COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES

Comparatives and superlatives are a very recurrent topic in English lessons. Thus, I will explain in detail each of these concepts.

First of all, it is necessary to explain the uses of each concept:

• COMPARATIVES: are used to compare differences between the two objects they modify (larger, smaller, faster)
• SUPERLATIVES: are used to describe an object which is at the upper or lower limit of quality (the tallest, the smallest, the fastest)

Once we know the uses of comparatives and superlatives, it is necessary to pay attention to the following ideas👇🏼:

• It is necessary to pay attention if we are in front of a comparative or superlative.
• It is necessary to check the number of syllables of the adjective.

👉🏼 1/2 syllables - short adjectives

👉🏼 +2 syllables - long adjectives

🚨 In Spanish we do not make any kind of distinction between short and long adjectives, but in English we do. Thus, it would be necessary to take that into account.

Now, let's have a look at their structures👇🏼:

As a way to summarise everything👇🏼:

🟢 SHORT ADJECTIVES:

• COMPARATIVE: adj -ER + THAN
• SUPERLATIVE: THE + adj -EST 

👉🏼I am older than my sister, but I am not the oldest in the family.

🟣 LONG ADJECTIVES:

• COMPARATIVE: MORE / LESS + adj
• SUPERLATIVE: THE MOST / THE LEAST + adj

👉🏼 She is more beautiful than Sarah, in fact she's the most beautiful woman in the world.

You shouldn't forget that there are irregular adjectives. Thus, you should activate the 🚨 in case you find them in the exam. You can find a list of the irregular adjectives below. However, the most common ones are good, bad and far.

I hope everything is clearer now. However, in case you still have doubts I recommend you to watch the following Youtube video, where I explain in detail comparatives and superlatives. I hope you like it!✌🏼

Finally, it's time to practice a little bit💪🏼. Would you be able to create comparative and superlative sentences by just looking at the images below?

Don’t forget to post your doubts in the comment’s box below or directly ask them to your teacher in your next lesson!✌🏻

                                                                                               EXTRA EXERCISES:

• ⭐ COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVES
  
• ⭐⭐ COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVES - DIFFERENT EXERCISE TYPES
  
• ⭐⭐ COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVES
  
• ⭐⭐ COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVES
  
• 😎 COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE - GAMES
  

PREPOSITION STRANDING

Preposition stranding is a typical construction found in English (among other Germanic languages) where the preposition of the verb is placed at the end of the question. Nonetheless, this phenomenon does not exist in Spanish where the preposition of the verb is placed at the beginning of questions, and not at the end of these. Have a look at the following examples to notice what I mean:

• What are you thinking about?
• ¿En qué piensas?

It is not necessary to learn the name of this phenomenon, and what is more, it won't appear in your exams. Nonetheless, it is necessary to have a look at the following picture in order to familiarise with this type of construction👇🏻.

Do you understand now what I mean? Keep on learning useful things with me✌🏻

QUANTIFIERS: SOME / ANY

Have a look at the following picture. Can you notice the differences between some and any?

You're right! There's a small difference between these two words✌🏻.

1. Some: used with affirmative sentences and formal requests (those which start with would, shall or even could).
2. Any: used with negative and interrogative sentences.

What is more, these two words can be used with either countable or uncountable words. No worries, you don't have to pay attention to that!

Now that you have understood the difference between these two quantifiers, are you able to practice with this exercise?

• There is ___some___ milk in the friedge.
• We don't need ___any___ flour.
• Could I have ___some___ water, please?
• Are there ___any___eggs in the fridge?
• I don't have ___any___ money. 

Besides, you can also practice with the following activity. Have a look at the picture of the room and try to describe what you can see using some and any. Invent your own sentences and write them in comments!

• There are some posters on the wall.
• There isn't any person in the room.

                                                               EXTRA EXERCISES:

⭐ CHOOSE BETWEEN SOME OR ANY

⭐ CHOOSE BETWEEN SOME OR ANY - LIVE WORKSHEET

⭐⭐ WRITE SOME OR ANY

IMPERATIVE

 Have a look at the following phrasal verbs. Do they sound familiar to you?

'Turn on' and 'turn off' are used with a similar meaning to 'switch on' and 'switch off' they both mean 'encender' and 'apagar' respectively. Nonetheless, since they are phrasal verbs they can be used together or with a noun or pronoun in the middle, as depicted below.

• Turn the light on. 
• Turn on the light.

Both constructions are correct and possible in English. The same will happen with verbs such as 'turn up' and 'turn down' which, as mentioned below, mean 'subir' and 'bajar' respectively.

Nonetheless, these phrasal verbs are frequently used while ordering someone to perform these actions.

Consequently, as it could perfectly be seen with the previous verbs, the mood that is used is the imperative mood, which is frequently used without a subject and in order to adress the listener. Have a look at the following picture in order to understand this issue better.

As previously explained, the imperative mood is always created with the base form of the verb and it is always used when we want someone to do something. Thus, it is the mood of orders, commands, warnings, instructions, advices... among many others.

How many imperatives can you find in the following recipe?

Post your answer in the comment's box below👇🏻👇🏻.

POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS vs. ADJECTIVES

Pronouns are a big issue in the English language. They are very problematic for all languages; thus, I recommend you to read the post dedicated to this English issue within this same blog.

Nevertheless, in the picture below, you can perfectly understand the usage of possessive pronouns which are pronouns that show that something belongs to someone.

Nonetheless, the possessive adjectives are my, your, his, her, its, our, your and their. However, there's also an 'independent' form of each of these pronouns; mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, yours and theirs; which are the ones illustrated in the picture above. Finally, it is also important to mention that possessive pronouns are never spelled with apostrophes.

Have a look at the following picture in order to better understand the difference between possessive adjectives and pronouns.

On the one hand, possessive adjectives are always followed by a noun, as perfectly depicted below. What is more, repeting the noun makes the sentence sound more repetitive.

• This book is my book, not your book.

On the other hand, possessive pronouns always substitute a noun, and thus, no noun appears, as illustrated beneath. This sentence sounds more natural since the noun is avoided.

• This book is mine, not yours.

ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY

Let's learn how to use the adverbs of frequency. Do words such as 'never', 'always' or 'sometimes' ring you a bell🔔? In this lesson you'll learn how these words are used.

Have a look at the picture below, do you notice the difference in its usage?

Nonetheless, it is necessary to learn first of all the main adverbs of frequency. Thus, have a look at the following picture. 

I think this picture perfectly shows the usage of each adverb of frequency. Nonetheless, it is very important to notice the difference within the sentence order between normal verbs and the verb to be*. 

• NORMAL VERB: SUBJECT + ADVERB OF FREQUENCY + VERB.

I always study in the library.

⚠ Nonetheless, be careful with the verb to be* which is always irregular. 

• VERB TO BE*: SUBJECT + VERB TO BE* + ADVERB OF FREQUENCY.

I am never sad.

                                                                                                EXTRA EXERCISES:

• ⭐ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY
  
• ⭐⭐ ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY

QUESTION TAGS

Have you ever heard about 'question tags' in English? Observe the following image and try to guess the rule of this grammatical aspect. How would you translate this in your mother tongue?

Well, as you will later on realize, the well-known 'question tags' are short and simple questions that appear at the end of enunciative questions. What is more, it is very frequent to hear this type of short questions in English, mainly when the hearer looks for confirmation or the checking of his/her question.

This type of questions do not have an exact translation into Spanish; they have a similar use to the Spanish ‘no?’ in Spanish. Nevertheless, using the same negative particle in English is not correct, as it is shown below. 

Have a look at the following images in order to understand the structure of ‘question tags’ better. Remember that if the sentence is affirmative, the auxiliary will always be negative. However, if the sentence is negative, the auxiliary would be directly affirmative, as depicted below. 

• AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCE , + NEGATIVE AUXILIARY + SUBJECT PRONOUN + ?

You are English, aren't you?

• NEGATIVE SENTENCE + , + AFFIRMATIVE AUXILIARY + SUBJECT PRONOUN + ?

You aren't English, are you?

When I talk about auxiliary, I mean words such as; do, does, have, has, is, am, are, will, can... In order to guess the auxiliary that goes with each sentence you need to know that the auxiliary is imposed by the verbal tense, as depicted below. Nonetheless, I recommend you to have a look at the following list where you could clearly see which auxiliary corresponds to each verbal tense.

                 

However, be careful with the following exceptions. Have a look at the following examples in order to understand it better. In case you need further explanation, you can always post a comment below.

• I am late, aren't I?                ➡ With the personal pronoun 'I' we never use 'am' but rather 'are'.
• Let's go home, shall we?         ➡ With 'let's' in the main sentence, we use the term 'shall'.

Finally, it is necessary to know that the intonation of ‘question tags’ changes depending on the speakers’ aim. Thus, a difference should be made between raising intonation and falling intonation, as illustrated beneath.

•  ↗ INTONATION when the speaker wants to know the answer to his/her question.

You are English, aren't you? ↗ 

I don't know if you are English, I'm asking you to know the correct answer.

• ↘ INTONATION when the speaker just wants checking or verification of his/her question, since the speaker already knows the correct answer, which is the one being asked.

You are English, aren't you?  ↘ 

I know you're English, but I just want your checking. It is like a kind of rethorical question, since you already know which the correct answer is.

All in all, it is necessary to lean how to use the usage of ‘question tags’ in English since it is the unique way of sounding more like a native speaker. Consequently, it is time to leave the Spanish ‘no?’ behind and start using the English ‘aren’t you?’. Don’t you think so?

Try to complete the following sentence with ‘question tags’ without looking to the correct answer. Then, keep on practicing with the extra exercises posted just beneath.

• You are a student, ___aren't you___?
• He      studies Spanish, ___doesn't he___?
• You have studied all week, ___haven't you___?
• He will pass the exam, ____won't he___?
• You could do it for me, ___couldn't you____?

                                                                                                    EXTRA EXERCISES:

• ⭐QUESTION TAGS - CHOOSE
• ⭐QUESTION TAGS - TEST
• ⭐⭐QUESTION TAGS - DIALOGUE
• ⭐⭐ QUESTION TAGS - COMPLETE
• ⭐⭐QUESTION TAGS - COMPLETE