I. Grammar

Past Simple

Past Progressive

Comparison

THE SIMPLE PAST

You usually make the simple past by adding -ed to the end of the verb. For example:

I walk → I walked

we wait → we waited

they jump → they jumped

Many common verbs have irregular simple past forms, and so you have to use a special ending, or change the verb in some other way. For example:

I go → I went

we buy → we bought

they see → they saw

You use the simple past to talk about an action which happened and finished in the past. There is a space between the time when the action happened, and the time when you are speaking or writing about it.

He kicked the ball into the net.

I went home early because I had a headache.

The police found a dead body in the river.

You often use words or phrases such as at midnight, on Tuesday, in 1992, yesterday, and last year with the simple past, to draw attention to the time when something happened. For example:

Our visitors arrived yesterday.

Where did you go last week?

The war ended in 1945.

THE PAST PROGRESSIVE

You make the past progressive by using was or were, followed by the main verb with an ‑ing ending, for example I was looking, they were laughing. The past progressive is used in the following ways:

1. You use the past progressive when you want to talk about something that happened in the past, and continued to happen for only a limited period of time.

We were living in France at that time.

I was trying to get the waiter’s attention.

The man was looking at me in a very strange way.

2. You use the past progressive to talk about something which continued to happen for a period of time, during which another thing happened.

I was watching TV when the phone rang.

They met each other while they were staying in London.

Some verbs are not usually used in the progressive. Don’t say, ‘I was not believing him’. Say I did not believe him.

Do not use the progressive with the following verbs:

be have see

believe like agree

know love disagree

recognize hate mean

remember prefer need

understand want deserve

wish belong

COMPARISON

COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE ADJECTIVES

If you want to compare two things, you use the comparative form of an adjective. For example the comparative form of big is bigger, and the comparative form of interesting is more interesting.

Your car is bigger than mine.

His new book is more interesting than his last one.

If you want to say that one thing is bigger, faster, more interesting etc than all the others of a group of things, you use the superlative form of an adjective. For example, the superlative form of big is biggest, and the superlative form of interesting is the most interesting.

It’s the fastest motorcycle in the world.

What’s the most delicious food you’ve ever eaten?

CHOOSING THE RIGHT FORM OF THE ADJECTIVE

If the adjective is one syllable long, you add ‑er or ‑est to it, sometimes making a change in the spelling.

adjective comparative superlative

tall taller tallest

big bigger biggest

nice nicer nicest

If the adjective is three or more syllables long, you add the words more or most before it.

That’s a more interesting question.

Kim’s question was the most interesting one.

The new trains are more comfortable than the old ones.

That’s the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in.

Most adjectives with two syllables use more and most to form the comparative and superlative, but some two‑syllable adjectives have ‑er/‑est endings, and some two-syllable adjectives use both methods.

The ‑er/‑est endings are possible with adjectives ending in ‑y, ‑ow, ‑le, ‑er, ‑ure. Don’t forget that with adjectives that end in ‑y, the ‑y changes to ‑i.

adjective comparative superlative

happy happier happiest

gentle gentler gentlest

narrow narrower narrowest

clever cleverer cleverest

You keep this pattern even in the cases where you can add un‑ to a two-syllable adjective.

unhappier/unhappiest

Proper and eager do not follow this rule: you can use only more/most with them.

You use more/most with all other two‑syllable adjectives.

more/most active more/most useful more/most recent

ADJECTIVES THAT DO NOT FOLLOW THE NORMAL RULES

Not all adjectives follow the normal rules. Some adjectives have completely irregular forms. The most common ones are:

adjective comparative superlative

good better best

bad worse worst

little less least

Words which are formed from a verb, and which end in ‑ing, ‑ed, or other past forms, always use more/most, no matter how many syllables they have.

His latest film is even more boring than his previous ones.

She was more shocked than I was.

COMPARING TWO THINGS WHICH ARE THE SAME

If you want to say that two things are the same size, the same height etc, you can say that one thing is as big as the other, as tall as the other etc.

She’s as tall as her sister.

Do you think this summer will be as hot as last summer?

COMPARING TWO THINGS WHICH ARE NOT THE SAME

If you want to say that two things are not the same size, the same height etc, you can say that one thing is not as big as the other, not as tall as the other etc.

The meal wasn’t as good as the last meal I had there.

I’m not as fat as him. OR I’m not as fat as he is.

London is not as expensive as some other European cities.

You can use less... than to mean the same thing as not as... as, but you usually use it with adjectives that have two or more syllables, for example less expensive, less important.

Value for money is less important than quality and reliability.

Don’t use less with short adjectives such as good, old etc.

You can leave out the second as and the noun after it, if you have already mentioned or suggested the second thing that you are comparing.

The material looks like silk, but it’s not as expensive. (="not" as expensive as silk)

Similarly, you can also leave out the than part of the comparison when you are using less, if you have already mentioned or suggested the second thing that you are comparing.

I prefer the old Hollywood movies. They’re much less violent. (="than" modern films)

The buses are less crowded after 10 o’clock. (="than" they are before 10 o’clock)

If you want to say that one type of thing is less expensive, less important etc than all other things of the same type, you can say that it is the least expensive, the least important etc.

People usually choose the least expensive brand.

Don’t use least with short adjectives such as good, old etc.