This is a grammar lesson on comparative adjectives

Task 1. Go through the vocabulary eliciting the names of the clothes

items
What clothes did you write in this category?
Vocabulary: Clothing categories.
Write these words in the correct category.

Outerwear
(ropa
exterior)
coat
windbreaker
sweater
jacket
Underwear
(ropa
interior)
boxers
briefs

Hosiery
(calcetera)
socks
tights
(pantimedias)
Lingerie
(lencera)
womens
underwear
nightgowns
panties

Sleepwear
(ropa de
dormir)
pajamas

Athletic
wear (ropa
deportiva)
(sweat)pants
shorts
running
shoes

If the students dont know a word, T supplies it

As soon as the T elicits or supplies a word, check the students have
understood
Immediately after checking the meaning of a word, have students
listen while doing oral modeling by saying the word a few times.

T writes the next words on the board:

Words at the department store
- Shop assistant or clerk: vendedor
- Customer or shopper: cliente
- Price: precio
- Size: talla
- Brand: marca
- Selection: coleccin
- Service: servicio

Elicit how to ask a shop assistant for help. For example:

Shop assistant/Clerk: Can I help you?
Customer: Im looking for

Write this dialogue down on your notebooks.

Mini-dialogue: At the department store

Shop assistant: Can I help you?

Customer: Yes, Im looking for a pair of boots, please.
Shop assistant: Right. What size are you?

Customer: Size 5, I think. But do you have anything in brown?

Shop assistant: Just a minute, please. Would you take a seat?
2 minutes later
Shop assistant: Here you are. Do you like these?
Customer: Yes, they are fine. Thanks.

Drill the conversation until learners are familiar with it

Put students into pairs to practice the conversation
Monitor and note any common errors
Shopping phrases
Look at these expressions from a conversation in a clothes shop, and
mark them C for customer and A for shop assistant.

Its Ok. Im just looking: Est bien. Slo estoy viendo.

Do you have these in a larger size? Lo tienen en una talla ms
grande?
Can I try this on? Puedo probrmelo?
Can I help you? Puedo ayudarle?
Would you like to try these on? Le gustara probarlos?
Do you have these in black? Tiene estos en color negro?
What size are you? Qu talla es?
These shoes feel a bit tight. Estos zapatos se sienten apretados.
They are fine, thanks. Estos estn bien, gracias.

Speaking practice: Whats important to you when you choose a

place to shop for clothes? Is it difficult for you to choose what to
buy?
Not important / Important / Very important
Prices
Brands
Selection
Service
A: Prices are very important for me.
B: Not for me. I prefer excellent service

A: When I buy something I dont know what to choose.

B: That happens to me, too.
Introduce adjectives
List of adjectives to describe clothes and products
big
small
large
nice

loose
tight
light
heavy

pretty
noisy
easy
comfortable

expensive
popular
convenient
portable

difficult
interesting
good
bad

Comparing two items in a shop

Show the students two dictionaries of different size, content and
format. Ask them to say something about these two books.
Making comparative sentences
The Larousse dictionary is cheap (cheap is an adjective)
If we want to make a comparative sentence we do the following:
The Larousse dictionary is cheaper than the Oxford dictionary

We add er to the end of the adjective to make it a comparative

So we are comparing two things
We are comparing the Larousse dictionarys price to the Oxfords
So any adjective that is one syllable such as cheap, old, tall, cold, we
add er to the end of the adjective
So cheap becomes cheaper
Rule 1: When an adjective consists of one syllable add er to
the end to make it a comparative adjective.
Old older
Small- smaller
Examples:

clean
dark
thick
soft
warm
neat

Comparativ
e
cleaner
darker
thicker
softer
warmer
neater

broad
tall
old

broader
taller
older

Exception to Rule 1: If the one syllable adjective ends with a

consonant-vowel-consonant we need to double the last
consonant before adding the er. However, if the last
consonant is a w then we follow rule 1 instead.
Big- bigger
Hot- hotter
Examples:

big
dim
fat
fit
flat
few
slow
low

Comparativ
e
bigger
dimmer
fatter
fitter
flatter
fewer
slower
lower

Rule 2: When a two syllable adjective ends with y we

need to replace the y with an i and then add the er.
We take off the y, replace it with an i and we add er
Easy easier
Heavy- heavier
Examples:
Comparati
ve

busy

busier

dirty

dirtier

easy

easier

funny

funnier

noisy

noisier

happy

happier

heavy

heavier

lovely

lovelier

Rule 3: For an adjective with two or more syllables

(that does not end with y), we use add the
word more or less (ms) (menos) in front of the
adjective.
Interesting we dont say interestinger this is incorrect
Difficult we dont say difficulter in English
We say:
Interesting more less interesting
Difficult more less difficult
We have nothing in the end of the adjective
Examples:
active

Comparative
more active, less

active
careless
more careless. less
careless
famous
more famous. Less
famous
cheerful
more cheerful, less
cheerful
beautiful
more beautiful, less
beautiful
generous more generous,
less generous
intelligent more intelligent,
less intelligent
valuable
more valuable, less
valuable

A quick review
Short er
Happy ier
more expensive
Exceptions: There are some adjectives that have
irregular comparative forms.
Examples:

good/well
(health)

Comparati
ve
better

bad
many
much
little
far

worse
more
more
less
farther

Tell the students that they compare things all the time and today in the lesson
they will learn about how to compare things in English.
Bring the pictures of two different pairs of gloves (brown and black).
Write the size and price for each pair. Stick them on the board.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

The brown gloves are large

The brown gloves are larger than the black gloves
The black gloves are small
The black gloves are smaller than the brown gloves
The brown gloves are cheap
The brown gloves are cheaper than the black gloves
The black gloves are expensive
The back gloves are more expensive than the brown gloves

(On the board) Write the conversation. Write the words in the correct
gaps.
A: Excuse me. Do you have these gloves in a larger size?
B: No, Im sorry. We dont.
A: Thats too bad
B: But we have a larger pair in brown. See if they are better.
A: Yes, theyre fine. Thanks.
Listen to the conversation and check your answers.
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