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Online lessons

Online lessons

Introduction

Welcome students,

 

Thank you for visiting this digital study arrangement where you could find all information provided for the lessons of 1 vwo.

There will be different kinds of lessons on this arrangement in the near future, but we will start off with two of the most important grammar items in the English language, which are comparative and superlative adjectives.

On this arrangement, you will find the theory and a video of comparative and superlative adjectives and some other tools that support the lessons and its learning aims.

There will be enough theory provided to do the practice exercises that have to do with the grammar item and furthermore, there will be a test at the end to measure whether the lessons and its learning aims are achieved.

There are also links to other websites to find more examples and practice exercises.

Good luck with studying grammar and hopefully this arrangement is enough to pass the test!

Content

Lesson aims

By the end of this lesson you will have:

  • Learned the differences between comparative and superlative adjectives and their use in different contexts.
  • Learned the differences between regular and irregular forms of comparative and superlative adjectives and their use in different contexts.
  • Practiced with the use of comparative and superlative adjectives.
  • Tested yourself with comparative and superlative adjectives.

Mindmap

Mindmup

Go to mindmup and create your own mindmap about the Comparative and Superlative Adjectives. What do you know about the two grammar items? 

Time: this exercise should take 5 to 7 minutes.

How: Go to mindmup and get started. 

          Register with your email account.

          Click on ''create a new map''.

          Give your center area the name ''Comparative and Superlative Adjectives''.

          Start writing down what you know about this subject.

          Save your mindmap.

Help: Work individually.

Finished: Save your mindmap and continue with the lesson.

Mindmup.com

Introduction

Today's lesson is going to be about comparative and superlative adjectives. In Dutch they are called ''vergelijkende en overtreffende trap''. Both are used to compare and contrast different entities, but there are quite some differences between the two.

What are the differences between comparative and superlative adjectives?

 

Comparatives Superlatives
Compare two people, objects, ideas Compare three or more things
Preceded by 'than' Preceded by 'the'
Formed by adding 'er', 'ier' or 'more' Formed by adding 'est', 'iest' or 'most'

 

Picture

Comparative Adjectives

Theory

Comparative adjectives

 

What is it?

In Dutch, comparatives mean ''vergelijkende trap''. As in the Dutch language, the English language also use comparative adjectives to compare things, objects, ideas, people, etc. The comparative in general can be placed with adjectives or adverbs. This lesson is about the comparative adjectives and how to form this grammatical item in a sentence.

 

Why do we use it?

Comparative Adjectives are used to:

 

1. Compare and describe two things and people.                   

                     My school building is older than yours.

                           This car is better and more expensive than the other one.

 

2. When something or someone changes.

                          The tiredness makes me work slower and slower.

                           Don't worry about the dog. He is doing better and better.

 

3. When one thing depends on another

                           It is less beautiful when you paint it quicker.

                           The quicker you paint, the less beautiful it is.

 

Picture

The use

How do we use it?

When the comparative adjective consists of:

  • 1 or 2 syllables, it gets -er at the end of the word.

              For example: Fast - Faster

                                    Big - Bigger

 

  • 3 or more syllables, it gets 'more' before the word.

            For example: Beautiful - more beautiful

                                  Uncountable - more uncountable

 

  • 'Y', it changes in 'i' and gets 'er' at the end of the word.

              For example: Happy - Happier

                                    Tidy - Tidier

 

Irregular forms

However, there are irregular forms of adjectives. In the table below are listed some of the most frequently used forms of irregular adjectives.

Good Better
Bad Worse
Little (amount) Less
Little (Size) Smaller        
Much (Uncountable) More  
Many (Countable) More

 

The structure

Than

We use than to compare two things with each other.

For example:        This fall is colder than last year.

Attention: Note that 'than' is different from 'then'. 'Than' is actually used for comparisons while 'Then' is used as an adverb, to indicate an actions in time.

 

And

We use and to describe a change of someone or something.

For example:        The climate is getting warmer and warmer.

As in example one, 'and' is placed between two comparative adjectives to indicate that the car is both better and more expensive than another car. In this context, 'and' is used to add something more about the car.

 

The

We use the when something depends on another.

For example:        The more you give away your money, the poorer you'll get.

 

 

Recap

What have you learned so far?

 

  • Comparative adjectives are used to compare and describe two things and people. It also describes something or someone that/who changes. Furthermore, we use the comparative adjective to refer to one thing that depends on another thing.
  • Comparative adjective is formed with -er at the end. This is when the adjective consists of 1 or 2 syllables. When it consists of more syllables, it gets 'more' before the adjective.
  • When the adjective ends on 'y', it changes in 'i' and gets -er at the end.
  • We use 'than' to compare two things in a sentence.
  • 'And' is put between two adjectives when we describe a change of someone or something.
  • 'The' is used when something depends on something else.

There are also irregular forms of adjectives. Think of the following words: good, bad, little (amount), little (size), much (uncountable) and many (countable).

 

Good Better
Bad Worse
Little (Amount) Less
Little (Size) Smaller
Much (Uncountable) More
Many (Countable) More

 

Superlative Adjectives

Theory

Superlative adjectives

 

What is it?

In Dutch, superlative means ''overtreffende trap''. As in the Dutch language, the English language also uses superlative adjectives to refer to an upper or a lower limit of a quality. The superlative in general can be placed with adjectives or adverbs. This lesson is about the superlative adjectives and how to form this grammatical item in a sentence.

 

Why do we use it?

We use superlative adjectives:

 

1. To describe something at the upper or lower limit of a quality.

For example: The highest, the lowest, the hottest, the coldest,

                      the fattest, the thinnest, the fastest, the slowest.

 

2. When a subject is compared to a group of objects

For example: This is the tallest man on earth.

The use

How do we use it?

When the superlative adjective consists of:

  • 1 or 2 syllables, it gets -est at the end of the word.

  For example: Fast - Faster - Fattest

                         Big - Bigger - Biggest

 

  • 3 or more syllables, it gets 'most' before the word.

For example:

Beautiful - more beautiful - most beautiful

Uncountable - more uncountable - most uncountable

 

  • 'Y', it changes in 'i' and gets 'est' at the end of the word.

For example: Happy - Happier - Happiest

                       Tidy - Tidier - tidiest

 

Irregular forms

Again, there are irregular forms of adjectives. The table below shows the most frequently used forms of irregular adjectives.

Good Better Best
Bad Worse Worst
Little (amount) Less Least
Little (Size) Smaller Smallest
Much (Uncountable) More Most
Many (Countable) More Most

 

Picture

Recap

What have you learned so far?

 

  • Superlative adjectives are used to describe something at an upper or a lower limit of a quality and it describes a comparison between a subject and a group of objects.
  • When the adjective consists of 1 or 2 syllables, it gets -est at the end. 'Most' is added before the adjective when it consists of more than 3 syllables. When the adjective ends on 'y', it changes in 'i' and get -est at the end.

There are irregular forms of adjectives which you could find below in the table.

Good Better Best
Bad Worse Worst
Little (Amount) Less Least
Little (Size) Smaller Smallest
Much (Uncountable) More Most
Many (Countable) More Most

 

Summary theory

Kennisclip Comparative and superlative adjectives

Video

Practice

Comparative adjectives

Comparative Adjectives A

Comparative Adjectives B

Superlative adjectives

Superlative Adjectives A

Superlative Adjectives B

More practice

Classroom: SOC-30695653

This quiz looks similar to the test that you are going to take at the end of this lesson. The aim of the test is to prepare you on the actual test. There are some instructions below. Read this carefully before you enter the room or go to the real test. Good luck with the quiz and hopefully this is going to give you some insight on how you're doing so far in terms of understanding the theory.

Attention: read your feedback carefully after making a mistake. Since the quiz is almost the same as the test, you will need the explanation in order to pass the test.

 

Instructions

What: Have you watched the video of the theory yet? It's time to take a quiz. Go to socrative and enter the following room:

CLASS7220         

Time: You'll get max. 5 minutes to finish the socrative quiz.

How: Work Individually

Help: Your notes of this lesson. Make sure you have watched the video of the Comparative and Superlative Adjectives before you enter this room.

Finished: Finished? Take the end test.

 

SOCRATIVE

More practice explanations and exercises:

Comparative and superlative adjectives I

Comparative and superlative adjectives II

 

Picture

Tests

Comparative and superlative adjectives

Test comparative and superlative adjectives
Good luck!

Instructions

Time: You'll get about 5-7 minutes to take the test.

How: Fill in the google docs form and submit your answers.

Help: No help. Put your notes away and do this individually.

Finished: Read in your coursebook ''All Right'' about Comparative and Superlative Adverbs.

 

 

Picture

The End

Edit your mindmap

 

Remember the mindmap you saved at the beginning of the lesson? This is a perfect way of checking whether you have learned something throughout the lesson. Our lesson aims were:

By the end of this lesson you will have:

  • Learned the differences between comparative and superlative adjectives and their use in different contexts.
  • Learned the differences between regular and irregular forms of comparative and superlative adjectives and their use in different contexts.
  • Practiced with the use of comparative and superlative adjectives.
  • Tested yourself with comparative and superlative adjectives.

Have you achieved these aims?

 

Instructions

1. Open http://mindmup.com and log in with your email account.

2. Open your mindmap and edit what you have learned throughout the lesson.

3. Edit what you have guessed at the beginning about today's lesson.

4. Save your mindmap again.

 

Good luck