Comparatives and Superlatives The cat is faster than the mouse, but the cheetah is the fastest. The dolphin is more intelligent than the dog, but the chimpanzee is the most intelligent. We use comparatives and superlatives to compare things and to say which thing is top in a group. Add -er and -est for one syllable adjectives. Add -ier and -iest for two syllable adjectives which end in y (and take away the y ). Use more and the most with other two syllable (or more) adjectives. one syllable: small smaller the smallest two syllables with y : happy happier the happiest two+ syllables: beautiful more beautiful the most beautiful The adjectives good, bad and far have special forms. good better the best bad worse the worst far further the furthest Apples are bigger than grapes. (NOT Apples are more bigger than grapes.) My father is the tallest in my family. (NOT My father is the most tall in my family.) This book is more interesting than my homework. (NOT This book is interestinger than my homework.)
Future Going To I m going to be a teacher when I m older. He s not going to play football anymore. Are you going to buy a new T-shirt? We use going to to talk about our future plans. I m going to write my homework tonight. They re going to watch a film this weekend. You can usually make the negative in two ways. He isn t going to ride a bike. He s not going to ride a bike. They aren t going to visit us. They re not going to visit us. I m not going to read that book. (NOT I amn t going to read that book.) She s going to have pizza for dinner. (NOT She s going to having pizza for dinner.)
MUCH / MANY I ve got many games. There isn t much time. Do you get much homework? Use many for things we can count. Use much for things we can t count. How many computers / games / sweets are there? How much time / money / homework have you got? In questions and negative sentences we use much, but we usually use a lot of in positive sentences. Have you got much water? I haven t got much water. I ve got a lot of water. I ve got many toys. (NOT I ve got much toys.) There isn t much chocolate. (NOT There isn t many chocolate.) He s got a lot of homework. (NOT He s got much homework.)
COUNTABLE / UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS I ve got some books. There isn t any cheese. Can you see any apples? Use some with plural countable nouns and uncountable nouns. Use any for negatives or questions with countable and uncountable nouns. I ve got some bananas and some honey. I haven t got any oranges or any milk. Have you got any pears or any juice? We use a or an with singular countable nouns. We put s on plural countable nouns. We don t use a or put s on uncountable nouns. I can see a cat. There are some dogs. I haven t got any chocolate. There are some toys on the bed. (NOT There are any toys on the bed.) She hasn t got any time. (NOT She hasn t got some time.) There isn t any cheese. (NOT There isn t any cheeses.)
PAST SIMPLE QUESTIONS Did you have fun with your friends? Where did you go for your last holiday? What did you watch on TV last night? Use did and the verb, but don t change the verb to the past form! Did you have a nice weekend? What did you learn at school yesterday? When did you see the film? We usually add time words at the end. Did you play a game yesterday? What did you have for dinner last night? Did you visit LearnEnglish Kids last week? Did you finish your homework? (NOT Did you finished your homework?) When did you start learning English? (NOT When you started learning English?) Did your friend call you yesterday? (NOT Your friend did call you yesterday?)
PAST SIMPLE VERB TO BE I was at my Gran's house yesterday. You were late for school this morning. She was with her friends last Saturday. We were tired yesterday. I was you were She was He was It was We were They were For negatives add 'n't' or not. I wasn t late for school this morning. I was not late for school this morning. She wasn t with her friends last Saturday. She was not with her friends last Saturday. We weren t tired yesterday. We were not tired yesterday. Were you late for school today? Yes, I was. (NOT You were late for school today? Yes I was.) Was she with her friends last Saturday? No, she wasn t. (NOT She was with her friends last Saturday? No, she wasn t.) Was he tired yesterday? Yes, he was. (NOT He was tired yesterday? Yes, he was.) (For a normal question we use was + pronoun. To show surprise you can use pronoun + was.)