Comparatives 2

Welcome to your Comparatives 2 lesson! In this topic we talk about:
• Some key words
• Using “Any” or “No”
• “Better and better” / “More and more” …
• “The … the …”
• Double comparatives
• “Older” and “Elder”
Take the quizzes when you’re ready! If you’re having problems, use the comment box to contact our English Teachers.

Some key words

Before comparative adjectives, you can use the following key words:

“Let’s go by train, it’s much faster.”

“I feel a little better, thanks.”

“This bag is slightly heavier that the other one.”

“Her illness was far more serious that she thought.”

Using “Any” or “No”

You can use “Any” / “No” + Comparative:

“I’ve waited long enough, I’m not waiting any longer.”

“I expected the exam to be difficult, It was no more difficult than last year’s.”

“Do you feel any better this morning?”

“Better and better” / “More and more” …

Sometimes we repeat the comparatives to say that something changed continuously. If the comparative is formed with “+er” then we simply repeat the comparative:

“Your English is getting better and better.”

If the comparative is formed with “more +”, then we repeat “more”. This is also true if “more” is followed by a noun:

“I became more and more tired as the film went on.”

“Nowadays, more and more people are learning English.”

“The … the …”

You can say “the + comparative + the + better”:

“What time shall we go?”
“The sooner the better.”

“Do you want a big suitcase?”
“Yes, the bigger the better.”

Double comparatives

We use double comparatives to say that one thing depends on another.

The form is “The + more + noun + the + comparative” or “The + comparative + the + comparative”:

“The more water you use, the higher your bill.”

“The more expensive the restaurant, the better the food.”

“The younger you are, the easier it is to learn.”

“The sooner we leave, the sooner we’ll get there.”

“Older” and “Elder”

The comparative form of “old” is “older”:

“She looks older than she actually is.”

You can use either “elder” or “older” when you talk about people in a family:

“My elder sister is a judge.”
or
“My older sister is a judge.”

“His elder brother is 35.”
or
“His older brother is 35.”

We say “my elder sister”, but we cannot say “someone is elder than…”:

“My sister is older than me.”
(not “my sister is elder than me.”)