TOEIC GrammarGLOBAL EDUCATION VIETNAM www.globaledu.com.vn Comparison 1. Comparison of adjectives (So sánh với tính từ) The comparative form of an adjective or adverb shows the difference between two objects. The superlative form of an adjective or adverb expresses the extreme quality of one thing in a group of things. a. Forming regular adjectives Adjectives One syllable light neat fast Only one syllable, ending in E wide fine cute One syllable, with one vowel and one consonant at the end. hot big fat sad Two syllables, ending in Y happy hotter bigger fatter sadder Change y to i, then ad –er happier hottest biggest fattest saddest Change y to i, then ad–est happiest wider finer cuter Double the consonant, and add –er widest finest cutest Double the consonant, and add –est Add –er lighter neater faster Add –r Comparative Superlative Add –est lightest neatest fastest Add –st 1 Sponsored by: TOEIC Grammar GLOBAL EDUCATION VIETNAM www.globaledu.com.vn silly lonely Two syllables or more, not ending in Y modern interesting beautiful sillier lonelier Use “more” before the adjective more modern more interesting more beautiful silliest loneliest Use “most” before the adjective most modern most interesting most beautiful Some two syllables add “-er’ or “-est’ and “more” or “most” before the adjective clever gentle friendly quiet simple cleverer/ more clever gentler/ more gentle friendlier/ more friendly quieter/ more quiet simpler/ more simple Examples: A cat is fast, a tiger is faster but a cheetah is the fastest. A car is heavy, a truck is heavier, but a train is the heaviest. A park bench is comfortable, a restaurant chair is more comfortable, but a sofa is the most comfortable. b. Irregular adjectives These adjectives have completely irregular comparative and superlative. Adjectives good bad little much Sponsored by: cleverest/ most clever gentlest/ most gentle friendliest/ most friendly quietest/ most quiet simplest/ most simple 2 Comparative better worse less more Superlative best worst least most TOEIC Grammar GLOBAL EDUCATION VIETNAM www.globaledu.com.vn far Examples: further / farther furthest / farthest 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. 2. Comparison of adverbs (So sánh với trạng từ) a. Forming regular adverbs Like adjectives some adverbs can take comparative and superlative forms, with -er and –est. Examples: Jim works harder than his brother. Everyone in the race ran fast, but John ran the fastest of all. The teacher spoke more slowly to help us to understand. Could you sing more quietly please? Jim works harder than his brother. Everyone in the race ran fast, but John ran the fastest of all. 3 b. Irregular adverbs Adverbs well badly little far Examples: The little boy ran further than his friends. You’re driving worse today than yesterday! Comparative better worse less further / farther Superlative best worst least furthest / farthest Note: Comparatives can be modified by the following words: a bit, a little, much, a lot, far (=a lot), even, no, still. Examples: Sponsored by: TOEIC Grammar GLOBAL EDUCATION VIETNAM www.globaledu.com.vn Let’s go by car. It’s much cheaper. Ann worked a lot harder than most of her friends. Could you speak a bit more slowly Her illness was far more serious than we at first thought. This is even worse than that one. 3. Others form of comparison (Các dạng so sánh) 1. Comparison of Equality (So sánh ngang bằng) When things being compared have equal characteristics, the comparison of equality is used. Examples: The book is as good as the movie. The boy is as tall as the girl. - To form the comparisons of equality using adjectives or adverbs, use the following formula: as adjectives/adverbs as Examples: Peter is 24 years old. John is 24 years old. Peter is as old as John. A bicycle is not as expensive as a car Moscow is as cold as St. Petersburg in the winter. He doesn’t run as fast as I do. She drives as carefully as her mother 4 - To form the comparisons of equality using nouns, use the following formula: S + V + the same + (noun) + as + {noun/ pronoun} Examples: My house is the same height as his. Ann gets the same salary as me These trees are the same as those. He speaks the same language as she. Her address is the same as Rita’s. - To show the differences between things, people …, we can use the following formula: different from + (noun/pronoun) or Sponsored by: TOEIC Grammar GLOBAL EDUCATION VIETNAM www.globaledu.com.vn different + (noun) + (noun/pronoun) Examples: Their teacher is different from ours. She takes different books from her friends. 2. Comparative/Superlative of inferiority (So sánh kém/kém nhất) Examples: He visits his family less frequently than she does. This year’s exhibit is less impressive than last year’s. She chose the least expensive of the hotels This is the least interesting part of the dictionary 3. Double comparative (So sánh kép) We use the ‘double comparative’ when we want to show that something is changing or is in the process of changing. We use the following formula: ….er and ….er or …. more and more …. Examples: Children spend more and more time watching TV. (Trẻ con càng ngày càng dành nhiều thời gian cho ti vi) She is getting fatter and fatter. (Cô ấy càng ngày càng béo) He became more and more anxious with every passing minute (Mỗi phút trôi qua, anh ta càng thêm lo lắng) 4. Proportional comparative (So sánh cấp tiến) We can use comparatives with the … the … to say that things change or vary together. Note the word order in both clauses. 5 The + comparative + the noun, the + comparative + the noun or The more + clause, the more + clause or Sponsored by: TOEIC Grammar GLOBAL EDUCATION VIETNAM www.globaledu.com.vn The more + clause, the + comparative + the + noun Examples: The hotter it is, the more miserable I feel. (Trời càng nóng, tôi càng thấy khó chịu) The sooner you take your medicine, the better you will feel. (Anh càng uống thuốc sớm bao nhiêu, anh càng cảm thấy dễ chịu bấy nhiêu) The more you study, the better the prospects of finding a good job. (Càng học nhiều thì triển vọng tìm được công việc tốt càng lớn) The bigger they are, the faster they fall. (Vật càng to bao nhiêu thì càng rơi nhanh bấy nhiêu) The more you study, the smarter you will become. (Càng học, anh càng thông minh hơn). 6 Sponsored by: