Sentence structure: Comparison: -er, the -est, as … as

In this chapter

• Formulas

  More (short adjective): A cheetah is faster than a lion. · More (long adjective): This puzzle is more difficult than that one. · Most (short adjective): Ali is the youngest in our family. · Most (long adjective): This is the most beautiful park in the city. · Equal: My bag is as heavy as yours. · Not equal: Today is not as hot as yesterday.

• Short or long?

  One-syllable adjectives take -er / -est: tall → taller → the tallest. Watch the spelling: big → bigger, nice → nicer, happy → happier. Most longer adjectives take more / the most: more interesting.

• Color-coded examples

  Turkish puts “-den” first, then the adjective; English puts the adjective (-er) first, then than.

  Example: Your room is bigger than mine.

  Example: Soccer is more popular than basketball in Turkey.

• Irregular forms

  Example: good · better · the best

  Example: bad · worse · the worst

• Turkish equivalents

  -den daha … = -er than …

  Example: An elephant is bigger than a horse.

  Example: Can is the tallest student in the class.

• Tip

  Never use more and -er together: “more bigger” is wrong; say bigger. And write than, not “then”!