Similarities and Differences
Expressing Difference: Comparatives and Superlatives
- Differences can be expressed using comparatives and superlatives.
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- Superlatives talk about extremes of differences between people or things.
- Sue is the oldest, and Charles is the tallest.
- Superlatives talk about extremes of differences between people or things.
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- Comparatives talk about relative differences between people or things, but they don’t show the extremes of differences.
- George is taller than Lisa.
- Charles is shorter than George.
- Comparatives talk about relative differences between people or things, but they don’t show the extremes of differences.
Types of comparatives and superlatives
Adjectives | Comparatives | Superlatvies | |
---|---|---|---|
Adjectives
One Syllable One Syllable+ -y Two or More Syllables |
young
easy difficult |
younger than
easier than more difficult than less difficult than |
the youngest
the easiest the most difficult the least difficult |
Adverbs | carefully | more carefully than
less carefully than |
the most carefully
the least carefully |
Verbs | weigh |
weigh more than weigh less than |
weight the most
weigh the least |
Nouns | money | more money than
less money than |
the most money
the least money |
Degrees of Similarity and Difference
- Expressing similarity
- To express similarity between people or things, you can use as … as
- John is as tall as Ann.
- OR Ann is as tall as John.
- To emphasize the amount of similarity, you can add: exactly, almost, nearly, not quite, just about, or practically:
- John is exactly as tall as Ann.
- OR Ann is exactly as tall as John.
- Mark is (just about / practically / not quite / nearly / almost) as tall as John.
- To express similarity between people or things, you can use as … as
- Expressing difference
- Another way to express difference is by using a negative not as … as
- Lisa is not as tall as Mark.
- You can emphasize the amount of difference by adding not nearly, nowhere near, not anywhere near
- Lisa (not nearly / nowhere near / not anywhere near) as tall as Ann.
- Another way to express difference is by using a negative not as … as
How to Use as … as
- Like comparatives and superlatives, as … as and negative as … as can be used with all parts of speech.
Parts of Speech | |
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Adjectives | Mark is not as tall as John. |
Adverbs | Ann does work as quickly as George. |
Nouns | Lisa does not have as much money as Mark.
Ann does not have as many friends as Mark. |
Verbs | John works as much as Ann. |
- As can be followed by
Parts of Speech | |
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Clauses | Mark works as hard as Ann works.
Lisa is not as tall as Ann is. |
Reduced Clauses |
John works as hard as Ann does. |
Noun Phrases | John works as hard as Ann.
Lisa is not as tall as Ann. |
Subject Pronouns |
Ann works as hard as I/you/he/she/we/they. |
- Subject pronouns are are rarely used, except in formal situations. Reduced clauses are normally used instead.
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- Ann works as hard as I do.
- Object Pronouns
- Ann works as hard as me/you/her/him/us/them.
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- Object pronouns are very common in conversation and informal writing.
- Possessive Pronouns
- Ann’s hair is not as short as mine.
- Possessive Pronouns