Comparing things

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Comparing things by Mind Map: Comparing things

1. comparing adjectives

1.1. comparative adjectvies

1.1.1. usages

1.1.1.1. to compare two or more things, people or places

1.1.1.1.1. Ex: Younger runners will always be faster than older runners

1.1.1.2. to compare the same thing, person or place at two different times

1.1.1.2.1. Ex: I'm much fitter than I was last year

1.1.2. form

1.1.2.1. noun (subject) + verb + comperative adjective + than+ noun (object)

1.1.2.1.1. Ex: This is the smallest box I've ever seen

1.1.2.2. Note: sometimes we leave out the "than" clause if it is clear from the context what we are comparing something with

1.1.2.2.1. Ex: Older athletes are getting faster and fitter

1.1.3. rules of change

1.1.3.1. one syllable: adjective+ er

1.1.3.1.1. Ex: hard -> harder

1.1.3.2. one syllable ending in vowel+ consonant: last consonant doubled+ er

1.1.3.2.1. Ex: fat -> fatter

1.1.3.3. one syllable ending in "e": adjective+ r

1.1.3.3.1. Ex: nice -> nicer

1.1.3.4. two syllable ending in "y":leave y+ ier

1.1.3.4.1. Ex: happy -> happier

1.1.3.5. two or more syllables: more+ adjective

1.1.3.5.1. Ex: enjoyable -> more enjoyable

1.1.3.6. irregular: good -> better ; bad -> worse ; far -> further/farther

1.2. superlative adjectives

1.2.1. usages

1.2.1.1. to compare one thing in a group with all the others in that group

1.2.1.1.1. Ex: My house is the largest one in our neighborhood

1.2.2. form

1.2.2.1. noun (subject) + verb + the + superlative adjective + noun (object)

1.2.2.1.1. Ex: This is the smallest box I've ever seen

1.2.3. modifications

1.2.3.1. can modify superlatives with: one of the/ some of the+ superlative+ plural noun

1.2.3.1.1. Ex: Macy is one of the most generous people I know

1.2.3.2. can modify superlatives with ordinal numbers

1.2.3.2.1. Ex: Our team was the third best in the competition

1.2.3.3. can replace "the" with a possessive

1.2.3.3.1. Ex: My best friend is beautiful girl

1.2.4. rules of change

1.2.4.1. one syllable: the+ adjective+ est

1.2.4.1.1. Ex: hard -> the hardest

1.2.4.2. one syllable ending in "e": the+ adjective+ st

1.2.4.2.1. Ex: nice -> the nicest

1.2.4.3. one syllable ending in vowel+ consonant: the+ adjective+ consonant doubled+ est

1.2.4.3.1. Ex: fat -> the fattest

1.2.4.4. two syllables ending in "y": the+ adjective (leave y)+ iest

1.2.4.4.1. Ex: happy -> the happiest

1.2.4.5. two or more syllables: the most+ adjective

1.2.4.5.1. Ex: enjoyable -> the most enjoyable

1.2.4.6. irregular: good -> the best ; bad -> the worst ; far -> the furthest/ the farthest

2. Comparing adverbs

2.1. Adverbs that have the same form as the adjective (hard,fast, straight, late, early, quick) add "er/est"

2.1.1. Ex: Women aged 60 to 68 run on average four minutes faster each year

2.2. We can compare how things are done by using more/most+ adverbs

2.2.1. Ex: Women aged 60 to 68 improved the most markedly

2.3. some irregular adverbs ( well, better, badly, worse,...)

2.3.1. Ex: We need to treat the environment more carefully

3. Other ways of comparing

3.1. comparatives less

3.1.1. less

3.1.1.1. form: S+ verb+ less+ adv+ than+ S/N/ pronoun

3.1.1.2. Ex: In my opinion, Math is less interesting than English

3.1.2. the least

3.1.2.1. form: S+ be+ the least+ adj/adv

3.1.2.2. Ex: The room is the least comfortable

3.1.3. (not) as...as..

3.1.3.1. form: S+ V+ (not) as+ adj/adv/as+ N/pronoun

3.1.3.2. Ex: She sings not so well as her brother

3.2. repeated comparative

3.2.1. form

3.2.1.1. adj/adv+ er and adj/adv+er

3.2.1.2. more and more+ adj/adv

3.2.2. Ex: You are younger and younger/ She becomes more and more beautiful

3.3. double comparatives

3.3.1. form: the+ comparative+ S+ V, the comparative+ S+V

3.3.2. Ex: The less money I spend, the less I have to worry about saving

3.4. with words like even, far, a little+ comparative

3.4.1. Noun (subject) + verb + comparative adjective + than + noun (object).

3.4.2. Ex: Older women showed much greater increases in speed than expected

4. Comparing quantities

4.1. comparative

4.1.1. a lot/ much/ many -> more

4.1.2. a few -> fewer (+plural countable noun)

4.1.3. a little -> less (+uncountable noun)

4.2. superlatives

4.2.1. a lot/ much/ many -> the most

4.2.2. a few -> the fewest

4.2.3. a little -> the least

4.3. for plural or uncountable nouns we can compare quantities with "more" or "most"

4.3.1. Ex: Today's top sportspeople receive a lot more money than in the past

4.4. we can use "fewer" or "the fewest" with plural countable nouns, and "less" or "the least" with uncountable nouns

4.4.1. Ex: 25 years ago few 60-year-old men and even fewer women would have considered running a marathon

4.5. We can add emphasis

4.5.1. with a lot/ many+ more/ fewer+ plural countable noun

4.5.1.1. Ex: Increased sponsorship has given today's athletes many more opportunities to succeed

4.5.2. with a lot/ much+ more/ less+ uncountable noun

4.5.2.1. Ex: Today's athletes need to do much more training than in the past

4.5.3. by repeating more/ less/ fewer

4.5.3.1. Ex: So much in our society is about making more and more money

4.6. We can say something is the same or different using (not) as many/much+ plural/uncountable noun(+as)

4.6.1. Ex: There aren't as many people doing sports at school (as there used to be)

4.7. We can add more specific information about quantity by using half/twicce/three times... with as many/much..as

4.7.1. Ex: In 2004 China won nearly twice as many silver medals as the US