lesson 26. Comparisons

Comparisons

Adjectives have got three forms: positive, comparative and superlative.

 

This house is big. It is also expensive. 

 

 This house is bigger than the first. It is also more expensive.

 

This house is the biggest and the most expensive of all.

• We use the comparative  form + than  to compare two people or things.

 

Ann is taller than Richard. 

 

Russia is larger than Australia. 

• We use the + superlative form + of / in to compare three or more people or things.

Chris is the tallest of all. 

We use in when we talk about places.

 

Russia is the largest country in the world.

Formation of the comparative and superlative of adjectives
Adjectives of one or two syllables form the comparative by adding -er and the superlative by adding -est 
fast     -     faster     -     fastest
Adjectives of more than two syllables form the comparative with more  and the superlative with most.
beautiful     -     more beautiful      -     the most beautiful

Some adjectives such  clever, stupid, narrow, gentle, friendly, form the comparative and superlative either with -er / -est or with more / most

clever     -     cleverer     -     cleverest
clever     -     more clever      -     most clever

Spelling rules:

•  one syllable adjectives ending in -e take -r in the comparative and -st in the superlative form

large     -     larger     -     largest

• two syllable adjectives ending in -y turn the -y into -i and then take -er / -est

happy      -     happier     -     happiest  

• adjectives ending in a stressed vowel between two consonants double the final consonant and then take -er / -est 

big     -     bigger     -     biggest 

Video lesson :Comparisons

 

Lesson 25. Questions

 

Questions

Ann :    Is this your dog?

Nick :  Yes,it is.

Ann :   Did you get him from a pet shop?   

Nick:   Yes,we did.   

Sue:  What have you got in this bag?

                  Betty:  A new dress.

                              Sue:  How much did it cost?

     Betty:   $ 55.

Questions with Yes/No answers

 

These kinds of questions begin with an auxiliary verb ( is,are, have,has,will, can, do,does, did...)

and then the subject. We usually answer these questions with Yes / No answers.

Are you listening to music? -Yes, I am.

Have you got a pet? - No, I haven't.

Can you swim? - Yes, I can.

When the main verb is in the present simple we form the questions with the auxiliary verb do/does .

Do you play tennis every day?-Yes, I do.

Does he work hard? -No, he doesn't.

When the main verb is in the past simple we form the questions with the auxiliary verb did.

Did they send you a letter? -No, they didn't.

Did she come home early last night? -Yes, she did.
 

Wh- questions

Wh- questions begin with a question word. We put the auxiliary verb before the subject.

people     things       place           time               quantity/number       manner      reason            age

Who         What       Where       When                 How much                  How         Why       How old

Whose    Which                        How often          How many 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Who is that man? - He is his father. 

 

Whose is that coat? -It's Jane's.

What is it? -It's a pen.

 

Which book is yours? -The blue one. 

How many sisters have you got? -Two.

 

How much does it cost? - Ninety pence.

 

How long have you known her? -For three years.

 

How long ago did she leave school? - One year ago.

 

How old are you? -I am sixteen.

 

Why are you sad? -Because I've lost my purse.

 

When did you arrive? -Yesterday.

 

Where are my glasses? -They are in your bag.

 

How are you? -Fine thanks.

Question Tags

They're very small, aren't they? 

 

Rabbits don't eat meat, do they? 

 

A zebra has got stripes, hasn't it?

Questions tags are short questions at the end of a statement. We mainly use them in speech when we want to confirm something or when we want to find out if something is true or not.

• We form a question tag with the auxiliary verb and the appropriate personal pronoun. When the statement is positive, the question tag is negative.

Helen can speak French, can't she?

This is a castle, isn't it?

• When the verb of the sentence is in the present simple, we form the question tag with the auxiliary verb do, does and the personal pronoun. When the verb is in the past simple, we form the question tag with the auxiliary verb did and the personal pronoun.

Tom likes hockey, doesn't he?


Susan went to Rome last year, didn't she? 

• When the statement is negative, the question tag is positive.

 
They haven't finished yet, have they?

• When the sentence contains a word with a negative meaning like never, hardly, seldom or rarely, the question tag is positive.

 
He is never late, is he? 

Study the following examples:

I am     -     aren't?      I am clever, aren't I?

Imperative     -     will / won't you?      Open the door, will / won't you?

Let's     - shall we?        Let's go to the park, shall we?

I have (got)     - haven't I?         He's got a pet, hasn't he?

I have     -   don't I?              You have a shower every day, don't you?

There is / are     -  isn't / aren't there?          There is a boy in the room, isn't there?

This /That is     -    isn't it?      That's Mary's T-shirt, isn't it?  

Lesson 24. Prepositions

Prepositions.

1.Prepositions of time.

 

She takes her daughter to the park on Sundays.

They decorate a tree at Christmas.

  In summer,they go to the beach.

We use prepositions of time to say when something happens, happened or will happen. The most common ones are at,in and on.

He goes to school at eight o'clock in the morning. 

 We use at:

the time :                   at 7 o'clock

holidays :                   at Easter / at Christmas 

in the expressions:    at the weekend / at present / at noon / at night / at midnight / at dawn

      We use in:

months :                      in May / in September / in July

seasons :                      in the winter / spring / autumn / summer

years:                          in 1996 / in 1877

centuries:                    in the 20th century

in the expressions:     in an hour / in a minute / in a week, in a few days, in a month, in a year    

           

 We use on:

days :                                 on Monday / on Friday;  on New Year's Day

dates :                                on May 6th / on September 1st

part of a particular day:     on Monday morning / on Tuesday afternoon

adjective + day:                 on a hot day

 We don't use prepositions of time:

 with the words today, tomorrow, tonight, yesterday

before the words this, last, next, all, some, each, one, any

Come to my house tomorrow morning.

Let's go to the cinema next Sunday.  

2.Prepositions of place.

 We use prepositions of place to say where somebody or something is. These include: on, under, in front of, behind, beside/next to, near, at, in, between and among.

 
The vase is on the table. 



The cat is under the table.


Nancy is in front of Paul.
Paul is behind Nancy.



The pencils are in the pencil case. 


The man is at the door. 




The fireplace is between the chairs.
We use between to say that somebody or something is in the middle of two other things or people.


The teacher is sitting among the students.
We use among to say that somebody or something is in the  middle of three or  more things or people.


The boy is next to the girl.


The chair is near the desk. 

We use at:

• with addresses when we mention the house number:

at 15, King Street,    (but in King Street)

• in the expressions:

at school / university / college, at work, at home, at the top of..... , at the bottom of.....

We use in:

• with names of cities, countries and continents:

in Moscow, in London, in Russia, in England, in Australia, in Europe

• in the expressions:

in the air, in the sky, in hospital, in prison, in bed, in a picture, in a newspaper/ magazine, in the middle

We use on:

• in the expressions: 

on the first / second floor , on the right, on the left


3.Prepositions of movement. 
We use prepositions of movement to show the direction in which somebody or something is moving. These include: over, along, across, up, down, into, out of, onto, round,  through and from... to... .


 
They are walking across the street. 


The plane is flying over the city.



The car is going along the street. 


The boys are climbing up the hill.



They are skiing down the hill.


The woman is getting into the taxi.


The woman is getting out of the taxi. 
 
They are jumping onto the truck. 




 The train is going through a tunnel.


The bus is going from London to Oxford. 


Note:
When we talk about a means of transport, we use the preposition by.
by car / bus / train / taxi / boat / plane
BUT:
on foot

Video lessons: