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📎 Modifiers
- Comparisons can be modified to make them less extreme.
Examples:
This isn’t quite as simple as I predicted.
This is probably the best mobile phone at the moment.
I’ve done just about as much as I can.
This is one of the most expensive items in the store.
The new scooter is not nearly / half / nowhere near as fast as the old one.
- Comparisons can be made stronger.
Examples:
Google is far and away the most popular search engine in the world.
Pilates is rather more demanding than I thought.
Football is the most popular sport in the world by far.
Tennis is far / a lot / much more demanding.
His last book is every bit as gripping as the previous one.
It’s much / miles / loads more interesting. (miles and load are informal)
📎 Comparative constructions
- as + adjective + a + noun + as
It’s not as easy a street as it used to be.
- too + adjective + a + noun
A nuclear war is too terrible a thing to contemplate. (formal)
- not as / so + adjective + to-infinitive + as
French is not so difficult to learn as I thought.
- more + adjective + than + adjective / not so much + adjective + as + adjective
(This construction can be used to make a distinction between two similar adjectives.)
I was more disappointed than angry.
I was not so much angry as disappointed.
📎 be + comparative + to-infinitive
- it + be + comparative + to-infinitive
It’s faster to take the tube than to go by car.
- noun + be + comparative + to-infinitive
Spanish is easier to learn than Japanese.
📎 comparative + comparative
Two comparatives together are often used in descriptive writing, with verbs of becoming, changing, movement, etc.
Examples:
It suddenly got darker and darker.
The kidnappers became more and more restless.
📎 the + comparative or superlative + of the + number / quantity
- This structure can be used with a comparative to compare two things
She is by far / easily the smarter of the two.
- It can be used with a superlative to compare one thing with many things
I think this one is the most convenient of the lot / them all.
📎 present perfect + superlative
We often use the present perfect with a superlative
Example: This is the worst film I’ve ever seen.
📎 the + comparative, the + comparative
- This structure is often used to give advice.
The later you arrive at the meeting, the angrier the boss will get.
- Fixed phrases include:
The sooner, the better.
The more, the merrier.