The word there is sometimes used to modify a noun or pronoun, which means that it functions as an adjective. The word their primarily works as a possessive adjective, to describe something that belongs to more than one person. A noun typically follows the word their. Breaking down the word homophone can help you understand its meaning. Homo means "same," and phone means "sound.
However, they are not spelled the same and they have different meanings. Look out for those confusing homophones! When writing, make sure you slow down enough to pay close attention to how you're spelling words in their context. Even if they are used in the wrong context, they are technically spelled correctly.
Writing deliberately and closely proofreading your work will help you avoid mistakes when using homophones like these. To form the comparative, we use the - er suffix with adjectives of one syllable:. It was a longer holiday than the one we had last year. To form the superlative, we use the - est suffix with adjectives of one syllable.
We normally use the before a superlative adjective:. At one time, the Empire State building in New York was the tallest building in the world.
They have three boys. Richard is the oldest and Simon is the youngest. Note the pronunciation of these comparatives and superlatives:. Some one-syllable adjectives have irregular comparative and superlative forms:. The morning flight is better than the afternoon one. His elder sister works for the government. Pluto is the furthest planet from the sun in our solar system. We do not use more or most together with an - er or - est ending:. They emigrate because they are looking for a better life.
The beach at Marmaris is one of the biggest in Turkey. Farther , farthest or further , furthest? Elder , eldest or older , oldest? Two-syllable adjectives ending in -y change y to i and take the - er and - est endings:. Some other two-syllable adjectives especially those ending in an unstressed vowel sound can also take the - er and - est endings:. This new bed is narrower than the old one. The guest bedroom is the quietest room in the house because it overlooks the garden.
This dictionary is more useful than the one we had before. The most useful tool in the kitchen is a good sharp knife. This is the least harmful chemical in terms of the environment.
The second lecture was more interesting than the first. That way of calculating the figures seems less complicated to me. London is the most popular tourist destination in England. If you are going as a group, the least expensive option is to rent an apartment or villa. We can strengthen or emphasise a comparative adjective using words such as much, a lot, far, even or rather , or by using than ever after the adjective:.
This food is much better than the food we had yesterday. The town is a lot more crowded these days because of the new shopping centre. Alex is far less intelligent than the other kids in the class. We can soften a comparative adjective using a little or a bit. A bit is less formal:. We use than when we mention the second person or thing in the comparison.
If the second person mentioned takes the form of a personal pronoun, we normally use the object form of the pronoun me, you, him, her, us, them :. Could you carry this? Why did you choose Robert? Marie is more experienced than him. You managed to answer the ten questions correctly? I preferred Henrietta to Dennis. She was always more sociable than he was. To talk about how a person or thing is changing and gaining more of a particular quality, we can use two - er form adjectives connected by and , or we can use more and more before an adjective.
The colder it is, the hungrier I get. The more generous you are towards others, the more generous they are likely to be towards you. The exam results were better than predicted. Temperatures that summer were higher than previously recorded. Instead we use not as … as …, or not so … as … Not as is more common than not so :. The second method was less complicated than the first one. This new laptop is not as fast as my old one. The castle is the oldest building in the city.
When a superlative adjective is followed by a noun, we normally use the :. In informal situations, we can often omit the after a linking verb be, seem or a verb of the senses look, taste if there is no noun:. Which looks best? If you want to get a message to Peter, email is quickest. He never answers the phone. My worst score ever in an exam was zero. Birmingham is the second biggest city in England. His two best friends organised a surprise party for him on his fortieth birthday.
We can make a superlative adjective stronger with by far, easily or of all :. The Beatles were by far the most successful rock band of the s. This method is by far the least complicated. No one is as elegant as her. There were a number of excellent poems entered for the competition, but the best poem of all was written by a ten-year-old boy. This is quite the most irresponsible behaviour I have ever seen.
We can use a to -infinitive after a superlative adjective, with a meaning similar to a relative clause with who , which or that :. Who was the oldest person to compete in the London Marathon of ? Who was the oldest person who competed …? The Golden Swan was the largest sailing-ship ever to be used in battle. Relative clauses.
A comparative adjective is followed by than , not that or as :. Emphasising superlative adjectives. To -infinitives after superlative adjectives. Comparative adjectives: typical errors. Comparison: adverbs worse, more easily. Adverbs: comparative and superlative forms.
Adverbs with more and most. Well and badly. Comparative adverbs: using than. Comparison: clauses bigger than we had imagined. Comparison: comparisons of equality as tall as his father. Examples of comparison. I make these comparisons to underline my suggestion to engage such students in learning and ignite their interest in the blues. From the Cambridge English Corpus. Uncontrolled factors affecting light transmission imply that optical density comparisons between different slide preparations are not valid.
However, in both of these comparisons, rate tests did not yield significant rate differences probably because of the short length of most proteins. All comparisons made were of the treated side ipsilateral to the bead and the untreated side contralateral to the bead. A ranking system was used to make comparisons of the different methods.
Second, every node of interest must be connected to every other node of interest by an unbroken chain of comparisons. Will it be the differences, or the similarities, that are most striking, when comparisons come to be made? The material is too limited to make palaeogeographical comparisons. The comparisons open a sequence of doors leading in many directions rather than one. Studies have differed in their definition of the topic, and comparisons between research findings are often difficult and sometimes impossible to make.
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