COMPARATIVE FORM AND SUPERLATIVE FORM: (IRREGULAR COMPARISONS)

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Good	Better	Best
Bad /ill	Worse	Worst
Little (amount)	Less	Least
Little (size)	Smaller	Smallest
Much / many	More	Most
Far (place + time )	Further	Furthest
Late (time)	Later	Latest
Late (order)	Latter	Last
Near (place )	Nearer	Nearest
Near (order)		Next
Old (people and thing)	Older	Oldest
Old (people)	Elder	eldest

adjectives are used to modify nouns, eg: the dog is loud—what is the dog like? – loud.

Adverbs are used to modify verbs adjectives or other adverbs, eg: the dog barks loudly – how does the dog barks? – loudly.

Comparison of adjectives:

• 
  Positive form: if the comparison contains one of the following expressions. As..as. eg: Jane is as tall as John. Not as…as / not so…as eg: John is not as tall as Arnie.
  
• 
  Comparative form and superlative form (-er, -est):
  
• 
  One syllable adjectives (clean, new, cheap)
  
• 
  Two syllable adjectives ending in y or er (easy, happy, pretty, dirty, clever)
  
• 
  Positive form: clean (comparative- cleaner, superlative (the) cleanest)
  
• 
  Exceptions in spelling when adding er, est. silent e is dropped. Eg: late—later—latest.
  
• 
  Final ý’after a consonant becomes í’. Eg: easy-easier-easiest.
  
• 
  Final consonant after short stressed vowel is doubled. Eg: hot-hotter-hottest
  

• 
  Adjectives of three or more syllables (and two syllable adjectives not ending in ý’/ ér’) positive—difficult, comparative—more difficult, superlative – most difficult.
  

Adverbs are used to express how something is done. (eg: the dog sleeps quietly. The dog is absolutely quiet)

Form: in general: adjective +ly

Adjective—slow , adverb—slowly.

Exceptions is spelling

• 
  Silent é’is dropped—true—truly
  
• 
  Y become I , happy—happily
  
• 
  Le after a consonant is dropped, sensible—sensibly
  
• 
  After ll only add y , full—fully
  
• 
  Adjectives ending in íc’: adjectives + ally (exceptions public—publicly)
  
• 
  Adjectives—fantastic, adverb—fantastically
  
• 
  Adjectives ending in ly use ín a’—way /manner or another adverb with similar meaning. Adjective—friendly—in a friendly way, adjective—likely, adverb—probably.
  

Adjective	Adverb (meaning)	Adverb (meaning)
Good	Well
Difficult	Wirh difficulty
Public	Publicly
Deep	Deep (place)	Deeply (feeling)
Direct	Direct	Directly (soon)
Hard	Hard	Hardly (seldom)
High	High (place)	Highly (figurative)
Late	Late	Lately (recently)
Most	Most	Mostly (usually)
Near	Near	Nearly (almost)
Pretty	Pretty (rather)	Prettily
Short	Short	Shortly (soon)

Following adjectives are also used as adverbs (without modification): daily, enough, early, far, fast, hourly, little, long, low, monthly, much, straight, weekly, yearly

• 
  One syllable adverb (hard) comparative ending in er, harder, superlative ending in est –hardest.
  
• 
  Adverbs with the same form as adjective (early). Comparative ending in er. Earlier. Superlative ending in est: earliest.
  

• 
  adverbs ending in ‘ly’(happily). Comparative formed with more—more happily.
  
• 
  Superlative formed with most—most happily.
  

Positive form	Comparative	superlative
Well	Better	Best
Badly	Worse	Worst
Ill	Worse	Worst
Little	Less	Least
Much	More	Most
Far (place + time)	Further	Furthest
Far (place)	Farther	Farthest
Late (time)	Later	Latest.

Linking verbs: some verbs can only be used with adjectives, others might change their meaning when used with adverb

The following verbs can only be used with adjectives: be, become. Get, grow, keep, remain, seem, sound, stay, turn

Are the verbs be, do, have, will, when, they are followed by another verb (the full verb) in order to form a question, a negative sentence, a compound tense or the passive. The verb ‘be’can be used as an auxiliary and a full verb. As an auxiliary we use this verb for compound tenses and the passive voice. Note: that be is an irregular verb.

• 
  Simple present: I am, he/she/it is, we/ you/they are.
  
• 
  Simple past: I / he/ she/ it was, we/you/they were. Past participle been.
  
• 
  You can tell that in a particular sentence be is an auxiliary because it is followed by another verb (the full verb). (for progressive forms use the –ing form of the full verb; for passive voice, use the past participle of the full verb)
  

• 
  Present progressive: He is playing football
  
• 
  Past progressive: he was playing football
  
• 
  Present perfect progressive: he has been playing football
  
• 
  Past perfect progressive: he had been playing football.
  

• 
  Simple present / past: the house is / was built
  
• 
  Present / past perfect: the house has / had been built
  
• 
  Future I: the house will be built.
  
• 
  “be “as a full verb: in this case it’s not followed by another (when full verb). In case of be as full verb, we do not need an auxiliary in negative sentences or question.
  
• 
  P – they are fifteen years old. N—they are not fifteen years old. Q—are they fifteen years old?
  
• 
  The verb “have”can be used as both auxiliary and full. As an auxiliary we use this verb to form compound tenses in active and passive voice. (use the past participle of the full verb). Compound tenses vis a vis active voices:
  
• 
  Present perfect simple—he has played football, past perfect simple—he had played football, present perfect progressive—he has been playing football, past perfrect progressive—he had been playing football. Present/past/perfect: the house /has/had been built. Note: have is also an irregular verb.
  
• 
  Simple present: I /we/you/they have, he/she/it has
  
• 
  Simple past I : i /he/she/it/we/you/they had
  
• 
  Past participle: had
  

• 
  As a full verb have indicates possession. In British English, however, we usually use have got (have being the auxiliary, got the full verb) full verb: I have a car; auxiliary verb: I have got a car.
  

• 
  If have full verb then use auxiliary do in N and Q. while using have got another auxiliary not needed.
  
• 
  Have as a full verb: I do not have a car. Do I have a car?
  
• 
  Have as an auxiliary verb: I have not got a car. Have I got a car?
  

The verb ‘will’is used as an auxiliary to form the future tenses. Future I: he will not play football. Future II: he will have played football. Remains same for all form. (no S for 3^rd person singular). Short form for negative sentence is won’t. eg: I will, he will. I will not = I won’t.

• 
  Verb do: used both auxiliary and full. As auxiliary do is negative and questions for verbs (except not for be, will, have, got and modal verbs) in simple present and simple past (use the infinitive of the full verbs)
  
• 
  Auxiliary ‘do’ in negative sentences: simple present—he does not play football. Simple past—he did not play football
  
• 
  The auxiliary do in questions: simple present—does he play football? Simple past—did he play football?
  
• 
  The verb do is irregular: simple present—I /we/you/they do, he /she/ it does. Simple past—I /he/she/it/we/ you/ they did.
  
• 
  The full verb ‘do’ is used in certain expressions, if we want to form negative sentences or questions using do as a full verb, we need another do as an auxiliary. P—she does her homework everyday. N—she doesn’t do her homework everuday. Q—does she do her homework everyday?
  
• 
  Sentences without the auxiliary do: in the following cases; the auxiliary do is not used in negative sentences / questions. (the full vrb is ‘be’) eg: I am not angry/ are you okay; The sentences already contains another auxiliary (eg: have, be, will) they are not sleeping / have you heard that; the sentence contains a modal verb (can, may, must, need, ought to, shall, should). Eg: we need not wait / can you repeat that please; the questions asks for the subject of the sentence. Eg: who sings that song.
  

May, can, must, should, need expresses an ability, permission, wish etc to do something. ( I may, can, must, swim). Many modal verbs cannot be used in all of the English tenses. That’s why we need to know the substitutes of these modal verbs.

Modal verb	Substitute	Example
Must	To have to	I must swim= I have to swim
Must not	Not to be allowed to	I must not swim= I am not allowed to swim
Can	To be able to	I can swim= I am able to swim
May	To be allowed to	I may swim= I am allowed to swim
Need	To have to	I need to swim = I have to swim
Need not	Not to have to	I need not swim= I don’t have to swim
Shall/should/ ought to	To be supposed to / to be expected to / to be to	I shall / should / ought to swim = I am supposed to swim / I am expected to swim / I am to swim

1. 
   Condition refers to future action. Tense is simple present. If clause- if the book is interesting. Main clauses a) future I – I will buy it; b) imperative- buy it; c) modal auxiliary – you can buy it.
   
2. 
   Condition refers to action going on now. Tense is present progressive. If clause – if he is snoring. Main clause a) future I- I will wake him up; b) imperative – wake him up; c) modal auxiliary- you can wake him up.
   
3. 
   Condition refers to finished action. Tense is present perfect. If clause – if he has moved into his new flat; main clause a) future I- we will visit him; b) imperative- visit him; c) modal auxiliary – we can visit him.
   
4. 
   Condition refers to improbable action. If case should + infinitive – if she would win this race; main clause a) future I – I will congrartulate her; b) imperative – congratulate her; c) modal auxiliary – we can congratulate her.
   
5. 
   Condition refers to present facts. If clause simple present – if he gets what he wants; main clause a) simple present- he is very nice.
   

1. 
   Condition refers to present / future events- if clause; simple past- if I had a lot of money; main clause – conditional I – I would travel around the world.
   
2. 
   Condition refers to consequence in the past- if clause simple past- if I knew him; main clause- conditional II- I would have said hello.
   

1. 
   Condition refers to present; if clause- past perfect- if I had known it; main clause- conditional I – I would not be here now
   
2. 
   Condition refers to past; if clause past perfect—if he had learned for the test; main clause conditional II—he would not have failed it.
   

There are certain words in English that are usually followed by an infinitive or gerund. If you are not sure whether to use the infinitive or gerund, check out our lists or look the words up in a dictionary. Infinitive use: certain words are followed by an infinitive verb with or without to.

1. 
   Infinitive as the subject of the clause (followed by the verbs below) eg: to follow his advice seemed logical. Be, seem, appear. To know you is to love you.
   
2. 
   After certain expressions (without to) eg: I would rather stay at home. –had better, -- would rather, -- would sooner, -- why not, -- why should I /you/ -- (not). Why not go to the cinema?
   
3. 
   After certain verbs (without to) eg: we must stay at home; --can, -- dare (also with to), -- do, --help (also with to), --let, --may, -- must, --need (also with to), --shall, --should, -- will. I can swim
   
4. 
   After certain verbs (with to): eg he refused to pay the bill. Afford, agree, aim, appear, arrange, attempt, be determined, beg, care, choose, claim, condescend, consent, dare (also without to), decide, demand, deserve, determine, endeavour, expect, fail, guarantee, happen, have, help (also without to), hesitate, hope, learn, long, manage, mean, need (also without to), neglect, offer, ought, plan, prepare, pretend, proceed, promise, refuse, resolve, seem, stop, swear, tend, threaten, trouble, undertake, used, volunteer, vow, want, wish, would hate, would like, would love, would prefer. He wants to swim.
   
5. 
   After certain verbs with interrogative (how, if, what, where, whether) eg: we didn’t remember where to meet. Ask, advise + object, consider, decide, explain, find out, forget, know, learn, remember, see, show, teach, tell + object, understand, wonder. (they don’t know how to swim)
   
6. 
   After certain verbs with objects (without to) – he made her swim. We heard him scream. Let, make.
   
7. 
   After cetain verbs with an object (with to)—she got me to wash the dishes. Advise, allow, ask, beg, cause, enable, encourage, expect, forbid, force, get, help, invite, mean, order, permit, persuade, recommend, remind, teach, tell, want, warn, would hate, would like, would love, would prefer. They wanted him to swim.
   
8. 
   After a certain adjectives and their comparison—it was impossible to go back. Amazed, amazing, angry, astonished, astonishing, awkward, brave, careless, clever, cowardly, crazy, delighted, difficult, disappointed, disgusted, easy, extraordinary, funny, generous, glad, happy, hard, honest, horrified, impossible, kind, noce, odd, pointless, relieved, ridiculous, rude, sad, selfish, silly, sorry, strange, stupid, surprised, wicked, wise. It’s easier to swim downstream.
   
9. 
   After noun deriving from the verbs mentioned above. Eg: there was no need to get angry. Effort, agreement, aim, appearance, arrangement, attempt, choice, claim, decision, determination, expectation, failure, guarantee, hesistation, procedure, promise, refusal, resolution, tendency, threat, trouble, try. We made a promise to swim (derived from the verb ‘to promise’)
   

Exceptions in spelling [present progressive exceptions]:

1. 
   A single, silent e at the end of the word is dropped before ing. Come—coming. But ee at the end of the word is not changed. Agree—agreeing.
   
2. 
   The final consonant after a short stressed vowel is doubled before ing. Eg: sit—sitting
   
3. 
   The letter l as final consonant after a vowel is always doubled before ing. Travel—travelling. (this applies only for british English in American English there is usually only one l)
   
4. 
   An ie at the end of a word become y before ing. Lie-lying.
   

1. 
   As the subject of a clause: cycling is good for your health.
   
2. 
   After certain adjectives: adjectives (with preposition) followed by the gerund. Eg: I am interested in visiting the museum. Afraid of, angry about / at, bad at, bad at, busy, clever at, crazy about, disappointed about, excited about, famous for, fond of, glad about, good at, impressed by, interested in, keen on, like, near, proud of, sick of, sorry about, tired of, worried about, worth. He is afraid of going by plane.
   
3. 
   After certain prepositions: instead of studying for her exams, she went out every night. About (in how / what about), after, apart from, because of, before, by, in, inspite of, on, without. Before going to bed he turned off the light.
   
4. 
   After certain verbs: I enjoy cooking. Admit, advise, allow, appreciate, avoid, can’t help, can’t stand, consider, delay, deny, dislike, enjoy, escape, fancy, finish, go (in go swimming), imagine, involve, keep, mention, mind, miss, permit, postpone, practice, reject, resist, risk, stop, suggest, understand, waste time / money
   
5. 
   After certain verbs with prepositions: I’m looking forward to seeing you again soon. Accuse of, adjust to, agree with, apolozise for, approve of, ask about, ask for, begin by, believe in, be used to, blame for, care for, carry on, complaint about, concentrate on, congratulate on, consist of, cope with, decide against, decide for, depend on, die of, dream aboiut / of, escape from, feel like, forgive for, give up, insist on, keep on, look forward to, object to, pay for, prevent sb from, protect from, put off, rely on, spend moey on, spend time on, succeed in, suspect of, take part in, talk about / of, thank for, think of, use for, warn against, worry about.
   
6. 
   After certain nouns: there is no point in waiting any longer. Advantage of, alternative of, chance of, choice between, danger of, difficulty in, doubt about, experiencing in, fun, hope of, idea of, interest in, opportunity of, place for, pleasure in, possibility of, problem, reason for, trouble, trouble in, use, way of, waste of money, waste of time. We had problems finding our way back home.
   

1. 
   Same meaning: I started to read / I started reading. Attempt, begin, bother, cannot bear, cease, continue, hate, intend, love, prefer, start.
   
2. 
   Same meaning but different use: advise. Infinite with an object, I advise you to go by bus. Gerund—I advise going by bus. Allow / permit, infinitive—he allowed her to take the car. Gerund—he allowed taking the car. Forbid, infinitive with an object—she forbid us to smoke. Gerund—she forbids smoking.
   
3. 
   Different meaning: word a) forget/ remember—infinitive meaning [with regard to the future] remember to switch off the light. Gerund meaning: [with regard to the past] do you remember switching off the light? B) word go on—infinitive meaning [start something new]—go on to read. Gerund meaning [continue with the same action] – go on reading. C) regret—infinitive meaning [with regard to the future] I regret to say that. Gerund meaning—[with regard to the past] I regret saying that. D) stop—infinitve meaning [interrupt another action] I stpped to smoke. Gerund meaning—[terminate] I stopped smoking. E) try—infinitive meaning [do something complicated] try to solve the riddle. Gerund meaning—[do it and see what happens] try talking to him.
   
4. 
   Infinitive or present participle: gerund and present participle are not exactly the same. Words used either with the infinitive or gerund. A) feel, hear, see—infinitive meaning [emphasis that the action is completed. I saw him go up thr stairs. Gerund meaning—[action can be completed but not necessarily] I saw him going up the stairs. B) go, come. Infinitive meaning—[expresses as a purpose] she is coming to show us the pictures. Gerund meaning—[in connection with activities] let’s go shopping/ dancing.
   

Important things to keep in mind when using nouns are which article to use and how to form the plural and how to form the possessive case.

• 
  Direct article: the eg: the house
  
• 
  Indirect article: a /an; a is the first letter of the following words is pronounced like a consonant. Eg: a car, a university; an—if the first letter of the following word is pronounced like a vowel. Eg: an apple, an hour.
  

A car, two cars.

• 
  After s, ch, x, z the plural is formed by adding és’. Eg: a box, two boxes
  
• 
  Y after a consonant is changed to ie before the plural s. eg: a city, two cities.
  
• 
  But y after a vowel is not changed. Eg: a boy, two boys.
  
• 
  After o the plural is usually formed by adding es (this is not the case however with words used for electric gadgets and music—radio, video, disco) a tomato—two tomatoes.
  

Adding ‘s usually used for people. Ronny’s brother.

Of phrase. Usually used for things—the name of the school.

When using the possessive case with a time, s is added. Eg: a three week’s holiday.

Is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action. Eg: my bike was stolen. Focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen. I do not know, however, who did it. Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows. Eg: a mistake was made. In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame anyone (eg: you have made a mistake).

Subject + finite form of to be + past participle (3^rd column of irregular verbs) eg: a letter was written.

When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:

1. 
   The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
   
2. 
   The finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle)
   
3. 
   The subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped)
   

1. 
   Simple present: active-- Rita writes a letter. Passive—a letter is written by Rita.
   
2. 
   Simple past: active—Rita wrote a letter. Passive—a letter was written by Rita.
   
3. 
   Present perfect: active—Rita has written a letter. Passive—a letter has been written by Rita.
   
4. 
   Future I: active—Rita will write a letter. Passive—a letter will be written by Rita.
   
5. 
   Hilfs verben: active—Rita can write a letter. Passive—a letter can be written by Rita.
   
6. 
   Present progressive: active—Rita is writing a letter. Passive—a letter is being written by Rita.
   
7. 
   Past progressive: active—Rita was writing a letter. Passive—a letter was being written by Rita.
   
8. 
   Past perfect: active—Rita had written a letter. Passive—a letter had been written by Rita.
   
9. 
   Future II: active—Rita will have written a letter. Passive—a letter will have been written by Rita.
   
10. 
    Conditional I: active—Rita would write a letter. Passive—a letter would be written by Rita.
    
11. 
    Conditional II: Active—Rita would have written a letter. Passive—a letter would have been written By Rita.
    

Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that one of the two objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to put focus on.

Personal passive simply means the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentene. So every verb that needs an object (transition verb) can form a personal passive. Eg—they build houses. Houses are built.

Verbs without an object (intransitive verb) normally cannot form a personal passive sentence (as there is no object that can become the subject of the passive sentence). If you want to use an intransitive verb in passive voice, you need an impersonal construction—therefore this passive is called impersonal passive. Eg—he say—it is said.

Impersonal passive is not as common in English as in some other languages (eg: german, latin). In english, impersonal passive is only possible with verbs of perception. (eg: say, think, know) – they say that women live longer than men—it is said that women live longer than men. Although impersonal passive is possible here, personal passive is more common. Eg—they say that women live longer than men--- women are said to live longer than men.

The subject of the subordinate clause(women) goes to the beginning of the sentence; the verb of perception is put into passive voice. The rest of the sentence is added using an infinitive construction with ‘to’(certain auxiliary verbs and that are dropped). Sometimes the term personal passive is used in english lessons if the indirect object of an active sentence is to become the subject of the passive sentence.