Grades of Adjectives (Grados de adjetivos)

1. The positive degree is the quality on the simplest level. examples:

o o o o

Juan runs fast. (Juan corre rpido.) Angela's room is clean. (La habitacin de Angela est limpia.) I am tall. (Soy alto.) New York is big. (Nueva York es grande.)

fast, hard, smart, pretty, clean, large, small, old, easy...

2. The comparative degree of superiority may be less than or equal. For

comparative superiority or inferiority, the adjective is followed by "than". For comparative inferiority, we use "not as ... as" or "less" before the adjective. And for comparison to match the adjective is between "as ... as". examples:

Comparative superiority Juan runs faster than Mark. (Juan corre ms rpido que Mark.) Angela's room is cleaner than Sue's. (La habitacin de Angela est ms limpia que la de Sue.) I am taller than Beth. (Soy ms alto que Beth.) New York is bigger than Los Angeles. (Nueva York es ms grandeque Los Angeles.)

o o o o

Comparative of inferiority Mark doesn't run as fast (slower) as Juan. (Mark no corre tan rpido como Juan.) Sue's room is not as clean (dirtier) as Sue's. (La habitacin de Sue no es tan limpia como la de Angela.) Beth is not as tall (shorter) as me. (Beth no es tan alta como yo.) Los Angeles is not as big (smaller) as New York. (Los Angeles no es tan grande como Nueva York.)

o o o o

Comparative equality
o o o o

Mark is as fast as Juan. (Mark corre tan rpido como Juan.) Sue's room is as clean as Angela's. (La habitacin de Sue es tan limpia como la de Angela.) Beth is as tall as I am. (Beth es tan alta como yo.) Los Angeles is as big as New York. (Los Angeles es tan grande como Nueva York.) Ejemplos: Juan runs a lot faster than Mark. (Juan corre mucho ms rpido que Mark.) I am slightly taller than Beth. (Soy un poco ms alta que Beth.)

3. The superlative quality denotes the highest degree as Spanish, use "the" before the adjective. examples:

o o o o o o

Juan is the fastest. (Juan es el ms rpido.) Angela'a room is the cleanest. (La habitacin de Angela es la ms limpia.) I am the tallest. (Soy el ms alto.) New York is the biggest city in the United States. (Nueva York es la cuidad ms grande de los Estados Unidos.) His smartest student is Lisa. (Su estudiante ms lista es Lisa.) New York is coldest in January. (Nueva York es ms frio en enero.)

Form (Forma)
There are some rules for forming the comparative and superlative 1. Para adjetivos de una slaba: Comparativo aade: "-er" (faster) Superlativo aade: "-est" (fastest)

2. Para adjetivos de una slaba que terminan en "e": Comparativo aade: "-r" (nicer) Superlativo aade: "-st" (nicest)

3. Para adjetivos de una slaba que terminan en constanante + vocal + constanante: Comparativo aade: constanante + "er" (hotter) Superlativo aade: constanante + "-est" (hottest)

4. Para adjetivos de dos silabas que terminan en "y": Comparativo sustituye "y" por: "-ier" (funnier) Superlativo sustituye "y" por: "-iest" (funniest)

5. Para adjetivos de dos o ms silabas: Comparativo Superlativo aade: "more"/"less" (more beautiful) aade "the most"/"the least": (the most beautiful)

6. Adjetivos irregulares: Adjetivo good bad far Comparativo Better Worse Further Superlativo best worst furthest

Exercises
Comparative Forms: Write the comparative form of the adjective in brackets.

Portugal is ........................than Spain (small) Madrid is ............. than Mlaga (noisy) Mount Everest is ................ than Teide (high) Football is ............ than ski (popular) Real Madrid is ............... than Manchester United (good) A Ferrari is ............... than a Toyota (fast) Chinese is ................. than English (difficult) A Citroen is ................ than a Mercedes (cheap) Big motorbikes are ................ than small cars (expensive) Bicycles are ................ than motorbikes (slow)

Superlative Forms: Write the superlative form of the adjective in brackets.

The .................town in Spain is Madrid (big) The ............. TV programmes are reality shows (bad) Mount Everest is the................ mountain in the world (high) London is the ............ town in Europe (expensive) You are my...............friend (good) Shakira is the............... pop start (pretty) Chinese is the................. language in the world (difficult) Lions are the ................animals (brave) Climbing is the ................ sport (dangerous) Tortoises are the................ animals (slow)

Comparing the Star Signs: Write the comparative or superlative form of the adjective in brackets.

Taurus are.................than Gemini (reliable) Leo are the............. (generous) Cancer are............. than Gemini (shy) Virgo are............ than Pisces (practical) Scorpio are the...............(secretive) Gemini are the ...............sign in the zodiac (witty) Sagittarius are usually...............friends than lovers (good) Which is the ................star sign?(moody) Aries are ................ than Libra (impulsive) Aries are ................ than Libra (impulsive)

Comparatives and Superlatives: Complete the following questions.

My mother is _____ than my father. What is _____ movie you have ever seen? That movie was bad, but it wasn't _____ I have ever seen. Rachel's hair is not as _____ as Sarah's. Yesterday's exam was _____ than the one last month. Peter is as ____ as Alex. I think Mary is _____ woman I have ever seen. Her room is only a little bit _____ than mine. He is _____ when he is playing football. Michael's house is _____ from the train than Betty's.

Opposite adjetives short/long easy/dificult dark/light fat/thin small/big pretty/ugly cold/hot forward/backward good/bad fast/slow expensive/cheap happy/sad pushing/pulling top/bottom friendly/unfriendly Hardworking/lazy active/pasive right/left single-married empty/full new/old clean/dirty high/low funny/boring rich/por curly/straight on/off

man/woman open/closed strong/weak young/old sharp/dull loud/quiet thick/thin sour/sweet modest/boastful generous/mean

sitting/standing up/down hard/soft wet/dry messy/tidy

stupid/intelligent right/wrong here/there smooth-rough inside/outside many/few

deep-shallow far/near much/little wide-narrow