Comparative Adjectives- Discuss and Agree

A LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS

Giving opinions with comparing forms speaking, with adverbs with comparatives presentation and freer speaking practice.

By: Alex Case

Level: All Levels

Theme: General

Study Area: Comparatives & Superlatives

Download Lesson Plan (PDF) 288 KB

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Lesson Plan Content:

Comparative adjectives discuss and agree

Using adjectives like those below, try to make statements that you both agree with. The adjectives must match both of the things that you are talking about (e.g. you can’t compare one clean thing and one dirty thing, it must be a dirty thing and a dirtier thing) and both things must be similar in some way (e.g. two cities, not a city and a car).

Useful phrases for doing the activity

“(Personally) I think…”/ “In my opinion,…”

“What do you think?”/ “Do you agree?”/ “Don’t you think?”

“I think so too.”

“Really? I think…”/ “I would say that… is as… as…, but not… er/ but not more…”

“(I can see why you would say that, but) I would say that… isn’t as… as…”

Ask about any words below which you don’t understand, making a sentence about each one for the other people to agree or disagree with.

Comparative adjectives presentation

Look at the Without Comparatives Version of the worksheet. Together make comparatives of just the ones in italics (not the other words) until you can work out what the ones in each section have in common.

Mixed rules

Match the rules below the fold to the sections on the worksheet.

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irregular

more + one syllable

more + three or more syllables

more + two syllables

one syllable + double letter + er

one syllable + er

two syllables + er

-y changes to -ier

Check as a class or with the answer key. When there is more than one possible form, which is more common?

Play the same game again, but this time using more complex comparing forms like these:

More complex comparing forms to use

much/ a lot… than…

quite a lot/ substantially/ considerably… than…

a little/ slightly… than…

as… as…

not as… as…

not quite as… as…

not nearly as… as…

Comparative forms version

cleaner – dirtier

more dangerous/ riskier – safer

more powerful – weaker

more frequent – rarer

more common – rarer/ more unusual

more amusing/ funnier – sadder/ more tragic

more boring – more fun/ more interesting

more bland – spicier

more complex/ more complicated/ more difficult/ harder/ trickier – easier/ simpler

noisier – quieter

more cosmopolitan – more local

more energising/ more invigorating – more tiring

more fattening – more slimming

more fragile – more hard-wearing/ hardier/ sturdier

more likely – more unlikely

more pointless – more worthwhile

more relaxing – more stressful

more useful – more useless

more valuable – more worthless

more comforting – more disturbing

more convenient – more inconvenient

more disappointing – more impressive

more efficient – more inefficient

more important – more trivial

more motivating – more demotivating

more overrated – more underrated

more popular – more unpopular

more reliable – more unreliable

more satisfying – more unsatisfying

more typical – more unusual

more beautiful/ better looking/ more handsome/ prettier – uglier

more cheerful/ more life affirming – more depressing/ gloomier

more delicious/ tastier/ yuckier – more disgusting/ more revolting/ yummier

healthier – unhealthier

luckier – unluckier

more old-fashioned – more fashionable/ trendier

better – worse

better known/ more famous – more obscure/ more unknown

better value/ more reasonable – worse value

Without comparative forms version

clean – dirty

dangerous/ risky – safe

powerful – weak

frequent – rare

common – rare/ unusual

amusing/ funny – sad/ tragic

boring –fun/ interesting

bland – spicy

complex/ complicated/ difficult/ hard/ tricky – easy/ simple

noisy – quiet

cosmopolitan – local

energising/ invigorating – tiring

fattening –slimming

fragile – hard-wearing/ hardy/ sturdy

likely – unlikely

pointless – worthwhile

relaxing – stressful

useful – useless

valuable – worthless

comforting – disturbing

convenient – inconvenient

disappointing – impressive

efficient – inefficient

important – trivial

motivating – demotivating

overrated – underrated

popular – unpopular

reliable – unreliable

satisfying – unsatisfying

typical – unusual

beautiful/ good looking/ handsome/ pretty – ugly

cheerful/ life affirming – depressing/ gloomy

delicious/ tasty/ yummy – disgusting/ revolting/ yucky

healthy – unhealthy

lucky – unlucky

old-fashioned – fashionable/ trendy

good – bad

well known/ famous – obscure/ unknown

good value/ reasonable – bad value

Comparative adjectives freer speaking

Choose topics like those below and compare those things, this time also using the adverbs in the box. Your partner will then agree, disagree or partially disagree (with phrases like “I agree that it is… er, but I’d only say that is… er” or “I also think it is more…, but I’d go further and say that it is… more…”)

Useful phrases for comparing precisely

… is

far/ much/ a lot

considerably/ substantially

quite a lot

slightly/ a bit

a tiny bit

…er

more…

than…

Suggested things to compare

food from two countries

two areas of this town or city

two athletes (= two sportsmen or sportswomen)

two books

two buildings

two cafés/ two café chains

two cars/ two car brands

two celebrities

two diets

two drinks

two electronic items (e.g. two different smartphone models)

two exercises/ two forms of exercise

two foods

two foreign languages

two future events

two historical places

two hobbies

two holiday activities

two holiday resorts

two hotels/ two hotel chains

two investments

two items of furniture

two jobs/ working for two different companies

two kinds of coffee

two kinds of holiday (= vacation)

two kinds of natural disaster

two kinds of training

two magazines

two movies (e.g. two comedies or two action movies)/ two kinds of movies

two news programmes

two newspapers

two nightspots

two periods in history

two pets

two places to take foreign guests

two podcasts

two political parties

two politicians

two pop groups/ two rock groups

two pop stars/ two singers

two problems/ two difficulties

two pubs/ two pub chains

two radio programmes/ two radio stations

two recipes/ two dishes that you could cook

two restaurants/ two restaurant chains

two risks

two rural places

two school subjects

two shops/ two kinds of shop

two sightseeing spots

two skills

two songs/ two versions of a song

two sports (e.g. two winter sports or two danger sports)

two streets

two television series

two towns/ cities

two trends/ two changes

two views

two ways of learning English

two ways of relaxing

two ways of travelling/ two means of transport

two wild animals

Adverbs with comparative adjectives presentation

Without looking above, brainstorm words which could go before “more…” or “…er”.

Put the words below into order from the biggest difference top to the smallest difference bottom. Some are (basically) the same as so should go next to each other. Then compare your answers with the list in order above.

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Mixed adverbs with comparative adjectives

a bit

a lot

a tiny bit

considerably

far

much

quite a lot

slightly

substantially

Download Lesson Plan (PDF) 288 KB

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