Mastering English Vocabulary & Communication Phrases

Forming Comparatives and Superlatives

Regular adjectives form comparatives with -er and superlatives with -est. Longer adjectives use more and most.

Irregular Comparative and Superlative Forms

• Good: better / best
• Bad: worse / worst
• Far: further / furthest

Expressing Comparisons

Common Comparative Structures

• Is as good as... / Isn't as good as...
• Is older than...

Intensifiers for Comparisons

Use these words to modify comparative statements:

• A little / A bit / Slightly: is slightly older than
• A lot / Much / Far: is much older than

Essential Adjectives for Description

General Adjectives

• Valuable
• Big / Small
• Tall / Short
• Old
• Beautiful
• Interesting
• Expensive
• Relaxing
• Exciting
• Dangerous
• Visited
• Great / Large
• Finest (meaning 'best')
• Enjoyable
• Professional
• Fascinating
• Surprising
• Stunning
• Amazing
• Cosmopolitan
• Famous
• Tiring
• Quiet
• Quite (meaning 'rather' or 'fairly')

Adjectives Describing Feelings and Emotions

• Interested
• Annoyed / Irritated
• Boring
• Weary / Tired
• Disappointed / Unhappy
• Pleased / Happy
• Surprised / Astonished

Descriptive Nouns and Phrases

• Popular: dance, dish, music
• Traditional: area, city
• Ancient: castle, palace, temple
• Humid: weather, climate
• Lively: area, bar, party
• Delicious: dinner, dish, food
• Modern: architecture, building, shopping center
• Popular: destination, resort, venue

Language for Presentations and Data Description

Describing Visual Aids

• Slide with prompt words: to introduce or summarize a topic
• Pie chart: to show market share of a product or service, to represent data
• Table: to present facts and figures
• Line graph: to show trends (e.g., "The X-axis indicates...", "This graph shows...")

Phrases for Referring to Data

• Look at...
• See...
• Describes...

Expressing and Responding to Opinions

Asking for Opinions

• What's your view?
• What's your opinion of that?
• What do you think about...?

Giving Your Opinion

• From my point of view, it's a good idea.
• In my opinion, we should do...
• In my view, that's not a good idea.
• I think we should do some research on the idea.

Agreeing with an Opinion

• I completely agree.
• Definitely.
• Yes, that's a good point, I agree.

Disagreeing with an Opinion

• I'm afraid I completely disagree.
• I'm sorry, but I don't agree.
• I'm not sure about that.
• I can see where you are coming from.
• I see what you mean, but...
• I take your point, but...

Professional Email Phrases

Salutations and Closings

• Dear Mr./Ms. [Name]
• Kind regards,
• Best wishes,
• See you soon,

Common Email Expressions

• I'm looking forward to meeting you again.
• [Your Name and Title]

Key Phrases for Business Communication

Giving Information

• I'm writing to confirm...
• I'd like to confirm that...
• Wednesday evening sounds fine for meeting up.

Asking for Confirmation

• Could you please confirm that?
• Can you just confirm that?
• Let me know if that suits.

Referring to Attachments

• Please find your e-ticket attached.
• I've attached an agenda for the meeting on Tuesday.
• Check out the attachment.

Requesting an Action

• Please be sure to print this out.
• Please can you look at it?
• Can you text it to me?

Advanced Comparative Structures

• Is nicer than...
• Has a greater population than...
• Is the largest city in...
• Is the windiest city in...
• Is older than...
• Mexico City is bigger than San Salvador.
• The cost of living in NYC is higher than...
• Is colder / further north than any other...
• Has more skyscrapers than any other...
• Some of the most important aspects of each of them...

Quantifiers and Degree

• Too: (excessive)
• Enough: (sufficient)
• Few / A few: (small quantity, countable)
• Little / A little: (small quantity, uncountable)

Essential Prepositions of Place

• Next to
• Behind
• Between
• In front of
• Opposite
• Above
• Under

Common Connectors and Transition Words

Conjunctions

• And
• But
• So
• Or
• Because

Sequencing and Listing

• First
• Second
• Next
• Then
• After that
• Later
• Finally
• Including
• Also

Other Useful Connectors

• For example (e.g.)
• More than / Less than
• Approximately
• At least
• Either... or...
• Instead (of)
• About (meaning 'approximately' or 'concerning')