A guided tour: listening and comparing places
Listening first. A grown-up reads the tour below once or twice. Listen for facts, names and numbers. Now comparatives and superlatives. A comparative compares two things: add -er (tall, taller) or use more + adjective (interesting, more interesting), and add than: The museum is quieter than the market. A superlative compares three or more things: add -est (the tallest) or use the most + adjective (the most interesting). We often say one of the + superlative + plural noun: This is one of the busiest streets in town. Spelling: big, bigger, biggest (double the consonant); busy, busier, busiest (y becomes i). Irregular forms: good, better, best; bad, worse, worst. Use more and most with long adjectives, and -er and -est with short ones.
| Adjective | Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|---|
| quiet | quieter | the quietest |
| big | bigger | the biggest |
| busy | busier | the busiest |
| interesting | more interesting | the most interesting |
| good | better | the best |
Welcome to the Harbour Museum. My name is Yasser, and I will be your guide today. The museum has three rooms. The first room is the biggest, and it shows old fishing boats. The second room is quieter than the first, and it shows ropes and lamps. The third room is the smallest, but many visitors say it is the most interesting, because it has a large collection of shells. Please walk slowly and do not touch the exhibits. The tour takes forty minutes, and it ends in the garden.
Place comparison. Choose three places in your town (a park, a market, a library). Compare them with one comparative and one superlative each. Use busier, quieter and the most interesting. Record your sentences and listen.