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Degrees of comparison of adjectives and adverbs. The usage of “many”, “much”, “few”, “a few”, “little”, “a little”

Урок 30. Подготовка к ЕГЭ по английскому языку. Часть 2

Данный видеоурок расскажет ребятам о том, как образуются 3 степени сравнения прилагательных и наречий. Затем учащиеся выяснят, когда необходимо использовать «many», «much», «few», «a few», «little», «a little».

Конспект урока "Degrees of comparison of adjectives and adverbs. The usage of “many”, “much”, “few”, “a few”, “little”, “a little”"

– Hello, boys and girls!

– Welcome to our grammar lesson!

– We are happy to see you.

– Today we are going to start our lesson with the following six sentences…

Are you happier now that you’ve changed your job?

It was the most beautifully designed chair.

There aren’t many books on the shelf.

I haven’t got much change. I’ve only got a ten euro note.

Very few students learn Latin now.

She saves a little money every month.

As you can see, in the first sentence we’ve used the comparative degree of the adjective “happy”. In the second sentence – the superlative degree of the adverb “beautifully”. In the third sentence we’ve used the word “many”, in the fourth – the word “much”, in the fifth – the word “few” and in the last sentence we’ve used “a little”.

How many degrees of comparison do adjectives and adverbs have? What are they?

When can we use the words “many”, “much”, “few”, “a few”, “little”, “a little”?

You can find the answers to these questions in this lesson.

So, today in the lesson we will:

● talk about the degrees of comparison of adjectives and adverbs;

● discuss when to use “many”, “much”, “few”, “a few”, “little”, “a little”;

And

● put the knowledge into practice.

There are 3 degrees of comparison of adjectives and adverbs in the English language. And they are:

The positive degree

(It is used when there is no direct comparison being made to anything specific but is used to offer a broad or general comparison.)

For example:

Earth is large.

The comparative degree

(It is used to compare one person or thing with another and enables us to say whether a person or thing has more or less of a particular quality.)

For instance:

Earth is larger than Mars.

Pay attention! We often use “than” after the comparative adjective or adverb.

The superlative degree

(It’s used to describe one person or thing as having more of a quality than all other people or things in a group.)

For example:

Saturn is the largest among the three planets.

Now let’s answer the question:

How do we form degrees of comparison of adjectives and adverbs?

1) With one-syllable adjectives and adverbs we add the suffix -er to form the comparative and the article “the” and the suffix -est to form the superlative.

For instance:

The elephant is taller than the elk.

The giraffe is the tallest animal in the world.

(In these sentences we’ve used the adjective “tall”.)

Children learn things faster than adults do.

Everyone in the race ran fast, but Jesse ran the fastest of all.

(In these sentences we’ve used the adverb “fast”.)

2) If one-syllable adjectives or adverbs end with a short vowel before a single consonant, we double the consonant and add the suffix -er or the article “the” and the suffix -est to form the comparative or the superlative.

For example:

The water was hotter than Jennifer had expected.

I think that’s the biggest apple I’ve ever seen!

3) With two-syllable adjectives we form the comparative with the help of the word “more” or “less”, and we form the superlative with the help of “(the) most” or “(the) least”.

For instance:

Kimberly is less thoughtful than her sister Stephanie.

Jane was the most helpful and generous person to work with.

Pay attention! The words “clever”, “common”, “cruel”, “friendly”, “gentle”, “narrow”, “pleasant”, “polite”, “shallow”, “quiet” and “simple” can form their comparatives and superlatives either with -er/-est or with “more/less”, “(the) most/(the) least”.

For example:

She has always thought that Benjamin was cleverer than his brother.

She has always thought that Benjamin was more clever than his brother.

4) If two-syllable adjectives end in consonant and the letter “y”, we replace “y” with the letter “i” and add the suffix -er to form the comparative or the article “the” and the suffix -est to form the superlative.

For instance:

Justin’s second marriage was happier than the first one.

The attack happened in one of the busiest parts of the town.

5) When adjectives include more than two syllables, we use “more/less” or “(the) most/(the) least” to form the comparative or the superlative.

For example:

The next hotel we tried was less expensive than the first one.

John is the most generous person of all the people I know.

6) With adverbs ending in -ly we form the comparative with the help of the word “more” or “less”, and we form the superlative with the help of “(the) most” or “(the) least”.

For instance:

Mr. Stevenson spoke more slowly to help us to understand.

The teacher asked the class if they could speak less loudly in the classroom.

Some adjectives and adverbs in English have irregular comparative and superlative forms. These forms need to be learned and memorized!

For instance:

Good/well – better – (the) best

Bad/badly – worse – (the) worst

Many/much – more – (the) most

Little – less – (the) least

Far – farther/further – (the) farthest/(the) furthest

For instance:

This sweater is less expensive than that one.

A lot of people behaved badly at the party, but she behaved worst of all.

We’ve talked about the degrees of comparison of adjectives and adverbs. Now…

Open the brackets using the correct form of the adjective or adverb!

The sentences are…

Let’s check the right answers!

1. She always tells lies. She’s the least honest person I know.

2. Jason’s memory is better than mine.

3. All the sisters are pretty, but Sarah is the prettiest of them all.

4. This is the worst meal I’ve had for a long time.

5. The little boy ran farther than his friends.

6. She’s a bit rude. She should speak more respectfully to the other students than she does.

7. The grass snake is the least dangerous of all snakes.

8. The most important thing in this situation is to stay calm.

Now let’s discuss when to use “many”, “much”, “few”, “a few”, “little”, “a little”.

“A few” and “few” are used with plural countable nouns.

“A few” means “not many, but enough”.

For example:

We stayed a few days in Florence and visited the museums.

“Few” means “hardly any, almost none” and can be used with the word “very” for emphasis.

For instance:

There were very few visitors in the cinema.

“A little” and “little” are used with uncountable nouns.

“A little” means “not much, but enough”.

For example:

It’s a little cold. Would you like me to close the door?

“Little” means “hardly any, almost none” and can be used with the word “very” for emphasis.

For instance:

I’m not very happy about that, but I suppose I have little choice.

“Much” and “many” are usually used in negative or interrogative sentences.

We use “much” with uncountable nouns.

And

We use “many” with plural countable nouns.

For example:

How many eggs are there in the fridge?

Did you spend much money in the sales?

In affirmative sentences we normally use “a lot of” and “lots of”. They are used with both plural countable and uncountable nouns. “Lots of” is more informal than “a lot of”.

For instance:

Katherine went shopping and spent a lot of money.

Julia, don’t go anywhere! We’ve got lots of things to do.

Pay attention! “Of” is omitted when “a lot” and “lots” are not followed by a noun.

For example:

There’s a lot going on in this town today.