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Comparative Adjectives
When we talk about two things, we can "compare" them. We can see if they are
the same or different. Perhaps they are the same in some ways and different in
other ways. We can use comparative adjectives to describe the differences.
We can use comparative adjectives when talking about two things (not three or more
things).

In the example below, "bigger" is the comparative form of the adjective "big":

The pig is fatter than the bat

Formation of Comparative Adjectives

There are two ways to make or form a comparative adjective:

• short adjectives: add "-er"

• long adjectives: use "more"

Short adjectives

• 1-syllable adjectives old, fast

• 2-syllable adjectives ending in -y happy, easy

Normal rule: add "-er" old → older

Variation: if the adjective ends in -e, just add -r late → later

Variation: if the adjective ends in consonant, vowel, big → bigger

consonant, double the last consonant

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Variation: if the adjective ends in -y, change the y to i happy → happier

Long adjectives

• 2-syllable adjectives not ending in -y modern, pleasant

• all adjectives of 3 or more syllables expensive, intellectual

Normal rule: use "more" modern →

more modern
expensive → more
expensive

With some 2-syllable adjectives, we can use '-er' or 'more':

• quiet → quieter/more quiet

• clever → cleverer/more clever
• narrow → narrower/more narrow
• simple → simpler/more simple

Exception
The following adjectives have irregular forms:

• good → better
• well (healthy) → better
• bad → worse
• far → farther/further

Use of Comparative Adjectives

We use comparative adjectives when talking about 2 things (not 3 or 10 or 1,000,000

things, only 2 things).

Often, the comparative adjective is followed by "than".

Look at these examples:

• John is 1m80. He is tall. But Chris is 1m85. He is taller than John.

• America is big. But Russia is bigger.
• I want to have a more powerful computer.
• Is French more difficult than English?

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If we talk about the two planets Earth and Mars, we can compare them as shown in the
table below:
Earth Mars

Diameter (km) 12,760 6,790 Mars is smaller than Earth.

150 228 Mars is more distant from the Sun.
Distance from Sun (million
km)
Length of day (hours) 24 25
A day on Mars is slightly longer than
a day on Earth.

Moons 1 2 Mars has more moons than Earth.

22 -23 Mars is colder than Earth.
Surface temperature
(degrees Celcius)

Although we use comparative adjectives when talking about two things (not three or
more things), in fact one or both of the things may be a group of things.

• Mt Everest is higher than all other mountains.

Here, we are talking about hundreds of mountains, but we are still comparing one thing
(Mt Everest) to one other thing (all other mountains).

WORKSHEET

• Complete the chart with the comparative form of each adjective.

ADJECTIV Comparative ADJECTIV Comparative ADJECTIV Comparativ
E E E e
Happy happier Cheap Cheaper Honest More honest
Difficult More difficult Strong Stronger Busy busier
Clean Interesting More Young
cleaner interesting Younger
Early earlier Hot Hotter Near nearer
Beautiful More Warm Funny
beautiful More warm More funny
Soft Expensive More Easy
softer expensive easier
Intelligent More fresh Bad
intelligent Fresh More bad
Dirty dirtier Kind kinder Late later
Good Boring Dangerous More
dangerous
better More boring

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Careful More careful Cold colder weak weaker

• Fill in the correct comparative form of the words in brackets.

1. She’s much __younger__ her husband. (young)

2. It’s a __warmer__ day _like_ yesterday. (warm)
3. The vegetables in the shop are _more fresh_ the one ones in the supermarket.
(fresh)
4. The train is _more expensive_ the bus (expensive)
5. The new TV program is _more funny_ the old one. (funny)
6. Mrs. Jones is a _better_ teacher _than_ Mr. Andrews. (good)
7. My office is _nearer to__ Helen’s. (near)
8. The traffic is _noisier_ it was last year. (noisy)
9. You have a _busier_ life _like_ I have. (busy)
10. Drivers in this country are _more dangerous_ drivers in my country.
(dangerous)
11. The exam today was _more difficult_ last year’s exam. (difficult)
12. She’s _smarter_ her sister. (smart)
13. Michael is _more rich_ than Mathew. (Rich)
14. The students ask _more intelligent_ questions _like_ they did before.
(intelligent)
15. Her second book is _more interesting than_ her first one. (interesting)

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Noun as Adjective
As you know, a noun is a person, place or thing, and an adjective is a word that
describes a noun:
adjectiv noun
e
clever teache
r
small office
black horse
Sometimes we use a noun to describe another noun. In that case, the first noun "acts
as" an adjective.
noun as
adjective noun
history teache
r
ticket office
race horse
The "noun as adjective" always comes first

If you remember this it will help you to understand what is being talked about:

• a race horse is a horse that runs in races

• a horse race is a race for horses
• a boat race is a race for boats
• a love story is a story about love
• a war story is a story about war
• a tennis ball is a ball for playing tennis
• tennis shoes are shoes for playing tennis
• a computer exhibition is an exhibition of computers
• a bicycle shop is a shop that sells bicycles

The "noun as adjective" is singular

Just like a real adjective, the "noun as adjective" is invariable. It is usually in the
singular form.
Right Wrong

boat race boat races NOT boats race, boats races

toothbrush toothbrushes NOT teethbrush, teethbrushes
shoe-lace shoe-laces NOT shoes-lace, shoes-laces

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cigarette cigarette NOT cigarettes packet, cigarettes

packet packets packets
In other words, if there is a plural it is on the real noun only.

A few nouns look plural but we usually treat them as singular (for example news,
billiards, athletics). When we use these nouns "as adjectives" they are unchanged:

• a news reporter, three news reporters

• one billiards table, four billiards tables
• an athletics trainer, fifty athletics trainers

Exceptions:
When we use certain nouns "as adjectives" (clothes, sports, customs, accounts, arms),
we use them in the plural form:

• clothes shop, clothes shops

• sports club, sports clubs
• customs duty, customs duties
• accounts department, accounts departments
• arms production

How do we write the "noun as adjective"?

We write the "noun as adjective" and the real noun in several different ways:

• two separate words (car door)

• two hyphenated words (book-case)
• one word (bathroom)

There are no easy rules for this. We even write some combinations in two or all three
different ways: (head master, head-master, headmaster)

How do we say the "noun as adjective"?

For pronunciation, we usually stress the first word:

• shoe shop
• boat-race
• bathroom

Can we have more than one "noun as adjective"?

Yes. Just like adjectives, we often use more than one "noun as adjective" together.
Look at these examples:

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car production costs: we are talking about the costs of producing cars

noun as noun as noun

adjectiv adjective
e
cost
s
productio cost
n s
car productio cost
n s
England football team coach: we are talking about the coach who trains the team
that plays football for England
noun as noun as noun as noun
adjectiv adjectiv adjectiv
e e e
coac
h
team coac
h
football team coac
h
Englan football team coac
d h
Note: in England football team coach can you see a "hidden" "noun as adjective"?
Look at the word "football" (foot-ball). These two nouns (foot+ball) have developed into
a single noun (football). This is one way that words evolve. Many word combinations
that use a "noun as adjective" are regarded as nouns in their own right, with their own
dictionary definition. But not all dictionaries agree with each other. For example, some
dictionaries list "tennis ball" as a noun and other dictionaries do not.

Note, too, that we can still use a real adjective to qualify a "noun as adjective"
structure:

• empty coffee jar

• honest car salesman
• delicious dog food
• rising car production costs
• famous England football team coach

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WORKSHEET

• In the following sentences identify nouns acting as adjectives X

1. Throwing stones at a street dog is not a good idea.

2. I enjoy Mac D’s chicken burger.
3. Try this green olive salad.
4. Plant disease diagnosis requires both traditional and new techniques.
5. Some of the school teachers are on strike.
6. Karen always wipes her runny nose with paper towels.
7. Teasing a junkyard dog is a bad idea.
8. An intelligent person will never put his head into an empty pickle jar.
9. I hear that apple juice is a healthy drink.
10. Troy would like an onion sandwich with a touch of mustard.
11. Remind Kurt to stop eating cat food!
12. That’s what you get for using a glue stick as lipstick!
13. The chubby little frog refused to try the new beef diet.
14. Yes, there are automobile dealers you can trust.

I have jumped

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Present Perfect Tense

The present perfect tense is a rather important tense in English, but it gives
speakers of some languages a difficult time. That is because it uses concepts or ideas
that do not exist in those languages. In fact, the structure of the present perfect tense
is very simple. The problems come with the use of the tense. In addition, there are
some differences in usage between British and American English.

How do we make the Present Perfect Tense?

The structure of the present perfect tense is:

subject + auxiliary verb + main verb
have past participle

Here are some examples of the present perfect tense:

subject auxiliary verb main verb

+ I have seen ET.

+ You have eaten mine.

- She has not been to Rome.

- We have not played football.

? Have you finished?

? Have they done it?
Contractions with the present perfect tense

When we use the present perfect tense in speaking, we usually contract the subject
and auxiliary verb. We also sometimes do this when we write.
I have I've

You have You've

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He has He's
She has She's
It has It's
John has John's
The car has The car's

We have We've

They have They've

Here are some examples:

• I've finished my work.

• John's seen ET.
• They've gone home.

He's or he's??? Be careful! The 's contraction is used for

the auxiliary verbs have and be. For example, "It's eaten" can mean:

• It has eaten. [present perfect tense, active voice]

• It is eaten. [present tense, passive voice] It is usually clear from the context.

How do we use the Present Perfect Tense?

This tense is called the present perfect tense. There is always a connection with the
past and with the present. There are basically three uses for the present perfect tense:

1. experience
2. change
3. continuing situation

1. Present perfect tense for experience

We often use the present perfect tense to talk about experience from the past. We are
not interested in when you did something. We only want to know if you did it:

I have seen ET.

He has lived in Bangkok.
Have you been there?
We have never eaten caviar.

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past present future

!!!

The action or state was in In my head, I have a

the past. memory now.

Connection with past: the event was in the past.

Connection with present: in my head, now, I have a memory of the event; I know
something about the event; I have experience of it.

2. Present perfect tense for change

We also use the present perfect tense to talk about a change or new information:

I have bought a car.

past present future

- +

Last week I didn't have a Now I have a car.

car.

John has broken his leg.

past present future

+ -

Yesterday John had a Now he has a bad leg.

good leg.

Has the price gone up?

past present future

+ -

Was the price Is the price $1.70 today?

$1.50 yesterday?

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The police have arrested the killer.

past present future

- +

Yesterday the killer was Now he is in prison.

free.

Connection with past: the past is the opposite of the present.

Connection with present: the present is the opposite of the past.

Americans do not use the present perfect tense so much as British speakers.
Americans often use the past tense instead. An American might say "Did you have
lunch?", where a British person would say "Have you had lunch?"

3. Present perfect tense for continuing situation

We often use the present perfect tense to talk about a continuing situation. This is a
state that started in the past and continues in the present (and will probably continue
into the future). This is astate (not an action). We usually use for or since with this
structure.

I have worked here since June.

He has been ill for 2 days.
How long have you known Tara?

past present future

The situation started in the It continues up to now. (It will probably continue
past. into the future.)

Connection with past: the situation started in the past.

Connection with present: the situation continues in the present.

WORKSHEET

• Write the participle forms of the

following verbs. X
1. shut

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→
2. spend

→
3. give

→
4. teach

→
5. sell

→
6. make

→
7. drink

→
8. catch

→
9. have

→
10. sit
→

• Complete the table in present

perfect simple.

positive negative question

We have chatted. With who have you
We haven’t chatted been chatting?
The lesson has not started. Has the lesson
The lesson has started started?
Have we won?
We win it We didn’t win

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She has turned around.

She hasn’t turned around Who turned around?
They have not arrived.
They have arrived Who have arrived?
He has swum.
He hasn’t swurn Who swore?
She has not slept.
She has slept She slept?
Have you phoned?
Today he phoned Today he didn’t phoned
Tina has cried.
Tina hasn’t cried Tina cried?
They have not run.
They have run Who run?

• Write sentences in present perfect

simple. X

1. we / reach / our goal - cddddee

2. our team / lose / the match -

3. she / underline / the word -
4. they / not / discover / the treasure -
5. Ron / not / talk / about the problem -

• Write questions in present perfect

simple. X

1. you / knock / at the door -

2. the teacher / mark / the tests -
3. she / buy / a new computer -
4. they / rescue / the girl -
5. Brad / wear / a blue shirt -

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