Comparatives and Superlatives: Making Comparisons

 Preview: Common Adjectives

A. -ER

We use comparatives to compare two things or two people. (e.g She is taller than her husband.) Superlatives are used, however, to show the difference between more than two things or more than two people. ( e.g Paris is the biggest city in France)

Ex: "tall" Juan is tall, but Mario is taller than Juan.

B. -EST

A superlative adjective compares three or more nouns and shows the noun with the highest degree. Ex:  "high"  Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world.

More Examples

RULES:

We use ‘-er’ to make the comparative and ‘-est’ to make the superlative.

I. Single Syllable Words and Double Syllable Words ending with -y, -er, -ow, -le –

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Black	Blacker	Blackest
Fair	Fairer	Fairest
Clever	Cleverer	Cleverest

II. When there is a silent ‘e’ at the end of the positive form, we remove that and add ‘-er’ and ‘-est’

Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
Nice	Nicer	Nicest
Late	Later	Latest

III. When the adjective ends with a ‘y’, we convert the ‘y’ into ‘i’ before adding ‘-er’ and ‘-est

Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
Pretty	Prettier	Prettiest
Lazy	Lazier	Laziest

IV.  If the adjective is a small one with little stress on the vowel, we double the last consonant.

Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
Hot	Hotter	Hottest
Wet	Wetter	Wettest

V. Other Words with Two or More Syllables

For other double-syllable words that do not end with -y, -er, -ow, -le, and for adjectives with more than two syllables, we use more and most to form the comparatives and superlatives.

Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
Difficult	More Difficult	Most Difficult
Careful	More Careful	Most Careful
Handsome	More Handsome	Most Handsome
Interesting	More Interesting	Most Interesting

V. (Irregular Comparisons)

These adjectives do not make their comparative and superlative forms using the rules above. Their comparative and superlative forms are different words altogether.

Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
Bad	Worse	Worst
Good	Better	Best
Far (place & time)	Further	Furthest
Far (place)	Farther	Farthest
Old (people)	Elder	Eldest
Little (amount)	Less	Least
Late (order)	Latter	Last

VI. Dialogues

4 Beginner Conversations

Two Famous Cities in California

When does the weather get nice?

City and Country

Conversation Questions

VI. Games and Exercises

https://www.teach-this.com/grammar-activities-worksheets/comparatives

https://games4esl.com/comparative-and-superlative-activities/

https://busyteacher.org/14341-comparative-superlative-activities-how-to-teach.html

Unit 2 ESL

I. Venn Diagram Sports Comprehension

Vocabulary:

1. hockey
2. football
3. soccer
4. tennis
5. golf

II. Sharks Reading

Types of Sharks:

1. whale shark 鯨鯊
2. pygmy shark 侏儒鯊
3. bull shark 低鰭真鯊
4. tiger shark 鼬鯊
5. black tip reef shark 烏翅真鯊
6. hammerhead shark 雙髻鯊
7. cookie cutter shark 雪茄達摩鯊
8. goblin shark 歐氏尖吻鮫
9. dogfish shark 白斑角鯊
10. saw shark 鋸鯊
11. mako shark 尖吻鯖鯊
12. great white shark 大白鯊

Vocabulary:

1. Mississippi River
2. cartilage
3.spiky (adj.) [not sharp!]
4.scales (n.)
5. jaws (n.)
6.clamp (v.)
7.prey (n.)
8. to thrash (v.)
9. (deadly, deadlier,) deadliest
10.stomach
11. hammer (n.)
12. circular
13. snout
14. saw (n.)
15. fascinating

Videos from the Reading: Bull sharks in freshwater, Great White Thrashing its Prey, Sharks Eating Other Sharks, Crazy Things Swallowed by  Sharks, Cookie Cutter Bite, Mako Leaping Into Boat

Grammar: Compare and contrast using superlatives, (Practice /Game)
Activity: each person to make a list using positives superlatives to describe a good characteristic about someone in the class/school. Absolutely nothing even remotely negative allowed.
Writing: Choose a shark and write an acrostic poem, use your dictionary (Shark and Ocean Words)
Extra: Shark Conservation, The Importance of Great Whites, Shark Fin Ban

Sharks are in big trouble. Between 63 and 273 million sharks are killed every year due to human activities like overfishing and bycatch. As predators, sharks have played a vital role in maintaining healthy oceans for hundreds of millions of years, and any decline in populations can create a domino effect of unintended consequences.  The demand for shark fins is one of the biggest threats to shark populations worldwide. In fact, it’s estimated that fins from as many as 73 million sharks are bought and sold in the global shark fin trade every year.

In 2011, Taiwan was the 1st Asian country to ban shark fin fishing, but illegal fishing is still a huge problem. Sharks are still killed in Taiwan for their fins. Restaurants still serve shark fin soup.

What is the _________ problem in the world? (great)
The ____________ problem in the world is_________.

我叫珍古德而我的年紀是 80 歲，希望您能留下寶貴的 5 分鐘，聆聽我說一些話... Jane Goodall 珍·古德 interview

III. Earthquakes 地震

Vocabulary:

1. event (n.) it Yesterday was the school sport's event.
2. section (n.) it  Mom cut the pizza into eight sections.
3. to occur (v.) An earthquake occurred in Italy.
4. damage (n.) it My car has a lot of damage.
5. electric (adj.) adj + noun I wish I could buy an electric car.
6. landslide (n.) it The house was covered by a landslide.
7. to predict (v.) The weather report predicts sunny skies.
8. to warn (v.) Teacher warns us to get better.

to warn (警告；告誡；提醒)

I warn, you warn, they warn

he, she, it warns

to be+ warning ( I am warning you)

past: warned (I warned you)

IV. The Grasshopper and the Ants Fable

Vocabulary:

1. to haul (v.) to pull something heavy slowly and with difficulty
（用力）拉，拖（重物）

They hauled the boat out of the water. 他們把船拉上了岸。

She hauled herself up into the tree. 她費勁地爬上了樹。

IDIOM: "haul ass" to move very quickly to a different place

快速散開

When the shooting started we hauled ass out of there.

槍擊開始後，我們就趕快離開了那裡。

2. grain- a seed or seeds from a plant,  like a grass such as rice or wheat
（尤指像穀谷、小麥等像草一樣的植物的）穀粒，穎果，穀（物）

grains of wheat/rice 麥／米粒

Grain  is one of the main exports of the American Midwest.

穀物是美國中西部地區主要的出口商品。

V. Helpful Trees

Video: Chicago Trees

Vocabulary:

1. energy- the power from something such as electricity or oil that can do work, such as providing light and heat
能，能量；能源

The energy generated by the windmill drives all the drainage pumps.

風車産生的能量爲所有的排水泵提供動力。

energy conservation/efficiency.節能／能源使用效率

2. bill (n.) a request for payment of money owed, or the piece of paper on which it is written
帳單

an electricity/gas/phone bill電／煤氣／電話費帳單

3. sewer (n.) a large underground pipe used for carrying wastewater and human waste away from buildings to a safe place
下水道；排水管；陰溝

a sewer pipe 排水管

A complicated system of sewers runs under the city.

城市的地底下布有複雜的排水系統。

V. Grammar: 

1. Synonyms and Antonyms
2. The Verb BE
3. Main and Helping Verbs

VI. Writing

1. Making questions out of statements
2. Combing a sentence out of two sentences
3. Cursive practice