the least (el menos) al adjetivo: La Rioja is the least expensive province in Argentina, La Rioja es la provincia argentina menos cara. COMPARATIVOS Y SUPERLATIVOS IRREGULARES good, bueno bad, malo late, tarde little, poco much, mucho many, muchos old, viejo better than, mejor que worse than, peor que later than o latter, posterior less than, menos que more than, ms que more than, ms que older than o elder than, mayor que the best, el mejor the worst, el peor the latest o the last, el ltimo the least, el mnimo the most, el mximo the most, el mximo the oldest o the eldest, el mayor

1. Joe is shorter than Ed. (short) 2. Al is the shortest. (short) 3. Ed is the thinnest. (thin)

4. Joe is thinner than Al. (thin) 5. Al has the most colourful clothes. (colourful) 6. Al is heavier than Joe. (heavy) 7. Ed is the lightest. (light) 8. Joe is happier than Ed. (happy) 9. Ed is the most mysterious. (mysterious) 10. Joe is more energetic than Ed. (energetic)

Could / Should Offering options and advice Offering Help vs. Giving Advice COULD SHOULD

Could states an option or a suggestion other options to try. Should states advice, a stronger suggestion - the best option to do. "I lost my wallet. What am I going to do?" "Well, you could . . . go back to the last place you saw it. check the lost and found. remember where you went today. search your house and car. "I lost my wallet. What am I going to do?" You should . . . cancel your credit cards. notify the campus police. suggestion (count noun) a helpful idea, plan, or possibility that someone mentions advice (noncount noun) an opinion you give someone about what they should do Options and Advice Not Taken COULD HAVE SHOULD HAVE Could have states past options, suggestions, or solutions that were not taken or done. The person states them too late to act upon. Should have states advice about something in the past. The person states them too late to act upon them. "My computer froze and I lost the project I was working on!" "You could have . . . used auto-save tried the escape key used a back-up drive or site "My computer froze and I lost the project I was working on!" "You should have . . . used auto-save tried the escape key used a back-up drive or site