Important – more important – the most important

важный – более важный – самый (наиболее) важный

3. Некоторые прилагательные образуют степени сравнения от других корней:

Good – better – the best

(хороший - лучше -наилучший)

Bad – worse – the worst

(плохой – хуже – самый плохой)

Little – less – the least

(маленький – меньше – самый маленький)

Much – more – the most

Many – more – the most

(много – больше -большинство)

более

Far – farther – the farthest

(further – the furthest)

(дальний – более отдаленный – самый отдаленный)

4. Сравнительные союзы:

as … as – так(ой) … как и

not so …as – не так(ой) … как и

as well as – также как и

as well – также

Если после сочетания as …as … стоит числительное, то это сочетание обычно не переводится.

The speed of this plane is as high as 1.200 kilometres per hour.

Скорость этого самолёта 1.200 километров в час.

Сочетания типа: five metres high, three metres long переводятся на русский язык: высотой в пять метров, длиной в три метра.

5. Сравнительный оборот:

The (more) … the (better) …

Чем … тем …

The higher the temperature the more rapid is the motion of the molecules.

Чем выше температура, тем быстрее движение молекул.

Exercises:

I. Give the comparative and superlative of the following.

A hot, long, short, clever, heavy, weak, interesting, good, small, happy, beautiful, bad, dirty, wide, far, careful, light, attentive.

B a short story, a high building, much snow, an easy question, a late news, a difficult exercise, little time, many cars, a comfortable flat, a thick dictionary, few mistakes.

II. Complete the sentences. Use a comparative.

1. My job isn’t very interesting. I want to do something _____.

2. David doesn’t work very hard. I work _____.

3. Your plan isn’t very good. My plan is _____.

4. I’m not very interested in art. I’m _____ in history.

5. Britain isn’t very big. France is _____.

6. People today aren’t very polite. In the past they were _____.

7. The hotel was surprisingly big. I expected it to be_____.

8. You’re talking very loudly. Can you speak a bit _____.

9. You hardly ever phone me. Why don’t you phone me _____.

10. You were a bit depressed yesterday but you look _____ today.

III. Use a superlative.

A 1. It’s a very valuable painting. It _____ the gallery.

2. She is a very intelligent student. She _____ the class.

3. It was a very happy day. It was _____ my life.

B 1. We stayed at _____ hotel in the town. (cheap)

2. What’s _____ river in the world? (long)

3. That was _____ meal I’ve had for a long time. (delicious)

IV. Answer the following questions.

1. Which is the most difficult subject for you?

2. Which is the easiest subject for you?

3. Is mathematics more difficult for you than English?

4. Is chemistry as difficult for you as physics?

5. Which is the largest city in the world?

6. Who is the most famous singer now?

7. Have you less or more free time now than you had last year?

V. Use the words in brackets to complete the sentences. Use “much/a bit etc. +

a comparative form”. Use “than” where necessary.

1. I’m afraid, the problem is __________________ it seems. (much/complicated)

2. I enjoyed our visit to the museum. It was ________________ I expected. (far/interesting)

3. It’s __________ to learn a foreign language in the country where it is spoken. (a lot/easy)

4. Let’s go by car. It’s ________________. (much/cheap)

5. Don’t go by train. It’s a ________________. (lot/expensive)

6. This bag is _________________ the other one. (slightly/heavy)