In this ESL grammar lesson, students practice rewriting various comparative sentences using the opposites of the adjectives presented. This is an excellent way to practice writing logical sentences with comparative adjectives.
ESL Grammar: Using Adjective Opposites in Comparatives
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use the opposites of given adjectives to create comparative sentences. This will help you understand not just how to make comparisons, but also how to describe contrasts effectively.
Adjective Opposites:
- Tall/ Short
- Big/ Small
- Fast/ Slow
- Hot/ Cold
- Happy/ Sad
ESL Grammar: How to Construct Comparative Sentences with Opposites
Sentence Structure:
- Noun 1 + Verb + Adjective (opposite) + -er + than + Noun 2
Examples:
- Tall/ Short: John is tallerthan Mike. Mike is shorterthan John.
- Big/ Small: The elephant is biggerthan the cat. The cat is smallerthan the elephant.
Practice Sentences
Use the adjectives and their opposites to complete the sentences:
- Adjectives:tall / short
- Sentence:The building is tallerthan the house. The house is shorterthan the building.
- Adjectives:big / small
- Sentence:The car is biggerthan the bicycle. The bicycle is smallerthan the car.
- Adjectives:fast / slow
- Sentence:The train is fasterthan the bus. The bus is slowerthan the train.
- Adjectives:hot / cold
- Sentence:The soup is hotterthan the salad. The salad is colderthan the soup.
- Adjectives:happy / sad
- Sentence:She is happierthan she was yesterday. Yesterday, she was sadderthan today.
The English grammar lesson below reinforces the concept of comparative adjectives by giving students a chance to write the opposite of the sentences presented by changing the adjectives. Our series of ESL grammar lessons on subjects and verbs introduce these concepts and reinforce them through helpful and instructive exercises.
This lesson is available for free download, and you can download many more English grammar lessons focusing on all different parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and lots more!) in our comprehensive, beginner-level ESL grammar textbook Great, Great Grammar! (Book 1: Parts of Speech) .
