REPEATED  AND DOUBLE COMPARATIVES

WHAT ARE REPEATED COMPARATIVES?

Repeated comparatives 

     All of them are used to describe actions and things that are increasing or decreasing.

 INCREASING

To indicate that something is increasing we can apply two structures: er and er / more and more.

a) …….er and …….er

To form this structure we have to add “er” to the adjective to form a comparative adjective. It is used with adjectives and short adverbs; such as, closer and closer, longer and longer.

Examples:

She is getting closer and closer of her mother.

By the end of the twentieth century, couples were waiting longer and longer to marry.

b) more and more

We can use this structure with long adjectives or adverbs ; for example, more and more difficult, more and more slowly.

Examples:

It’s becoming more and more difficult.

He is going more and more slowly.

DECREASING

In order to indicate that something is decreasing we can use the following structures: fewer and fewer, less and less.

a) Fewer and fewer

It is used with countable nouns.

Example:

Fewer and fewer children are leaving school.

b) Less and less

It is used with uncountable nouns and adjectives.

Example:

He needs less and less money everyday.

                WHAT ARE DOUBLE COMPARATIVES?

                             

 Double comparatives

Double comparatives describe a cause and effect process. Also, they are written as a sentence with a comma separating the cause and the effect. The structure to use them is the following:

     [the + comparative form] + (subject) + (verb), [the + comparative form] + (subject) + (verb)] 

If you want to find more information about this kind of comparative you can check the website: https://englishwithdickandjane.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/double-comparatives-english-grammar/

Examples:

The more education women get, the later they marry.

The less children studied, the more slowly they learned.

Ejercicios:

Repeated comparatives describe things that are increasing or decreasing. The birth-rate is getting lower and lower. Fewer and fewer children are leaving school. It’s becoming more and more difficult. By the end of the century, couples were waiting longer and longer to marry.

FILL THE BLANKS AS IN THE EXAMPLES ABOVE:

1)   He gets  (boring). I can’t listen to him any longer.

2)   I didn’t like this book at first, but it’s getting  (interesting).

3)   My daughter’s English results are getting  (bad).

4)   The boss will be angry with you. You arrive  (late) at work.

5)   In spring the weather gets  (warm).

6)   It’s time you tidied your room. It’s getting  (messy).

7)   Food is getting  (expensive).

8)   I think TV programs are getting  (violent).

9)   I find it  (difficult) to see him.

10)   She’s getting over her operation. She feels  (good).

Double comparatives describe a cause-and-effect process. The more education women get, the later they marry. The better the quality of health care (is), the higher the life expectancy (is).

FILL IN THE BLANKS WITH THE CORRECT FORM OF THE WORDS BELOW:

better loud hot probable small better more rich big

less happy merry late safe fast cheap more hard

1)      The  you study for these exams, the  you will do.

2)      She doesn't really like vodka, so the  a bottle you find, the  it will be for us.

3)      My neighbour is driving me mad! It seems that the  it is at night, the  he plays his music!

4)      He spent a year in India and loves spicy food. The  the food is, the  he likes it.

5)      Of course you can come to the party. The  the  .

6)      She will be really angry about that vase being broken! The  she knows about it, the  .

7)      He has 6 large dogs to protect his house. The  the dog, the  he feels.

8)      Earning money has always been the thing that pleases him most. The  he becomes, the  he is.

9)      You must drive slower in built up areas. The  you drive in the city, the  it is that you will have an accident.