Beyond the Basics
Below are the basic rules for comparative and superlative language which you should already know:
Adjectives with one syllable:
I am taller than my parents.
Adjectives with two or more syllables:
I find science more interesting than history.
Adjectives ending in -y:
I think the wedding dress I saw today was prettier than the one yesterday.
Irregular adjectives:
I am better at running than cycling (good).
Today was worse than yesterday (bad).
Edinburgh is further/farther from London than Paris (far).
not as + adjective + as:
He’s not as tall as the rest of his family.
verb (negative) + as + adverb + as:
I don’t speak French as fluently as her.
more/less + noun:
I eat more/less junk food than i used to.
unlike + noun:
He is amazing and unlike anybody else I know.
as + adjective + as:
I am as good as he is.
the same as + noun/gerund:
He is the same as his father.
like + noun:
She has eyes like her mother’s
adjectives with one syllable:
Russia is the largest country in the world.
adjectives with two more syllables:
It was the most delicious food I had ever eaten.
Adjectives ending in -y:
She is the prettiest girl I’ve ever met.
At C1 level you need to show that you can formulate and understand comparative structures of a higher level than those above.
For example, with superlatives, you could modify the sentence by adding adverbs, such as by far, nearly, almost, much and easily:
He’s by far the best player in the team.
I’m nearly/almost the oldest in the school.
That was easily the funniest joke I’ve ever heard.
Below are some ways in which you can modify comparatives. As you look through them, try and think of your own examples for each. You will find it useful to use this page as a reference for the exercises that follow in the lesson.