Comparative Adjectives



Level

Pre-intermediate





Students already know

  • Animals (elephant, cat, mouse, etc)

  • Simple adjectives (big, small, dangerous, etc)





The grammar



We use comparative adjectives to compare more than one object:

A giraffe is taller than a dog, a mouse is smaller than an elephant.



To make comparative adjectives we follow these rules.

  1. 1 syllable adjectives – small, tall, big – we add -er = smaller, taller, bigger

  2. Adjectives that end in “y” – hairy, noisy, scary – we remove the “y” and add -ier = hairier, noisier, scarier

  3. 2 or more syllable adjectives – energetic, loving, dangerous – we add “more” = more energetic, more loving, more dangerous



However, remember there are always exceptions to the rules!

Eg, good = better, not gooder, bad = worse, not badder!




Lead-in


Show the sts a picture of an elephant and ask them for adjectives to describe it, eg enormous, fat, slow, noisy, etc. Write the adjectives they come up with at the top of the board. Now show the sts a picture of a mouse and ask them again for adjectives to describe it (small, fast, cute, scary, etc) and again write these at the top of the board.

REMEMBER:

Concept Questions!

STT!

Classroom Management!

Presentation

Ask sts to tell you how the mouse and elephant are different, eg a mouse is smaller than an elephant. Divide the bottom half of the board into 3 columns and write the comparative adjective they use (smaller) in the first column. Now elicit a sentence comparing the mouse and the elephant using an adjective that ends in “y” from the board, eg, noisy - write this adjective (noisier) in the middle column on the board. Now elicit a final sentence from the sts by pointing to an adjective with 2+ syllables on the board, eg an elephant is more dangerous than a mouse, and write this (more dangerous) in the third column on the board. Make sure you create 3 columns following the 3 rules above (ie one column for each rule).

Underline the different comparative components of the adjectives on the board (smaller, noisier, more dangerous) and ask sts if they can tell you why they are different (you want them to work out/tell you the grammar rules above). If they can’t ask sts for 1 more example sentence for each of the columns (an elephant is fatter than a mouse, a mouse is hairier than an elephant, a mouse is more energetic than an elephant) and write the adjectives in the correct columns and again ask sts if they can see any reason why they are in these 3 groups. If sts can’t spot the difference use your fingers to count through the syllables or underline the “y” in each word in the second column to see if they can spot the pattern. Ask sts to explain the grammar rule (1 syllable words = +er, etc) or if they really aren’t able to guess with you giving them a few more examples of each, explain it to them and put the comparative components at the top of each column (column 1 = +er, column 2 = “y” + ier, column 3 = + more). Now ask the sts to work in pairs/small groups to put the other adjectives on the board from the lead-in into the correct columns. Feedback and correct as necessary.

Controlled Practice

Split the class into 2 teams and ask them to line up at the board (1 member of each team should be directly in front of the board, facing it, with the others lined up behind) and give the front student each a pen. Divide the board into 2 halves and explain that you will call out an adjective and the st at the front must write the comparative adjective on the board as quickly as possible, eg you call out “small” and they have to write “smaller”. They can confer with their team if necessary. The team who gets it quickest gets the point. The st then goes to the back of the line and the next one takes a turn, and so on. Use as many of the adjectives from the presentation as you can and make sure all the sts take at least one turn each. Add up the points at the end to see who has won!

Free practice

Give each st a post-it note and ask them to write an animal on it and then stick it on another st’s back. Sts will then get up and show their post-it to another st in the class. The st will make sentences to describe the animal using comparative adjectives so they can guess what animal is on the post-it and they can also ask questions – eg It’s smaller than a mouse, it’s quieter than a cat, Is it longer than a snake?, etc. Sts mingle until they have guessed what their animal is. Feedback some of the descriptions as a class.

ProductionThink of a suitable activity or piece of homework you could set your sts to finish off this class.