2017-10-04 Grammar: comparatives

Greg Malivuk
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http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk - notes from all classes
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Comparatives
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With one thing, we can use intensifiers to give more information about the degree:
pretty cheap, very cheap, extremely cheap, so cheap, too cheap, cheap enough
With two things, we can compare the degree with comparatives and intensifiers:
slightly cheaper, much cheaper, a little cheaper, far cheaper
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Comparative forms with -er or “more” show that something has a greater degree.
Equatives with “as” show that something has the same degree:
This store is as cheap as that store. This store is exactly/just as cheap as that store.
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We can also use “not as” to show difference:
This store is not as cheap as that store. = This store is more expensive than that store.
If it’s still pretty close: This store is not quite as cheap as that store. (= slightly more expensive)
If it’s a big difference: This store is not nearly as cheap as that store. (= much more expensive)
(We can also say, “This store is nearly as cheap as that store,” to show a small difference.)
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With “long” adjectives that use “more” instead of -er, we can also use “less”
That store is less expensive than this store. = This store is more expensive than that store.
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Adverbs formed from adjective+ly (almost) always use “more” and “less” instead of -er
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p. 171 exercise 4 - Ask your partner these questions and then make sentences with comparative adjectives or adverbs to express the information.
1 For example: “My partner is considerably older than I am.” / “I am much younger than him.”
  Faisal is twice as old as Jude. / Jude is half as old as Faisal.
2 My partner has been studying English a bit longer than me.
3 She goes to sleep not quite as late as me. -> She doesn’t go to sleep quite as late as me.
4 She goes to the movies exactly as often as me.
5 My partner is improving English just as quickly as me.
  He is not improving English as quickly as me. / He is improving less quickly than me.
	/ He is improving English more slowly than me.
6 His family is slightly smaller than mine.
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These questions (and the structures in focus 1 on p. 168) are for comparing adjectives and adverbs. If you want to compare noun phrases you might need different grammar.
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She is taller than me. - This is how most people speak, some people think it’s ungrammatical.
She is taller than I. - This is the formally correct way to say it, most people think it’s strange.
She is taller than I am. - Everyone can agree that this is fine.
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Every student should bring his book. - This is sexist.
Every student should bring his or her book. - This is awkward and unnecessarily long.
Every student should bring their book. - This is how most people speak, but some say it’s wrong.
All students should bring their books. - Everyone agrees that this is fine.
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p. 172 - Ways to compare noun quantities.
comparatives: more (count or noncount), less (usually noncount), fewer (only count nouns)
quantifiers to use with “as”: much (noncount), many (count), little (noncount), few (count)
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Homework: use the information on p. 174 to write two comparative sentences about each pair of countries.
	example: Luxembourg has more official languages than Libya.