C Gradable and non-gradable adjectives Adjectives and adverbs Look at these sequences: boiling--------hot, warm, mild, cool cold-»* freezing. excellent/fantastic m-------good, bad —---------awful/terrible A Adjectives and adverbs enormous -forge/big, small, tiny----------minute An adjective describes a noun. O Adjectives in the middle of the sequence are 'gradable'. We can make them stronger or weaker Last year we had a significant increase in profits. with words like very, a bit quite, reasonably, relatively, extremely. Last year profits were much better than this year. The weather was quite hot/cold. (NOT quite boiling/fro 02 ing.) If you want big gains on the We use the comparative form of an adjective to compare two separate things. Comparative: Model C400 is more powerful than model C20Q. Model C200 is less powerful than model C400. We use the superlative form to say that one thing in a group has more or less of a cjuality than all the others. Superlative: The most powerful model that we make is the C600. The least powerful model that we make Is the C200. Form •" The form depends on the number of syllables in the word and the spelling. Adjective Comparative Superlative One syllable cheap cheaper the cheapest nice nicer the nicest One syllable ending big bigger the biggest vowel - consonant hot hotter the hottest One/two syllables risky riskier the riskiest ending -y easy easier the easiest Two or more modern more/less modern the most/least modern syllables expensive more/less expensive the most/least expensive A franchising contract is one of the longest and most sophisticated that investors mil ever sign. (Entrepreneur International website) Note that one-syllable adjectives ending in single vowel - single consonant double the final consonant, and that-y becomes i, big - bigger flat - flatter wet - wetter easy - easier noisy - noisier happy - happier Some two-syllable adjectives can form in either way. Examples include clever, common, narrow, polite, quiet, simple, tired. common commoner I more common the commonest/the most common Note that long adjectives have both more/most and less/least, but short adjectives only have -er/-est. Note the following irregular forms; good better the best bad worse the worst far farther/further the farthest/furthest [apan's economy is weakening, its chances oj recovery from the worst slowdown since World War II are getting smaller and smaller every day. (Yahoo Business News website) C Other points We use than to link the things we are comparing. This year's profits will be a little higher than last year's. It's a lot more difficult than I thought at first Before a superlative we use the or a possessive form. This is the/our/Digicom's most powerful model Comparative and superlative adjectives can be used without a noun if the meaning is dear from the context. Their level of service is good, but ours is better. Digicom produces a range of models, but this one is the most powerful. The present perfect with ever is often used with superlatives. This is the most powerful machine that we have ever produced This is one of the best meals I have ever eaten Hie Brazilian supermarket chain Pdo de Acucar reported a profit of US$167.3tn last year, the largest it has ever made. (Business News Americas website) D Comparing equal things We can compare two equal things with (just) as... as. We say that two things are not equal with not as ... as. The adjectives do not change. The C6D0f is (just) as powerful as the C600. The C400 is not as powerful as the C600. Trends in oil prices are about supply and demand fundamentals. It really is as simple as thai. (Gulf Business Magazine website) It's still oood to be kino of your corporation — just not as good as it used to he. (BusinessWeek website] E Comparing actions i When we compare actions we can use an auxiliary at the end of the sentence. The C60O runs faster than the C400. OR The C600 runs faster than the C400 does. You've done more work than me. OR You've done more work than I have. 37 Practice Exercise 1 A B C D Underline the correct words. 1 The new line should be so profitable as/as profitable as the old one. 2 This handset is the most profitab/e/fhe more profitable we've ever made. 3 This version of the programme is the most recent! recenter. 4 The guarantee is a year longer than/that with our older models. 5 Nothing is worse/worst than missing a flight because of traffic. 6 This printer is one of the best/better on the market. 7 The meeting wasn't long as/as long as I thought. S Today the share price is more bad/worse than it was yesterday. 9 I'm sorry, the journey took longer than/the longest we expected. 10 We'll be there soon. It's not much farer I further. Exercise 2 A B C D Complete the sentences with a comparative or superlative form of the adjective in brackets. Include any other necessary words like the, more, less, as or than. 1 Coca-Cola is „JJ£AMf$**t... (big) soft drinks manufacturer in the world. 2 This keyboard is quite difficult to use. It's..............,.„...........(small) the one I'm used to. 3 The conference was a little disappointing. It was............................. (interesting) I expected. 4 Yesterday was one of.............................(hot) days of the year. 5 I think this suggestion is.............................(good) the other one. 6 Ifs impossible to choose between these two products. One is.............................(good) the other. 7 The first round of negotiations was easy. The next will be.............................(difficult). 8 We're only a small company. We're not....................... (large) the market leader in our sector. 9 This year our sales figure are.............................(bad) last year. 10 This is.....................(bad) case of corruption we've seen for years. Exercise 3 A B C D E Put one suitable word in each space. 1 We are bigger *-JiAft.. GNC, but Satco are the. biggest in the market. 2 I can see you either day. One day is................... good.................the other. 3 Nobody knows more about electronics.................Tina.........., 4 Of course I'll speak to him. It's the.................I can do after all your help. 5 Sorry, 5% discount is my best offer. It's the.................I can do, 6 He is one of the.................difficult customers I have ever dealt with. ? Everyone else had worked a lot longer on the project.................I.................. 8 I don't think that this market is.................risky.................it was. 9 The restaurants are the same. This one is „,_„._,......as expensive.................that one. 10 This restaurant is better for us, It's.................as expensive.......-.........that one. Exercise 4 A B C D Complete the second sentence so it has a similar meaning to the first sentence. 1 David is a better technician than Paul. Paul is not..........ft? yjcxl A t.f.ctiwc i,«.rs. iii.........David. 2 Nobody at KBN is a better investment analyst than Carol. Carol is the......................................................................at KBN. 3 I haven't read as many sections of the report as you. You've read...................................................................... 4 I expected the meeting to last longer. The meeting didn't last...........................,.............................. . 5 Our training budget isn't as big as yours. Your training budget is...................................,..............,..„.....,. , 6 No presentation I've given is more important than this one. This is the.....,,................................................................. 7 This speaker is more interesting than the last one. The last speaker was not.....................................................................this one. 8 I ate less than George did. I didn't................................... ..................George. 9 No one in the team has better communication skills than Jane. Jane has...................................................................... in the team. 10 I have rarely met a more interesting person. He is one of...................................................................... Exercise 5 A B ) 43 Complete the magazine article about investment options with the comparative or superlative forms of the adjectives in brackets. Investment choices: risk and reward I n this report we're going to look at the three main types of nvestments: cash (in bank accounts), bonds (long-term loans that give a fixed rate of return) and stocks (equities). The (1)........................ (Safe) is cash, and the fact that this has less risk than the others means that it also has a (2}................................... (low) return. If you want a (3.)...................................(good) return you should consider bonds. These are fixed interest investments, and are a (4)................................... (attractive) option than cash, particularly when interest rates are falling. The (5)................................... (risky) form of investment is stocks. They offer the chance of much (6)................................... (great) profits over the long term, but you might make a loss if the company does badly. The (7)................................... (bad) case scenario is that the company goes bankrupt and you lose everything.You can reduce the risk by investing in a fund rather than individual stocks. Funds that invest in developed economies are a (8)...................................(sensible) choice for most people, as the markets have more liquidity and it is (9)...................................(easy) for the fund manager to buy and sell. But there are also emerging market funds that invest in countries like China, India or Turkey. These markets are only for the (10)..........................,........ (aggressive) investors of all as they have much (11)................................... (high) volatility. So what is the (12).................................... (good) solution? Most financial advisors recommend a balance. In the middle of your career you can afford to have a (13)............................>...... (large) part of your investments as stocks, perhaps 60-80%, with some bonds for stability and cash for emergencies. As you get (14)..........,......................... (near) retirement you should consider switching most of your money to bonds, and increasing your available cash. D Comparing adverbs Comparing 2 si In general, adverbs follow exactly the same rules as adjectives. One syllable: hard, harder, the hardest A Large and small differences Two syllables ending -f. early, earlier, the earliest We can using adverbs of degree (see unit 39) to talk about differences. Two or more syllables: efficiently, more/less efficiently, the most/least efficiently Product Product A B v The adverbs well and badly are irregular. wqH, better, the best badly, worse, the worst Usinci more... thm. $220 $200 A is a bit/ a little bit/slightly more expensive than B. "t We can use the same structures as adjectives. $300 $200 A is considerably7'muchI'a lot/far more expensive than B. In the IT sector people are having to work harder and harder to get promotion.. Usina as... as The quicker we can sign the deal, the sooner we can start production. $120 $200 A is not nearly as expensive as B. These arguing that the US slowdown is about to end almost as soon as it began miss the point $1*80 $200 A is almost/nearly/not quite as expensive as B. entirely. (BusinessWeek website) $400 $200 A is twee as expensive as B. $450 $200 A is more than twice as expensive as B, (:;4= We often need comparative and superlative adverbs when the verb has the form of a present Ivreign exchange markets arc far more volatile and unpredictable than commodities markets, participle (doing) or a past participle (done). '(African Business. magazine website) Korea is one of the most rapidly developing countries in the world. We Gin use; eve? to emphasise the comparison. This product is more attractively designed and more solidly built. Jiijmii is. a country full of distributors, wholesalers and other middlemen. The dislocation caused by the The aw Deutsche Bank will be better placed to use its strong mrporatfc relationships Ut benefit faun Internet could he even greater than in the I IS. (FT.com website) the restructuring and M&A boom currmtly happening across Europe. (BusinessWeek website) E Other structures with comparatives E Comparing nouns We Can say that something is increasing or decreasing by using two comparatives linked by and. The personal pensions market is growing bigger and bigger. We compare nouns using the words below. Investors are becoming more and more sophisticated. Countable nouns (products, people, customers, banks) We can say that one situation depends on another by using the and one comparative followed more, fewer, the most, the fewest, (not) as many... as by the and another comparative, We have far more people working for us now than two years ago. The longer the strike goes on, the more difficult it will be to find a solution. We don't have as many products on the market as two years ago. The bigger the company and the larger its costs, the greater the opportunity to see tremendous efficiencies. (BusinessWeek Online website) Uncountable nouns (time, money, information, progress) These phrases are also useful for comparing things: more, less, the most, the least, (not) as much ... as exactly 1 just / almost/nearly I virtually 1 more or less/roughly thesame ... as ... I'm working as a freelancer now and! earn considerably less money. exactly/just/very I more/less/quite/a bit/a little like 1 don t have nearly as much time for reading as 1 would like. completely/quite/slightly different from very similar to compared to/in comparison with Online retailers with 30 employees have to offer exactly the same sendee as trading companies with turnover hi billions of euros. (Connectis website) t Phrases with superlatives These phrases are corrrr.cn with superlatives. Or;p of the largest retailing groups in Latin America. By far the/Easily the largest retailing group in Latin America. The second/third/fourth largest retailing group in Latin America. The recession that followed the dollar crisis of 1994 was one oj the worst in Mexican history. (Global Business Magazine website) 38 Practice Exercise 1 A B C D E Underline the correct words. 1 The new design is considerably more light/lighter than the old one. 2 There are nearly twice as many people working here as/than last year. 3 The sooner they decide, it's better/the better for us all. 4 There's each time more/more and more investment in China every year. 5 We have the nearly largest/the second largest market share in Turkey, 6 This model might be better for you. It's slightly/quite less expensive. 7 This is our faster/fastest selling product. 8 Everything's getting more and more expensive/expensiver and expensiver. 9 If needed, could this production line go more quickly/more Quicker} 10 It's a little more expensive, but the quality is much better/more better. 11 Our sales this year are virtually the same asf the equal of last year. U This is one of the best/the welt organised conferences J've ever been to. Exercise 2 A B Write a word or phrase from the list next to a similar word or phrase below. virtually a bit roughly exactly much nearly/. virtual I \ far/. more or less/. a little/. just/......................... Now complete these sentences by writing the pairs of words/phrases in the space. 1 They're similar They're ..S^f^f./.^£.$F.JML.,. the same. 2 They're very similar. They're....................................................the same. 3 They're identical. They're......................................................the same, 4 X costs $580 and Y costs $600. X is........»................................. cheaper. 5 X costs $400 and Y costs $600. X is.....,..........:.............,.........cheaper. Exercise 3 D Rewrite each sentence using a superlative with a present participle {doing) or a past participle (done). 1 Few credit cards are accepted as widely as Visa. Visa is probably.........tfe. t. widely ^cc^ted........credit card, 2 No market is growing as fast as China. China is.....................................................market. 3. Few watches on the market are designed as deverly as the new Seiko. The new Seiko is one of...............:...............................................watches on the market. 4 Few of our products are selling as well as this. This is one of our.....................................................................products. 5 Few 'facts about Oracle are less known than this. This is one of........................................................................facts about Oracle. No area of business is changing anything like as rapidly as biotechnology. By far.................,,,„-„,,..„.„;__________..................area of business is biotechnology. ^44 Exercise 4 A B C E A company wants to move premises and there are several options. Read the details in the table. Possible new premises size (square Docklands (converted warehouse) City View Business Park Newtown Industrial Area metres) 285 300 310 rent per square metre $500 $350 $200 running costs per year $120,000 $125,000 $105,000 distance from city centre (km) 4 Now complete the sentences with the phrases from the list below, slightly not nearly by far a lot more than twice roughly the same slightly less considerably less almost as much almost as many 1 The three options are all about the same size, but Newtown is.............?J.'^f*t'.y...?.........larger 2 3 4 5 6 7 The running costs at Docklands and City View are..........................................., The running costs at Newtown are........................................than the other two places. There's..........................................square metres at Docklands as at City View. There's........................................space at Docklands as at City View. The rent at Newtown is..................,......,..............than at the other two places. The rent at Docklands is...............................the rent at Newtown. 8 Docklands is............................................. the closest to the city centre. 9 In terms of access to the centre, Newtown is........................................as convenient as City View. 10 You'd have to travel........................................further to get to Newtown. Exercise 5 A B C D E Look at the table then complete the presentation extract with phrases from the list below. in comparison with twice as much twice as many a lot a little different similar by far considerably more roughly the same Chevron Texaco Exxon Mobil Sales $ mil. 50,000 52,000 210,000 % change 42 43 29 Profit $ mil. 5,000 3,000 16,000 % change 150 116 . 102 'If we look at the figures for the oil sector last year, you can see that the three largest US companies all did very well (1) J&J8*^.d.£*?& .with tne previous year. Let's start by comparing Chevron and Texaco. Their sales were (2).................................., although Chevron made (3)..................................profit Looking at the year-on-year trend you can see that the percentage change in sales was very (4) ......_,„.....................between the two companies, whereas the change in profits was quite (5)....................................... . In fact, Chevron's profits grew (6)..................................faster - 150% compared to 116%. Now let's look at Exxon Mobil, the market leader. The table shows that Exxon is (7)................................... the largest company, with more than (8)..................................sales as Chevron and Texaco combined, and exactly (9)...............profit. In terms of percentage growth, Exxon's figures were (10)..................................lower than its two competitors.' Adverbs of degree Adverbs of degree show how big or important something is. They make the meaning weaker .{small degree) or stronger (large degree). Small degree: a little, a bit, slightly Medium degree: quite, fairly, pretty, rather, reasonably, relatively Large degree: extremely, really, very, absolutely, completely Mau Fober is noted as a slightly eccentric but often very accurate market tipster, (asia-inc magazine website) Look at these examples. With adjectives: With adverbs: With verbs: With comparatives: It was a little expensive/rather strange/very professional. It was done a bit late/quite quickly/very professionally. I really disagree. They've increased their offer a little It's a bit/slightly/considerably/much/a lot cheaper. Too, enough, not enough Too means 'more than is necessary or good'. Wot enough means 'less than is necessary or good'. Enough means 'as much as is necessary' or 'sufficient'. Adjectives: The salary is too low. The salary isn't high enough. Adverbs: I'm sorry, it goes too slowly I'm sorry, it isn't fast enough Nouns: There's too much work. There isn't enough time. Note the positions: too comes before adjectives, adverbs and nouns: enough comes after adjectives and adverbs, but before nouns. We use too many/few + plural nouns and too much/little + uncountable nouns. There are too many people involved in the project I think we spent too much money on the consultants. We can leave out the noun if the meaning is clear. Just a little milk, please. Not too much. There are six chairs, is that enough? Other structures with too and enough After too and enough we can use a phrase with for. Their delivery times are too brig for us: Have we got enough chairs for everyone? ~ After too and enough we can use a to infinitive, Sales are too slow to make much profit. We don't have enough time to do everything. Simply put, information technology is just not important enough on its own to generate a sustained rccoucry. (FT.com website) D So and such We use so and such for emphasis. So with adjectives and adverbs: The meeting finished so quickly. Such a with adjective + singular noun: It was such a quick meeting. Such/So many/So few with plural nouns: You have such friendly colleagues. We sold so many policies last month! Such/So much/So little with uncountable nouns: It was such good advice. I have so much work to do. 'Such A big merger km huge competitive implications' says a senior Cicrman banking executive. (BusinessWeek Online website) ■ So/such and too are different. So/such express an opinion which can be either positive or negative. Too suggests a difficulty, that something cannot be done. There are so many people involved in the project, (it's just my opinion) There are too many people involved in the project, (we need to reduce the number) So/such can be used with that to express a result. Too cannot be used with that. The meeting finished so quickly that I was home by 5.30. (NOT too quickly that) E Quite, fairly, pretty or rather! ■ Quite, fairly and pretty mean 'a medium amount'. 'Like most businesses, we're fairly cautious about what might come in the next couple of years, mainly because of the Asian situation" (business review weekly website) in American English pretty is a common way of saying Very', We can change the meaning of quite in British English by stressing the adjective in speech. The meaning changes to 'very'. This is called understatement. The restaurant was quite good, (normal meaning: it was OK) The restaurant was quite good, (understatement: it was very good) Rather also means 'a medium amount', but it often suggests that something is bad, surprising or unusual. It is more formal. It's rather late to do anything now. (It's a little too late, I'm afraid) The restaurant was rather good. (I enjoyed it, surprisingly) With a comparative we can only use rather, not quite. The meeting took rather longer than I expected. (NOT quite longer) :< With some adjectives quite means 'absolutely' or 'completely'. These include: absurd, certain, different, hopeless, impossible, ridiculous, right, sure, true. Wrong. I'm quite certain about this. (= absolutely certain) Are you sure that's quite right? (= completely right) Match each phrase 1-8 with the phrase a)-h) with the closest meaning. Be careful - some are similar. 1 It's a bit slow. it's quite slow. It's rather slow. It's relatively slow. □ □ □ a) It's comparatively slow. b) It's slightly slow. c) It's fairly slow. d) It's a little too slow, I'm afraid. □ □ □ S It's not slow enough. □ It's so slow. It's too slow, it's slow enough. e) I want it to be even slower. i) There's a problem. I want it to be faster. g) It really is very slow. 14 OK. That's as slow as it needs to be. Underline the correct words. 1 The salary they are suggesting sounds so good/too good to be true! 2 There were so few/so little customers that I went home early. 3 We" can't puli out now. There's foo much/too many money involved. 4 It was such/so a boring meeting that I nearly fell asleep, 5 The meeting was such/so boring that I nearly fell asleep. § I had to say 'no' - the cost was so much/too much for the budget I was given. 7 We had so much/so many new business that we needed extra staff. S I had so much/so many reports to write that I put the answering machine on. 9 We have so few/so little information that we can't make a decision. 10 The meeting was so short/too short to cover all the points properly. 11 Can you help me? I'm not enough tail/tall enough to reach the top shelf. 12 There isn't enough money/money enough in the budget for your idea. Complete the sentences with one of these words: too, enough, so, such, much, many, little, few. 1 Is your coffee.....1r9P......hot? Would you like a little more milk? 2 I had..................................trouble finding somewhere to park that I arrived late. 3 I had..................................problems finding somewhere to park that I arrived late. 4 There were...............................replies to the last mailing that we won't do another. 5 I had....................................cash on me that I couldn't even buy a sandwich. 6 The price of their shares is............high to buy any more right now. 7 We're making ......progress that we should finish a week, early. 8 We're expecting a lot of people. This room won't be large.................. . 9 I couldn't do any work on the train. I was.................tired that I fell asleep. 10 She speaks.................quickly for me to understand. 11 They pay.................late that we won't receive the money until June. 12 Thai's .........a good idea. It'll save us thousands of dollars. Exercise 4 D Look at the table below, then combine the sentences, using either so ... that... or such ... that, 1 a) There was a big drop in their share price. + Investors became very nervous, b) The drop in their share price was very big. 2 a) The advertising campaign was very successful. + Sales increased by 25% per month, b) The advertising campaign was a success. 3 a) Qur order processing system works very well, b) We have a very good order processing system. + Most goods are dispatched within 48 hours. 4 a) That company has very large bank debts. ■ b) That company's bank debts are very large. 5 a) The Internet connection is very fast. b) There is a very fast Internet connection. - There's a risk it will have to close down. - Web pages appear almost instantly. 1 a} There was.fi**. _*...d.r.9P.. 'lt>... .l^lT...£r.ic(L...*h** investors became very nervous, b) The drop in their share price was..................t>!^ ^ViA.'t.................investors became very nervous. 2 a) The advertising campaign was...................,.,..,,,,,,.,„..,.....,............sales increased by 25% per month. b) The advertising campaign was.......................................................sales increased by 25% per month. 3 a) Our order processing system works..........................................................most goods are dispatched within 48 hours, b) We have.........................................................................most goods are dispatched within 48 hours. 4 a) That company has.......................................................there's a risk it will have to close down. b) That company's bank debts are..................................................there's a risk it will have to close down. 5 a) The Internet connection is.....................,...........................Web pages appear almost instantly. b) There is..............................................................Web pages appear almost instantly. Exercise 5 B D Complete the second sentence so it has a similar meaning to the first sentence and contains the word in brackets. 1 I didn't buy that laptop because the screen was too small, (enough) I didn't buy that laptop because ..^h* . 2 The problem was so difficult that I referred it to my line manager, (such) It......................................................................that I referred it to my line manager. 3 There weren't enough copies of the agenda, (few) There..................................................................... of the agenda. 4 There's not enough space on this spreadsheet for all the results, (little) There's ,.,...,...,<.„,....................................................on this spreadsheet for all the results. 5 It was such a good presentation that they gave us the contract immediately, (so) The.................................that they gave us the contract immediately. 6 I sold too few units last month to get a bonus, (enough) I.....................................................................last month to get a bonus. 7 I've got such a busy schedule that I can't meet you until next Tuesday, (so) My schedule.....................................................................that I can't meet you until next Tuesday. 8 We've sent out lots of brochures and we'll need to print some more, (many) We've sent out..........................................................we'll need to print-some more. 9 I haven't got enough time to prepare for the meeting, (too) I've got f,,.„._.............................................................to prepare for the meeting. <