Lesson 7 forming the comparatives and superlatives of adjectives and adverbs

 Lesson 7 forming the comparatives and superlatives of adjectives and adverbs

explanation	examples
For one-syllable adjectives and two-syllable adjectives ending in -y, add -er and -est to form the comparative and superlative forms.  Note: exceptions include good, better, the best; bad, worse, the worst.	Washington, DC is cold in the winter.  Boston is colder than Washington, DC.  Quebec City is the coldest.  For a sports car, I think that black is better than white, but the best color is red.
Other adjectives are preceded by more and the most to form the comparative and superlative forms.	Venice is more beautiful than Rome.  Florence is the most beautiful city in Italy.
One-syllable adverbs follow the same rule as one-syllable adjectives.	Rita reads fast.  Her brother Marcus reads faster.  Their mother reads the fastest.
Adverbs that end in -ly are preceded by more and the most.	Peter drives slowly at night.  Peter drives more slowly in the rain.  Peter drives the most slowly in the snow.
When the items being compared are the same, use as + adjective/ adverb + as or the same + noun + as	In my opinion, Chicago is as wonderful as Miami.  Sylvia attends the same school as Martin.

Exercise 1

Practice with comparatives and superlatives

1. I think Lionel Messi is a (good) _______ player than Cristiano Ronaldo. 

2. The kitchen is (long) _______ than the dining room. 

3. MIT has a (difficult) _____ curriculum, than Harvard, doesn't it?

4. The (hot) ____ place I have ever visited is Death Valley, California. 

5. Kira likes a (causal) ________ style of clothes than her sister. 

6. The final exam ended (quickly) ______ than everyone anticipated. 

7. The (perfect) _______ highway in the world has to be Germany’s Autobahn. 

8. The _______ (bad) cup of coffee I ever tasted was in a bus station last month. 

Parallel structure

Words in a list should be the same part of speech. Use three nouns, three adjectives, or three verbs, but do not mix these parts of speech. 

Though London in 1900 was quite different from London in 2000 in many ways, important similarities existed in population, employment, and transportation. 

Phrases and clauses in a list should be parallel. Use a prepositional phrase and another prepositional phrase, a noun clause and another noun clause, and so on. 

Survey results can be misleading because there is a huge difference between what people think they do and what people actually do. 

Exercise: using comparatives, superlatives, and parallel structure. 

If an underline part of a sentence below is incorrect, write a correction above it. 

1. The most expensive items in this company’s budget are employees salaries, communication costs, and supplies that are used in the office. 

2. Without a doubt, I think Cairo is more interested to visit than either Buenos Aires or Tokyo. 

3. The car was going as fast as the truck was, but the car had an accident because it turned the corner more sharply than the truck. 

4. When you are a first time visitor to a new city, the more important things that you need are a clean place to stay, good food that you can eat, and enough money to get both of these. 

5. Some doctors believe that it is most healthy to eat several small meals each day than it is to eat one big meal.