Word better than big

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The true size of the English language is often debated and probably impossible to determine. Those who do try to quote the count tend to agree that English includes about 250,000 to 300,000 distinctly usable words.

The second edition of the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary (2009) comprises 171,476 words in current use; 47,156 obsolete words; and another 9,500 derivative words as subentries (a total of 228,132).

The estimate of an English speaker’s vocabulary varies more widely. Some say the average person has 5,000 to 6,000 words for retrieval. Others say 10,000 to 20,000. In a May 2013 web article, The Economist used its own test results to measure that an adult native’s vocabulary ranged from 20,000 to 35,000 words. William Shakespeare was said to have had a word bank that soared as high as 60,000.

Of perhaps even greater note, whatever the size of your vocabulary, many agree that most of us draw from a main base of up to 1,000 words to express ourselves—which leads to why we’re discussing big versus small.

Words’ primary function is to convey our thoughts, ideas, wishes, and opinions. If people have a vocabulary of 5,000 words on the low end and 35,000 on the high (we won’t include Shakespeare), but they often rely on a core 1,000, we can deduce that a part of our language will be understood by all.

A look at just one list of the 1,000 most common words shows almost all have three or fewer syllables. We use a smaller, simpler index because it ensures greater clarity and easier processing, which leads to greater trust, which leads to greater credibility.

A Princeton University study determined that using big words can even make people look, well, not so smart. When it comes to words, small beats big, and clear outfoxes complex.

GrammarBook.com has touched on this in Resolutions for Word Nerds (see #4). We have also cited where a four- or five-star word can be acceptable and even desirable (Big Words We Can Use).

Overall, we believe expressive and persuasive writing blends the diverse, pointed, and evocative words available to us. Some will be big, and some will be small. In everyday communication, however, we uphold the adage that less is more in making sure we’re quickly understood, especially in an age of content overload.

Here’s but a start on keeping your writing ready to convert from big to small:

Instead of:	Use:
abstemious	restrained or moderate
anachronistic	out of date
audacious	bold
auspicious	promising
circuitous	indirect
circumlocution	wordiness
conviviality	cheer
enervating	tiring
hypothesis	theory
jubilation	joy
magnanimous	selfless
ostentatious	flashy or showy
parsimonious	frugal
perfidious	shady or corrupt
perspicacious	alert or aware

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Related pngs with family word art png

Степени сравнения прилагательных

ПРИЛАГАТЕЛЬНЫЕ

КОРОТКИЕ

ДЛИННЫЕ

ИСКЛЮЧЕНИЯ

… +ER

THE + … + EST

MORE + …

THE + MOST + …

GOOD

BETTER

THE BEST

LONG – LONGER –

THE LONGEST

SHORT – SHORTER –

THE SHORTEST

NEW – NEWER –

THE NEWEST

BEAUTIFUL –

MORE BEAUTIFUL –

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL

One-syllable adjectives

One-Syllable Adjective

Comparative Form

tall

Superlative Form

tall er

old

the tall est

old er

long

the old est

long er

the long est

Mary is taller than Max.

Mary is the tallest of all the students.

Max is older than John.

Of the three students, Max is the oldest .

My hair is longer than your hair.

Max’s story is the longest story I’ve ever heard

cold

fast

hard

light

poor

quick

rough

small

weak

young

short

smart

older — elder

Note that you use ‘elder’ or ‘eldest’ to say which brother, sister, or child in a family you mean.

• Our eldest daughter couldn’t come.

• My elder brother looks like our mother.

Final -e

large

large r

wise

wise r

safe

large st

wise st

nice

wide

close

cute

Mary’s car is larger than Max’s car.

Mary’s house is the largest of all the houses on the block.

Max is wiser than his brother.

Max is the wisest person I know .

Ending with a single consonant (with a single vowel before it)

Comparative Form

big

big ger

thin

Superlative Form

thin ner

fat

big gest

fat ter

thin nest

fat test

My dog is bigger than your dog.

My dog is the biggest of all the dogs in the neighborhood.

Max is thinner than John.

Of all the students in the class, Max is the thinnest .

My mother is fatter than your mother.

Mary is the fattest person I’ve ever seen .

• hot
• wet
• sad
• red
• thin

Two-syllable adjectives

Two-Syllable Adjective

Comparative Form

peaceful

Superlative Form

more peaceful

pleasant

careful

more pleasant

the most peaceful

the most pleasant

more careful

thoughtful

the most careful

more thoughtful

the most thoughtful

This morning is more peaceful than yesterday morning.

Max’s house in the mountains is the most peaceful in the world.

Max is more careful than Mike.

Of all the taxi drivers, Jack is the most careful .

Jill is more thoughtful than your sister.

Mary is the most thoughtful person I’ve ever met .

Two-syllable adjective ending with -y

Comparative Form

happy

happ ier

angry

Superlative Form

angr ier

busy

happ iest

bus ier

angr iest

bus iest

John is happier today than he was yesterday.

John is the happiest boy in the world.

Max is angrier than Mary.

Of all of John’s victims, Max is the angriest .

Mary is busier than Max.

Mary is the busiest person I’ve ever met .

• dirty
• easy
• friendly
• funny
• heavy
• lucky
• silly
• tiny
• lazy
• pretty
• noisy
• healthy       

It couldn’t be easier . That is the funniest bit of the film.

Two-syllable adjective ending with -er, -le, or -ow

Comparative Form

narr ow

Superlative Form

narrow er

gent le

narrow est

gentle r

clev er

en g tle st

clever er

clever est

The roads in this town are narrower than the roads in the city.

This road is the narrowest of all the roads in California.

Big dogs are gentler than small dogs.

Of all the dogs in the world, English Mastiffs are the gentlest .

Adjectives with three or more syllables

Adjective with 3

or more syllables

Comparative Form

generous

Superlative Form

more generous

important

the most generous

more important

intelligent

the most important

more intelligent

the most intelligent

John is more generous than Jack.

John is the most generous of all the people I know.

Health is more important than money.

Of all the people I know, Max is the most important .

Women are more intelligent than men.

Mary is the most intelligent person I’ve ever met .

• beautiful 
• stupid                   
• expensive          
• interesting       
• boring                   
• careful 
• famous                 
• delicious            
• dangerous            
• modern             

• Be more careful next time.
• They are the most beautiful gardens in the world.
• It affected Clive most seriously .
• Going by bus is very fast, but the train is more comfortable.

Two-syllable adjectives that follow two rules

Two-Syllable Adjective

Comparative Form

clever

Superlative Form

cleverer

cleverest

more clever

gentle

most clever

gentler

friendly

more gentle

gentlest

most gentle

friendlier

friendliest

more friendly

quiet

most friendly

quieter

quietest

more quiet

simple

most quiet

simpler

simplest

more simple

most simple

More two-rules adjectives

• common
• cruel
• handsome
• likely
• narrow
• p leasan t
• polite
• simple
• stupid

Exceptions (i rregular adjectives )

Irregular Adjective

Comparative Form

good

bad

Superlative Form

better

far

worse

best

worst

f arther (further)

little

f arthest (furthest)

less

many

least

more

most

Italian food is better than American food.

My dog is the best dog in the world.

My mother’s cooking is worse than your mother’s cooking.

Of all the students in the class, Max is the worst .

Comparing people…

Alice

9 years old

33 kilos

1.20 m  

Bob  

28 years old  

55 kilos 

1.50 m

Homer  

39 years old  

80 kilos

1.75 m     

Bob is ___ (YOUNG) than Homer. Homer is ___ (OLD) than Alice. Alice is ___ (SLIM) than Bob. Bob is ___ (SHORT) than Homer. Homer is ___ (FAT) than Bob. Alice is ___ (SHORT) than Homer. Homer is ___ (UGLY) than Alice.

Homer is ___ (SLOW) than Bob. Bob is ___ (TIDY) than Homer. Alice is ___ (BEAUTIFUL) than Bob. Alice has got ___ (LONG) hair than Bob. Homer can play the guitar ___ (GOOD) than Alice. Alice can run ___ (FAST) than Homer. Alice draws ___ (BAD) than Bob.

Bob is ___ (INTELLIGENT) than Homer.

Homer is a ___ (INTERESTING) person than Bob.

Sponge Bob

Garfield

Harry

Garfield ___ ___ ___   Sponge Bob. (YOUNG-OLD) Sponge Bob ___ ___  ___ Harry. (FAT-SLIM) Harry ___  ___  ___ Sponge Bob. (SHORT-TALL) Garfield ___  ___  ___ Harry. (SHORT-TALL) Garfield ___  ___  ___ Harry. (FUNNY-BORING) Sponge Bob’s eyes ___  ___  ___ Harry’s. (SMALL-BIG) Harry ___  ___  ___ Garfield. (STRONG-WEAK) Garfield ___  ___  ___  ___ Harry. (BEAUTIFUL-HORRIBLE) Bob Sponge ___  ___ ___ at sports ___ Garfield. (GOOD-BAD)

the fastiest /  

the most fast

  the heavyest

  the heaviest 

the sunniest the sunniest

healthiest

the most healthy

the noisiest

the  most noisy

the most delicious deliciousest

the fattest

the most fat         

the most angry

the angriest     

the goodest

the best     

the most expensive 

the expensivest          

the happiest

the most happy

Complete the sentences using the superlative

This basketball player is the ___

This man is the  ___ 

This man is the  ___  

This man is the___

This candy is the  ___

This car is the __ 

Choose the right word

Q1 — It’s better ____ I thought.

-as -then -than -like

Q2 — Brazil is _____ England.

-biger than -bigger as -bigger than -biger as

Q3 — She is _____ in the class

-the best -best -better than -as good as

Q4 — I’m not as successful ___ she is.

-as -like -than -then

Q5 — It was ______ expensive restaurant I’ve ever been to.

-more -the more -most -the most

Q6 — I’d like some ____ information.

-farther -further -either could be used here

Choose the right word

Q7 — It’s ____ art collection in Europe.

-finer -finest -the finer -the finest

Q8 — It was ____ than I was expecting.

-cheaper -cheapest -either could be used here

Q9 — This is the ______ kitchen I’ve ever seen.

-dirtyest -dirtiest -either could be used here

Q10 — Which is ____ of the two?

-more difficult -most difficult -either

Q11 — She finished ____ than everyone else.

-more quickly -quicker -either

Choose the right word

Q12 — The underground is ____ buses.

-more expensive -most expensive -the most expensive -more expensive than

Q13 — The plane would be _____ than the coach.

-more quickly -quicker -either could be used

Q14 — It was ____ test I have ever done.

-the most hard -the hardest -either could be used

Q15 — There were ____ people at the game than expected.

-most -more -many

Q16 — The _____ difficult thing was communication.

-more -most -it depends on how many things there were

Adverbs of degree in front of comparative adjectives

a bit ; a little; slightly

f ar ; a great/good deal; a lot ; much

This car’s a bit more expensive .

Now I feel a great deal more confident .

It’s a rather more complicated story than that.

It was by far the worst hospital I had ever seen.

She was easily the most intelligent person in the class.

It was of the very highest quality .

You can also use adverbs of degree such as ‘by far’, ‘easily’, ‘much’, or ‘quite’ in front of ‘the’ and superlative adjectives.

• Bob is much richer than I am.
• My mother’s hair is slightly longer than mine.
• Mario’s is by far the best restaurant in town.
• I’m nearly the oldest in the class.

One situation depends on another (double comparison)

The smaller it is, the cheaper it is to post.

The larger the organisation is, the greater the problem of administration becomes.

Something changes (increases or decreases)

It’s getting harder and harder to find a job.

Cars are becoming more and more expensive .

These exams are getting more and more difficult every year. She gets more and more beautiful every time I see her.

This hotel is getting worse and worse every season.

no the

you can omit ‘the’ after a link verb

• It was the happiest day of my life.
• It was one of the most important discoveries.
• I was happiest when I was on my own

when ‘most’ is used without ‘the’ in front of adjectives and adverbs, it often means almost the same as ‘ very ’

• This book was most interesting .
• I object most strongly .

we do not use the with the superlative if there is a possessive His strongest point is his ambition.

equal things

We use as + adjective + as to say that two things are equal in some way.

He’s as tall as me. Jim’s car is as fast as mine. We use not as + adjective + as to say that two things are not equal in some way.

He’s not as tall as me. Jim’s car is not as fast as mine.

1. Joe is _____ than Ed. (short) 2. Al is the _____ . (short) 3. Ed is the _____ . (thin) 4. Joe is ____ than Al. (thin) 5. Al has the ____ clothes. (colourful) 6. Al is ____ than Joe. (heavy) 7. Ed is the ____ . (light) 8. Joe is ____ than Ed. (happy) 9. Ed is the ____ . (mysterious) 10. Joe is ____ than Ed. (energetic)

1) Choose one of the topics below

2) Think of three examples from that topic

for example: Sports — football, basketball and surfing.

3) Compare the three objects.

Cities

Sports

Writers

Films

Inventions

Cars

Everyday activities

Make sentences with the comparative form of the adjectives

Tennis is a more difficult sport than Rugby.

I think John is happier now than a year ago.

Could you open the window, please? It’s getting hotter in this room every minute.

i nteresting / weak / funny / important / careful / big / s mall / polluted / boring / angry

Make sentences with the superlative form of the adjectives

New York is the most exciting city in the world.

His biggest desire is to return home.

She is probably the angriest person I know.

i nteresting / weak / funny / important / careful / big / s mall / polluted / boring / angry

Fill in the correct form of the words in brackets (comparative or superlative).

My house is (big) ___than yours.

This flower is (beautiful) ___than that one.

This is the (interesting) ___book I have ever read.

Non-smokers usually live (long) ____than smokers.

Which is the (dangerous) ___animal in the world?

A holiday by the sea is (good) ___than a holiday in the mountains.

It is strange but often a coke is (expensive) ___than a beer.

Who is the (rich) ___woman on earth?

The weather this summer is even (bad) ___than last summer.

He was the (clever) ___thief of all.

If your class is looking a bit sleepy, try this for a quick pick-me-up. In this activity, the class will compete in two large groups to say ‘Student 1 is taller than student 2 — student 2 is taller than student 3’ and so on. The first group to finish is the winner. Vary the activity by going the other way round, ‘Student 1 is smaller than student 2’. Rearrange each group by age — ‘S1 is older/ younger than S2’.

Use your imagination to find ways to rearrange groups. These activities are done while standing up which is an excellent way to vary the pace of the class.»

use the comparative to compare two items because -er has two letters… and to use the superlative form to compare three or more items because -est has three letters!

For superlatives I have my students write 10 questions such as : Who is the most important person in your life? What is the most expensive thing you have ever bought? What is the funniest TV show?… Then they stand up and circulate around the room asking their classmates the questions. Students answer using complete sentences such as : «My laptop computer is the most important thing I have ever bought». The person asking the question then notes the answer using only the person’s name and the keyword in the answer such as: Hector/Laptop . Then for HW they write the answers using complete sentences: The most expensive thing Hector has ever bought is his laptop computer . For additional HW I have them write a paragraph related to one of their own questions. They talk about their paragraph as a warm up activity the following day. This gives them reading, writing, listening and speaking practice .

• When I teach comparatives I draw a representation of a city on the board that will be a circle with the name of a city in it. After that, I ask students to describe that city. Elicit and write on the board only those adjectives with one or two syllables. Once I’ve elicited a considerable number of adjectives. I draw another circle of a different size and write the name of another city in it. This time ask students to compare the two cities. Write their examples on the board making corrections whenever necessary. Once students have grasped the concept of comparing. Introduce the question. Which city is bigger_______or ________? »

• I teach comparatives and superlatives in business contexts to adults, therefore I ask them to describe their activities and compare them with the competitors and say in which way they are better or worse or weaker or stronger or among the products they produce to pick one and compare it with the rest