Comparatives: Review

(copyright: Marvel Comics, 2016)

Today's post is a review of comparatives using "er", "more", "less", and "as___as". Using the chart above, let's look at some examples.

The Wolverine (third from the left) is  shorter than The Black Widow, but  he's not as short as Howard The Duck (Wolverine is taller than Howard)

Mystique (fifth from the left) isn't as strong as Spider-Man (he's stronger than her), but she's more dangerous than him. Gammora is less powerful than The Thing, but she is as tall as he is (she's the same height).

Grammar & Language

 We can compare two (or more) things using comparative adjectives.



For short words (with one or two syllables), we add "er" to the adjectives:

big ----> bigger   

tall ----> taller

silly ----> sillier

With three letter words, we double the last consonant (b,c,d,f,g, etc). For words like "silly", "y" becomes "i". 

For longer words (three syllables or more), we use "more" or "less" with the adjectives.

intelligent ----> more/less intelligent

dangerous ----> more/less dangerous

Now, we can also compare using "as + adjective + as + noun".

I'm as tall as my brother = we're the same height

We can also make a negative comparison by using "not + as + adjective + noun"

I'm not as tall as my brother = my brother is taller than I

Notice that the adjectives don't change when using "as" to compare.

Exercise 1

Make a comparative sentence (er, more/less, as_as) using the words below the photos. The first question is done as an example

1/

Superman/much/strong/Batman.

Superman is much stronger than Batman.

2/

Russia's national hockey team not/good/  Canada's.

3/

Sumo wrestlers are much/big/ than football players, but they are/not/athletic

4/

Banana ice cream is just/good/ raspberry swirl. I don't know which one I want.

5/

Merrell hiking sandals are/stylish/  Nike's, but, Merrells are/durable than Nikes. 

6/

Digital comic books are much/affordable than physical comic books. However,

   tablet comics not/fun to own as real comic books.

For more on the grammar of comparatives, watch Valen's lesson on EngVid.