A. ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS
An adjective is a word that describes a noun :
A good man
A beautiful girl
A tall boy
An adverb is a word that describes a verb: they tell us how we do something.
How does he sing? He sings beautifully.
How did he talk? He talked angrily.
To form an adverb, we add –ly to the adjective:
Nice – nicely
Bad – badly
Beautiful – beautifully
Spelling
1. When an adjective ends in –y, we drop –y and add –ily
Angry – angrily
Easy – easily
2. When an adjective ends in –le, we drop –e and add –y
Horrible – horribly
Terrible – terribly
Possible – possibly
3. Irregular Adverbs
|
ADJECTIVE |
ADVERB |
|
Good |
Well |
|
Fast |
Fast |
|
Hard |
Hard |
|
Late |
Late |
.
B. Comparative and Superlative of Adverbs
Comparative: more / less + adverb + than
John sings more beautifully than Tom
I did Exercise A more easily than Exercise B.
BUT! Tina draws better than Mary.
Tom runs faster than John.
Jane works harder than Peter.
Superlative : the most / the least + adverb
John sings more beautifully than Tom but Pete sings the most beautifully.
I did Exercise A more easily than Exercise B but I did Exercise C the most easily.
BUT! Tina draws better than Mary but Sue draws the best.
Tom runs faster than John but Bill runs the fastest.
Jane works harder than Peter but Lucy works the hardest.
C. Comparative and Superlative of Adjectives
|
Adjective of: |
Example |
Comparative |
Superlative |
|
One syllable |
tall |
Taller (than) |
The tallest(of/in) |
|
Two syllables ending in: -ly/-y |
Happy Friendly |
Happier(than) Friendlier (than) |
The happiest The friendliest |
|
Two or more syllables |
Modern Beautiful |
More / less modern (than) More / less beautiful (than) |
The most / the least modern The most / the leastbeautiful |
Spelling
|
Adjectives ending in: |
Comparative
|
Superlative |
Example |
|
Consonant+ -y |
-ier |
-iest |
Pretty-prettier-the prettiest |
|
-e |
Add -r |
Add -st |
Large-larger-the largest |
|
One stressed vowel between two consonants |
Double the last consonant and add -er |
Double the last consonant and add -est |
Fat-fatter-the fattest |
Irregular Adjectives
|
Adjective |
Comparative |
Superlative |
|
good |
better |
best |
|
bad |
worse |
worst |
|
much |
more |
most |
|
many |
more |
most |
|
little |
less |
least |
|
far |
further / farther |
furthest / farthest |
|
|
|
|
We use the comparative to compare two things or people. We use the superlative to compare one with many.
Examples
Marina is taller than Jean but Joanna is the tallest girl in the class.
July is hotter than June but August is the hottest month of the year.
Exercise A is easier than Exercise B but Exercise C is the easiest.
D. Types of Comparison
1. as……as / not as….as
– to show that two things or people are or are not similar:
Paul is as heavy as Tom.
Jane is not as tall as Mary.
My house is as big as yours.
2. the + comparative…..the + comparative
- to show changes / processes that take place at the same time:
The harder you work, the happier the teacher is.
The warmer it gets, the better I like it.
The bigger the house, the longer it takes to clean.
Also (showing gradual increase):
Our lessons are getting harder and harder this year.
Summers in my country are getting hotter and hotter.
