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Lesson planA245 minsNew. New: checked automatically for level, grammar, facts and originality; a teacher's review is still to come. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Quieter Than the City: comparatives and superlatives
Students practise comparatives and superlatives to describe and compare places, then write a short comparison of two places they know.
Comparatives superlatives · Describing · Places · Weather
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Plan at a glance
Aims
- Use comparative and superlative adjectives accurately
- Learn and use 10 words and phrases in one set: Comparing and describing
- Read for detail: From the city to a village
- Writing task: Two places
Stages · 45 min
- 5 minLead-in: Pairs talk about describing and share ideas with the class.
- 5 minVocabulary: Ex. 1
- 5 minLanguage focus: Go through the grammar notes together and check understanding.
- 15 minControlled practice: Ex. 2–4
- 5 minReading: Ex. 5
- 10 minWriting: Ex. 6
Printables
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Download all (ZIP, 2 PDFs)Grammar notes
Comparatives: -er or more
- Short adjectives: add -er + than: warm → warmer than, loud → louder than.
- Double the last letter after a short vowel: hot → hotter, big → bigger. y → ier: easy → easier.
- Long adjectives: more + than: more boring than, more important than.
- Not: more louder, more taller.
Superlatives: the -est or the most
- the + -est: the longest river, the hottest month.
- the + most: the most boring film, the most important thing.
- Irregular: good → better → the best; bad → worse → the worst.
Same and different
- the same as: This shirt is the same as that one.
- different from: My house is different from yours (not different than).
Study tips
- Compare two places you know: My town is smaller than the city, but it's quieter.
- Learn the irregular ones together: good – better – the best, bad – worse – the worst.
Glossary
- Comparing and describing10 items
Complete the exercises, then check your answers.
1
Describing words
Choose the correct word.
- a
My sister and I have got the ___ phone. Hers is black and mine is black too.
- b
My brother has dark hair and I'm blonde. We look very ___.
- c
This film is so ___. Nothing happens and I want to sleep.
- d
I'm ___. Can we do something fun?
- e
The test was ___. I answered all the questions in ten minutes.
- f
It's a lovely spring day today — nice and ___, about 20 degrees.
- g
We swam in the ___. The water wasn't salty, and it moved very fast.
2
Comparatives
Choose the correct words.
- a
Life in the city is ___ than life in a village.
- b
The weather in the south is ___ than in the north.
- c
The city is ___ than the village. There are cars and buses all night.
- d
The river here is ___ than the river in my town.
- e
My new job is ___ than my old one. I love it!
- f
The weather was ___ yesterday than today. It rained all day.
- g
The test was ___ than I thought.
- h
My flat is ___ than yours, but it's in the centre.
3
Superlatives, the same as, different from
Choose the correct words.
- a
This is ___ river in my country.
- b
July is ___ month of the year here.
- c
That was ___ film I've ever seen.
- d
What's ___ thing in your life?
- e
My house is very different ___ yours.
- f
Your shirt is ___ as my shirt!
- g
January is ___ month for the weather. It's cold and dark.
4
Find the mistake
One sentence has a mistake. Choose the correct sentence.
- a
Choose the correct sentence.
- b
Choose the correct sentence.
- c
Choose the correct sentence.
- d
Choose the correct sentence.
- e
Choose the correct sentence.
- f
Choose the correct sentence.
- g
Choose the correct sentence.
- h
Choose the correct sentence.
- i
Choose the correct sentence.
- j
Choose the correct sentence.
5
Read: From the city to a village
Read the text. Then choose the correct answer.
Last year Marta moved from Madrid to a small village in the mountains. Her life now is very different from her old life. "The village is much quieter than the city," she says. "In Madrid my street was very loud, and I couldn't sleep. Here I can hear the river from my bedroom." The weather is different too. The summers are cooler than in Madrid, but the winters are colder and longer. "January is the worst month," says Marta. "There's a lot of snow." Is village life boring? "Sometimes," she laughs. "There's only one café, and the nearest cinema is forty kilometres away. But the people are friendlier, and life is easier. For me, the most important thing is time with my family, and now I've got more time."
- a
Why couldn't Marta sleep in Madrid?
- b
What can Marta hear from her bedroom now?
- c
What are the summers in the village like?
- d
Which is the worst month in the village?
- e
What is the most important thing for Marta?
6
Write: Two places
Compare two places.
Compare two places you know — two towns, two cities, or a city and a village. (6–8 sentences) Which is bigger, quieter, more interesting? Which do you like best, and why? Use comparatives (-er than, more … than), superlatives (the -est, the most …) and the same as / different from. Word box: same · different · be different from · boring · easy · loud · warm · important · river · weather Example: My town is smaller than the city, and it's much quieter. The weather is warmer in the city. For me, the most important thing is the river — I go swimming there in summer.
Suggested minimum: 40 words
0 words · aim for at least 40
Spotted a mistake in this lesson?· tell us the exercise and item
Revise with a game
This lesson's own words and questions. Play on your own, or in teams on the classroom screen.
- Step UpAnswer the lesson's questions to climb to the top.
- Pair UpMatch the lesson's words to their meanings against the clock.
- SnapA word and a meaning: do they go together? Answer fast.
- Quiz BoardTeams choose questions worth 100 to 500 points.
- Retro arcadeWord Invaders, Word Snake, Word Maze and Word Crossing: classic arcade games with the lesson's words.
Glossary
The 10 words and phrases this lesson teaches, in one set.
Comparing and describing
- same
- not different
- different
- not the same
- be different from
- not be the same as something else
- boring
- not interesting
- easy
- not difficult
- loud
- making a lot of noise
- warm
- a little hot, in a nice way
- important
- it matters a lot
- river
- water that moves across the land to the sea
- weather
- how hot, cold, wet or windy it is outside
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