Gareth King - Colloquial English - A Complete English Language Course

→

more expensive

Notice that you can’t use -erwith longer words, and you can’t use morewith short words:

comfortable→

more comfortable

not ‘comfortabler’

cheap

→ cheaper

not ‘more cheap’

There are also some IRREGULAR comparatives that you simply have to learn:

good

→

better

bad

→

worse/ws/

We use than/ðn/ , WEAK FORM /ðən/, between the comparative and the second thing compared:

London is bigger than Paris

James is taller than Ben

And when we compare three or more things or people, we use the SUPERLATIVE – you can form it directly from the COMPARATIVE that we’ve just seen:

• change -erto -est:

cheaper→ cheapest

hotter→ hottest

heavier→ heaviest

• change moreto most: more comfortable→ most comfortable more expensive→ most expensive

• irregular:

better→ best

worse→ worst/wst/

Unlike the comparative, the superlative is always used with the: The blue shirt is cheaper than the red one

The white shirt is the cheapest (of them all)

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Exercise 1

Complete these sentences using the correct adjective from the box.

Remember to use the correct comparative form.

1 Leasa’s ______ than Justine.

2 A sofa’s ______ than a wooden chair.

3 Gold is ______ than silver.

4 This suitcase feels ______ than that one.

5 My car’s ______ than yours.

6 This film’s much ________ than the one last night.

7 Australia’s ______ than New Zealand.

8 A trip from the UK to New Zealand’s ______ than one to France.

9 Wolves are ______ than hamsters.

10 Swords are ______ than hammers.

interesting

intelligent

tall

expensive

fast

sharp

heavyvaluable

comfortable

big

Exercise 2

Complete the sentences using the correct comparative form. Use a dictionary if you need to. The first one is done for you.

1 This bag is too heavy. Can I have a lighterone?

2 These toys are expensive now, but they’ll be _______ after Christmas.

3 The exam was very easy. I was expecting it to be ______ .

4 Could you put some more sugar in this? I prefer _______

tea.

5 What a boring programme. I though it was going to be _______ .

6 We arrived late. We should have taken an ________

train.

7 This coat is too big for me – have you got a _____ one?

8 This CD’s far too noisy – put on a ________ one, will you?

9 Henry’s room is a real mess, but Tom’s is much _______ .

10 This road’s very narrow – I though it was _______, didn’t you?

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Language point 60 – ‘which’

We use which/w/ to ask about a choice of options or possibilities

– it can be a PRONOUN:

Which do you prefer?

(= ‘Which one . . .?’)

or an ADJECTIVE with a noun:

Which shirt do you prefer?

It’s often used with verbs of liking , wanting , etc. Here are some examples. Notice that we can use one, oneswith whichif we want to: Which one do you want?

Which would you like?

Which would you prefer?

Which ones do you like best?

And sometimes we use whichwith a following to-form of a verb: I don’t know which one to choose

I’m not sure which to have

We need to decide which CD to buy for Stuart

Dialogue 3

Su’s brought Jenny along to the phone shop to help her choose a new mobile.

SU:

I can’t decide which of these two mobiles to have.

JENNY:

Well, you could have either. Which one do you like more?

SU:

Hmmm . . . well, this blue one is nicer, but it’s more expensive.

JENNY:

And what about the black one?

SU:

The black one’s cheaper, but it’s more basic.

[ Jenny picks both mobiles up ]

JENNY:

And heavier.

SU:

Yes. And it’s less elegant as well, don’t you think?

JENNY:

Looks like you have decided after all!

SU:

Yes – I think I’ll be a lot happier with the blue one.

Actually, I don’t really like the black one.

JENNY:

I don’t either.

161

Language point 61 – ‘either’

When Su is trying to decide between two mobile phones, and Jenny says:

You could have either

she means that it doesn’t matter which one Su has – she could have the blue one or the black one.

Either/`ɑiðər/ or /ìðər/ is rather like a statement equivalent of the question word which:

Which would you like?

– I’ll have either

Be careful!We can only use eitherwhen we are talking about

 two things. Compare these two sentences: There are two mobile phones here – you can have either.

There are three mobile phones here – you can have any (one) of them.

We also use eitherin a completely different way at the end of a negative sentence . Su says:

I don’t really like the black one

and Jenny replies:

I don’t either

She means: ‘Su doesn’t like it, and she also doesn’t like it’.

Here are some more examples:

Fred doesn’t speak Russian, and Charlie doesn’t either We don’t buy a Sunday paper, and our neighbours don’t either I’m not working tomorrow, and my wife isn’t either Candace isn’t coming to the meeting. – No, and I’m not either!

162

In this meaning eitherin negative sentences corresponds to as wellor soin statements:

+

Diane reads Latin poetry, and Gary does as well

+

Diane reads Latin poetry, and so does Gary

–

Diane doesn’t read junk mail, and Gary doesn’t either.

Exercise 3

Look at the information in the box about what languages Jack speaks, and what languages Jill speaks. Then say who speaks what, using (not) either, and, but, soand as well– the first two have been done for you.

1 Jack doesn’t speakItalian, andJill doesn’t either.