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Lesson Plan May 19, 2023

Topic: Comparisons 02

In this lesson we will be looking at how we can modify comparison adjectives.

Section A

Before comparatives we can use:

much / a lot / far (= a lot) / a bit / a little / slightly (= a little)

• Canada is much bigger than France.

• Sue is a bit older than Joe - she’s 25 and he’s 24.

• The hotel was much more expensive than I expected.

• You go out much more than me.

• Let’s go by car. It’s much cheaper.

  • It’s a lot chaper.

• A: How do you feel now?
  B: Much better, thanks.

• Don’t go by train. It’s a lot more expensive.

  • It’s much more expensive.

• Could you speak a bit more slowly?

  • Could you speak a little more slowly?

• This bag is slightly heavier than the other one.

• Her illness was far more serious than we thought at first.

  • Her illness was much more serious …

  • Her illness was a lot more serious …

Section B

We can say the (sooner / bigger / more etc) the better

• A: What time should we leave?
  B: The sooner the better. (= as soon as possible)

• A: What sort of box do you want? A big one?
  B: Yes, the bigger the better. (= as big as possible)

• When you’re travelling, the less luggage you have the better.

We can also use the … the … to say that one thing depends on another thing

• The warmer the weather, the better I feel. (= if the weather is warmer, I feel better)

• The sooner we leave, the earlier we will arrive.

• The younger you are, the easier it is to learn.

• The more expensive the hotel, the better the service.

• The more electricity you use, the higher your bill will be.

• The more I thought about the plan, the less I liked.

Section C

We can repeat comparatives to say that something changes continuously

• Your English is improving. It’s getting better and better.

• The city has grown so fast in recent years. It’s got bigger and bigger.

• As I listened to his story, I became more and more convinced than he was lying.

• These days more and more people are learning a second language.

Lesson Notes

• (Information) Today the temperature is 22 degrees. Yesterday is was 32 degrees.

• What we would say in conversation to make a comparison, without mentioning the actual temperatures.

• "It's much cooler today than yesterday."

• "It's much cooler than yesterday."

• "It's much cooler than it was yesterday.

• (Information) Sarah is an excellent tennis player. I'm not a very good player.

• What we would say in conversation to make a comparison.

• “Sarah is a much better tennis player than me.”

• “Sarah is a much better tennis player than I am.”

• “Sarah is much better at tennis than me.”

• "Sarah is much better at tennis than I am.”

• “Sarah plays tennis much better than me.”

• “Sarah plays tennis much better than I do.”

• This bag is too small. I need one (which is) much bigger.

• We can omit “which is” to make the sentence more informal and casual.

• As the evening went on, Paul was more and more talkative.

• Went on can be understood as "continued" or "progressed." It means that the evening kept happening or lasted for a longer period.

• It's hard to concentrate when you're tired. The more tired you are, the worse your concentration.

• It's hard to concentrate when you're tired. The more tired you are, the harder it's to concentrate.

• Kate had to wait a very long time. The longer she had to wait, the more impatient she was.

• Kate had to wait a very long time. The longer she had to wait, the more impatient she got.

• Kate had to wait a very long time. The longer she had to wait, the more impatient she became.