Comparative Adjectives and Adverbs

5 Qualifying Comparative Adjectives

Use these words and phrases to refer to big differences:

• far
• a lot
• much
• considerably
• not nearly as ... as

Cars are considerably faster and far more comfortable than bicycles.

Use these words and phrases to refer to small differences: a bit, a little, slightly.

The weather's a bit hotter than it was yesterday.

Use these words and phrases to refer to no differences: just, no.

It's no warmer than it was yesterday.

It's just as cold today as it was yesterday.

Adverbs

1- Regular and Irregular Adverbs

A. The majority of comparative and superlative adverbs are formed like this:

B. Irregular adverbs are formed like this:

C. Adverbs which are the same as adjectives:

Other adverbs of this kind include: far, long, loud, straight.

2 The + Comparative + The

This construction links two actions or situations — when one thing happens, another thing follows. A comparative expression in the first clause is balanced by a comparative expression in the second clause. Several grammatical patterns are possible here:

• adjective ... adjective
• The harder a job is, the more rewarding I find it.
• adverb ... adverb
• The sooner we start, the quicker we'll finish.
• adjective ... adverb, or adverb ... adjective
• The easier a job is, the more quickly I do it.
• more (+ noun) ... more (+ noun)
• The more money Jack earned, the more clothes he bought.
• less (+ clause) ... less (+ uncountable noun) / fewer (+ plural countable noun)
• The less Bob earned, the less food / the fewer holidays he could afford.