Grammar Focus - Comparisons

1. As ~ As comparison: as + adjective/adverb + as

► Only the regular form of an adjective or adverb comes between as and as.
a) William is as more tall as his brother. (X) (more tall _. tall)
b) Gary is as smart as any boy in his class.
c) Learning to play tennis is not as easy as it seems.
► Multiplicative words (ex. twice, three times, etc.) are placed in front of the first as.
a)· This is three times as large as that.
(= This is three times larger than that.)
b) Your car is twice as fast as my car.

2. Regular comparison

► comparative form of adjective/adverb + than
a) This hotel is more expensive than that hotel.
b) Gary is smarter than any other boy in his class.
c) I have never been happier (than I am now).
d) Of the two houses, this is the more beautiful.
(When comparing between two, the comparative form is used with "the.")
► Use to instead of than with the following adjectives: senior, junior, superior, inferior.
a) Your car is much superior to mine.
b) In this company, she is senior to me.
► Comparatives can be modified by the following words: much, even, far, still, a lot.
a) It is much colder today than it was yesterday.
b) The sun rises even earlier in June.

3. Superlatives

► "The" is used before a superlative. When there is no noun modified by the superlative, "the" can be omitted.
a) It was the cheapest car that I could find.
b) Gary is the smartest boy in his class.
c) He ran fastest of all.
d) He is the most handsome teacher in the school.