Articles

1 We use a or an the first time we mention something. When we mention it

again, we use the.

I saw a beautiful vase in an antique shop a few days ago. When I went back to the shop yesterday, the vase wasn’t there any more!

2 We do not use the:

a when we talk about people or things in general.

Dogs make very good pets.

b with the names of people and countries.

American people eat a lot of fast food.

c with many place names.

continents:	Europe, Asia	countries:	Argentina
cities:	Moscow, Madrid	lakes:	Lake Ontario
mountains:	Mount Everest	hills:	Primrose Hill
roads / streets:	Oxford Street	islands:	EasterIsland

We use the:

a with some place names

oceans and seas:	the pacific Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea
rivers:	the River Danube, the River Thames
mountain ranges:	the Alps, the Himalayas
countries which are republics or unions:	the United kingdom, the United Arab Emirates

b with superlative forms.

the longest river in the world

c when there is only one of something

the sun the Earth the Moon the sky the pope

4 Other phrases with the

at the bottom, at the top

in the east, in the west, in the centre, in the middle

in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening

on the left, on the right

BUT: at home, at school, at university, at work, at night, n bed, in hospital, in prison, on holiday

Adjectives

Comparative and Superlative forms

1 One-syllable and two-syllable adjectives ending in –y

Adjective	Comparative	Superlative	Spelling
young	younger	the youngest	most adjectives +
tall	taller	the tallest	-er, the -est
nice	nicer	the nicest	adjectives ending
large	larger	the largest	in -e: + -r, the -st
thin	thinner	the thinnest	one vowel + one
big	bigger	the biggest	consonant: double the consonant
pretty	prettier	the prettiest	change -y to -i

2 Other two-syllable adjectives and longer adjectives

serious	more serious	the most serious
sophisticated	more sophisticated	the most sophisticated

But we usually use -er and the -est with the following two-syllable adjectives: clever, quiet, simple, gentle.

3 Irregular forms

Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
good little many/much bad far	better less more worse farther /further	the best the least the most the worst the farthest / furthest

4 Prepositions in comparative phrases

I think she’s more attractive than her sister.

Your eyes are very similar to your mother’s.

Are these glasses very different from your old ones?

She looks like a businesswoman.

Her earrings are the same as mine.