Grammar ~59 min of the core left

Show change and compare

After this lesson you can

I can say not only that something is bigger, but also by how much, and describe a change.

Start the lesson Core 59 min · steps: 6 · optional: +2

Declared core time. Two of the core blocks carry no figure at all, so the real lesson is longer than this sum.

Grammar

18 min

In A2 #7 you learnt to compare: cheaper than, more expensive than, as … as. There you also met much cheaper — "cheaper by a lot". In B1 #28 the same thing appeared with adverbs: more carefully. Now comparison becomes exact. You will say by how much one thing is bigger than another, how many times bigger it is, how something changes over time and how one change brings another with it.

By how much: a word before the comparative.

how much words example
a lot much, far, a lot This flat is much bigger. The train is far more comfortable.
a little a bit, a little, slightly It's a bit colder today. Prices are slightly higher.
more than it already was even It was cold yesterday, but today it's even colder.

a lot and a bit are conversational, far and slightly are neutral, and people write them in reports too. much works everywhere. even means that the first thing was already like that: Tom is tall, but his brother is even taller. — Tom is tall, and his brother is taller still.

very does not go with a comparative: ✗ very cheaper → ✓ much cheaper. very makes a quality stronger on its own (very cheap), while the difference between two things is measured by much and far.

The same words work with adverbs (She drives much more carefully than me) and with more, less before a noun: far more money, a lot less time. With countable nouns in the plural, instead of much more people say many more or far more: There were many more people than last year.

How similar: a word before as … as.

The new phone is just as good as the old one. not worse at all, exactly as good
My flat is nearly as big as yours. almost as big
The film isn't nearly as good as the book. far from being as good

How many times: multiples. To say that something is two or three times more expensive or bigger, English puts the number of times before as … as:

Her flat is twice as expensive as mine. the price × 2
The new bridge is three times as long as the old one. the length × 3
The train takes half as long as the bus. the time × ½
This phone is half the price of that one. the price × ½
They earn twice as much as we do. the pay × 2

In comparisons, "two times" is twice, not ✗ two times; then three times, four times. To say that something is two times smaller, cheaper or shorter, it is easiest to use half: half the price, half the size, half as long. You will also hear three times more expensive than — people say this too, especially in the news. But three times as expensive as is safer: it is understood in only one way.

Change: the comparative twice. To say that something keeps getting colder or more expensive, you use the comparative, and, and the same comparative again. Usually with get or become:

It's getting colder and colder. the temperature keeps going down
The days are getting longer and longer. each day is a little longer than the one before
Flats are getting more and more expensive. prices for flats keep going up
I'm getting better and better at it. I do it better every time
We see each other less and less. we meet more rarely than before

With long adjectives only more is repeated: more and more expensive, not ✗ more expensive and more expensive.

One thing changes together with another: the …, the …. When one thing grows, another grows or falls with it. Both parts begin with the and a comparative, and the subject and the verb come after:

The more I practise, the better I speak. if I practise more, I speak better
The longer we waited, the angrier he got. with every minute of waiting he got angrier
The older I get, the less I sleep. as I get older, I sleep less
The sooner we leave, the sooner we'll get there. an early start means an early arrival

The comparative goes to the front together with its word: The more tired you are, the more mistakes you make — tired and mistakes stand straight after more. Short formulas need no verb: The sooner, the better. — as soon as possible is best. The bigger, the better. A comma goes between the parts.

Change in numbers: by. To say how much something has grown or fallen, you need the preposition by: Prices have gone up by ten per cent. — the difference is ten per cent. The number of visitors fell by half. — there are 50% fewer visitors now. The level it reached takes to: The price rose to five pounds. — now the price is five pounds. Verbs: up — go up, rise (B1 #13), increase; down — go down, fall, drop.

More examples:

The second exam was a lot easier. it was much less difficult than the first
Could you speak a little more slowly? a polite request to slow down a bit
It's by far the best café in town. no other café in town comes near it

by far makes a superlative stronger: "clearly, with a big difference".

Don't say this. ✗ much more better → ✓ much better. The comparative is made in one way only: either -er or more (A2 #7), and much goes before the finished form.

Check yourself. A shirt costs £20, and another one costs £21: how do you say that the second is more expensive, but only by a little? Phone A costs £100, and phone B costs £200: how do you say what phone A costs compared with phone B? Make one sentence with the …, the … from I read more and I understand more.

show the answers
a bit more expensive or slightly more expensive; half the price (or half as expensive); The more I read, the more I understand.
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Common learner errors

written for your language
1

very with a comparative

✗ very cheaper

✓ much cheaper

When learners want to say "cheaper by a lot", they reach for the intensifier they know best — very. But very only goes with the plain form: very cheap, much cheaper.

2

"Two times"

✗ two times bigger, ✗ two times cheaper → ✓ twice as big, ✓ half the price. French deux fois plus grand, deux fois moins cher and Spanish dos veces más grande are translated word for word. Speakers of Russian and Ukrainian add a preposition too (✗ in two times bigger). In English there is no two times here and no preposition: there is twice as … as, and for "smaller" or "cheaper" — half.

3

the …, the … without the or with the wrong word order

✗ More I practise, better I speak → ✓ The more I practise, the better I speak. French plus je pratique, mieux je parle, Spanish cuanto más practico, mejor hablo and German je mehr ich übe, desto besser spreche ich have no article here, so the English the looks like an unnecessary article. Without it the structure doesn't exist. ✗ The more you become tired… → ✓ The more tired you become…: in French plus tu es fatigué the adjective stays with the verb, but in English it goes to the front, straight after more.

4

A long adjective twice, or more with a short one

✗ more expensive and more expensive, ✗ more and more cold → ✓ more and more expensive, ✓ colder and colder. French de plus en plus cher and de plus en plus froid, Spanish cada vez más caro and cada vez más frío use one pattern for every adjective. In English a long adjective repeats only more, and a short one repeats the -er form.

Pronunciation

4 min

The stress is on the intensifier and on the comparative:

It's much cheaper. It's even colder.

If you want to show how big the difference is, your voice falls exactly on much, far, even.

In the …, the … both comparative words are stressed. The first part ends with the voice going up, the second with the voice going down:

The more I practise ↗, the better I speak ↘.

Weak forms: as in twice as big as sounds /əz/, than — /ðən/: twice as big as mine /ˈtwaɪs əz ˈbɪɡ əz ˈmaɪn/. The stress is on twice and on the adjective.

Words of the lesson: twice /twaɪs/ — a voiceless /s/ at the end; slightly /ˈslaɪtli/; even /ˈiːvn/ — the second syllable has almost no vowel; per cent /pə ˈsent/ — the stress is on cent.

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Text

5 min

Two years ago we moved from the centre of Bristol to a village about twenty miles away. Was it the right decision? Here's an honest comparison.

Our new house is much bigger than our old flat — almost twice as big — and the rent is slightly lower. The garden is the best thing: the children play outside far more often than before, and they're much healthier.

The journey to work is the worst thing. It used to take me fifteen minutes; now it takes nearly an hour, four times as long. The trains are getting more and more crowded, and tickets are getting more and more expensive: this year the price went up by eight per cent.

Shopping is a bit more difficult, too. The village shop is nearly as expensive as a petrol station, so we drive to the supermarket once a week.

But life here is far quieter, and that matters to us more and more. Our friends in the city say the village is too far from everything. Maybe. But the longer we live here, the more we like it. And the older I get, the less I want to live with noise.

Reading aloud

Exercises

32 min

1. Put in

  1. The train is faster than the bus — about two hours faster
  2. It's colder today than yesterday, but not much
  3. Yesterday was hot, but today is hotter
  4. This bag costs £40, and that one costs £80. That one is as expensive
  5. It isn't as good as the first film — it's much worse
  6. In the sale, everything is the price — we paid £20 instead of £40
  7. Prices have gone up five per cent
Show the answers
much; a bit; even; twice; nearly; half; by

2. Form

  1. It's getting (cold)
  2. Life in the city is becoming (expensive)
  3. The days are getting (long)
  4. I'm getting (good) at it
  5. It's getting (difficult) to find a flat
Show the answers
colder and colder; more and more expensive; longer and longer; better and better; more and more difficult

3. Join

  1. You practise more. You speak better.
  2. I get older. I sleep less.
  3. He waited longer. He got angrier.
  4. You start soon. You'll finish soon.
  5. The flat is big. The rent is high.
  6. I read more. I understand more.
Show the answers
The more you practise, the better you speak; The older I get, the less I sleep; The longer he waited, the angrier he got; The sooner you start, the sooner you'll finish; The bigger the flat, the higher the rent / The bigger the flat is, the higher the rent is; The more I read, the more I understand

4. Rewrite

  1. My flat costs £600 a month. Hers costs £1,200. (Her flat …)
  2. The old bridge is 100 metres long. The new one is 300 metres long. (The new bridge …)
  3. The train takes one hour. The bus takes two hours. (The bus …)
  4. This jacket was £100. Now it's £50. (Now the jacket …)
  5. Tom earns £3,000 a month. I earn £1,000. (Tom …)
Show the answers
Her flat is twice as expensive as mine / Her flat costs twice as much as mine; The new bridge is three times as long as the old one / The new bridge is three times longer than the old one; The bus takes twice as long as the train; Now the jacket is half the price / Now the jacket costs half as much; Tom earns three times as much as me / Tom earns three times as much as I do

5. Error correction.

  1. This flat is very cheaper than ours.
  2. The new house is in two times bigger than the old one.
  3. More you read, more you learn.
  4. It's getting more and more cold.
  5. The tickets are much more cheaper online.
  6. The more you become tired, the more mistakes you make.
Show the answers
This flat is much cheaper than ours / This flat is far cheaper than ours / This flat is a lot cheaper than ours; The new house is twice as big as the old one; The more you read, the more you learn; It's getting colder and colder; The tickets are much cheaper online; The more tired you become, the more mistakes you make / The more tired you get, the more mistakes you make / The more tired you are, the more mistakes you make

6. Say it in English.

Each line describes a situation in simple words. Say it with the forms of this lesson. 1) Yesterday it was 15 degrees; today it is 16. Compare today with yesterday. 2) This phone costs £150, and that one costs £300. Say how the price of this phone compares. 3) It is evening, and every minute there is less light outside. Say this. 4) A friend asks when he should come. You want him to come as early as possible. Answer with a short formula of four words. 5) Last year a coffee cost £3.00; now it costs £3.30. Say what has happened to prices, with a number. 6) You loved the book, but the film of it is not at all as interesting — far from it. Compare this film with the book.

Show the answers
It's a bit warmer today than yesterday / It's slightly warmer today than yesterday / It's a little warmer today than yesterday; This phone is half the price / This phone costs half as much / This phone is half as expensive; It's getting darker and darker; The sooner, the better / The earlier, the better; Prices have gone up by ten per cent / Prices have risen by ten per cent / Prices went up by ten per cent / Prices rose by ten per cent; This film isn't nearly as interesting as the book / The film isn't nearly as interesting as the book

7. Answer about yourself

in full sentences. The answers below are an example. 1) How is your town different from when you were a child? 2) Finish the sentence: The more I…, the…

Show the answers
My town is much bigger now, and the traffic is far worse, but the parks are a lot nicer; The more I travel, the more I want to see
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Summary

Covered: much, far, a lot, a bit, slightly, even before a comparative and no very; just as, nearly as, not nearly as; multiples with twice as … as, three times as … as, half the price; change with colder and colder, more and more; the …, the …; change in numbers with by and to. Next — lesson 36: the level test.

End of the core

The lesson counts as done once the exercises are done. Everything after this is optional.

Lesson 108

optional

Vocabulary for your deck

15 words
  • twice /twaɪs/ two times; (in comparisons) double (twice as big)
  • even /ˈiːvn/ (in comparisons) still more (even colder)
  • far /fɑː/ (in comparisons) much (far better)
  • half the price /ˌhɑːf ðə ˈpraɪs/ costing 50% of the other or the usual price
  • by far /baɪ ˈfɑː/ by a big difference, clearly (by far the best)
  • per cent /pə ˈsent/ in every hundred (%)
  • go up /ˌɡəʊ ˈʌp/ to become higher (about prices, numbers)
  • go down /ˌɡəʊ ˈdaʊn/ to become lower
  • increase /ɪnˈkriːs/ to become bigger in number or amount
  • drop /drɒp/ to fall, to become lower
  • rent /rent/ money you pay to live in a place; to pay to live in a place
  • crowded /ˈkraʊdɪd/ full of people
  • petrol station /ˈpetrəl ˌsteɪʃn/ a place where you buy petrol for a car
  • comparison /kəmˈpærɪsn/ looking at two things to see how they are different or alike
  • matter /ˈmætə/ to be important

Writing

Five or six sentences: compare two places where you have lived or worked, or your life now and a few years ago. You need two intensifiers, one multiple, one "more and more" and one the …, the ….

Example

My new office is much smaller than the old one, but it's far closer to my home. The journey takes half as long, so I have a lot more free time. The rent in this area is getting higher and higher, though. My colleagues are slightly younger, and the atmosphere is even friendlier. The longer I work here, the happier I feel.

Checklist

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Practise this lesson in the other sections

Dictationbased on this lesson Write down what you hear. The check shows every word that differs, and how. Write the dictation Reading aloudbased on this lesson Read the lesson text aloud — speech recognition highlights the words it did not catch. Read the text aloud Reading and listeningA1–C1 Texts at every level with comprehension questions; the transcript opens after you answer. Try it

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