Jack is taller than Peter.
Asking about family
and friends using
comparative
adjectives + than
Contents
Aims
Talking about family
and friends
Grammar
Comparative of
adjectives + than
Vocabulary
Who is + adjective + -er
than + noun
old, young, tall, short
Grammar & Functions
Checklist
Year 5
Lesson 12
2 master handouts
Individual or pair
work to revise
adjectives – regular
comparative forms)
Language Analysis
Comparative of adjectives + than + noun
With most adjectives we use –er to form comparative adjectives e.g. old – older.
There are, however, some important spelling rules to follow:
dirty – dirtier (y  ier)
simple – simpler (e  er, eer)
big – bigger (double the consonant, if the syllable is stressed and finishes with a
consonant).
We form comparatives of adjectives longer than two syllables with more:
interesting – more interesting
We use than /ðən/ – to compare two people or things, e.g. He is older than his sister.
Many adjectives have irregular adjective forms:
good – better
bad – worse
much – more etc.
© Young Digital Planet 2014 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Procedure
Warm-up Off the screens
1.
2.
Revise adjectives needed for the lesson.
Give out Handout 1.
3.
Ask Ss to use the correct adjective for each of the pictures.
Key:
1 tall 2 short 3 big 4 small 5 weak 6 strong 7 old 8 new
© Young Digital Planet 2014 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Screen 2
Lucy: You’re really tall Alex! Who’s taller
than you?
Kim: Well, I’m shorter than Alex, and so
is Sam!
Sam: I think Alex is taller than all the boys
in our class, as well as the girls.
Alex: Your brother Ben’s taller than me,
Lucy.
Lucy: Yes, he is, but he’s older than you,
too.
Sam: Who in our class is older than you,
Alex? You’re eleven years old, aren’t
you?
Lucy: I’m two months older than him. I’m
already 12.
Sam: I’m younger than you two – I’m still
11 but it’s my birthday soon.
Kim: And I’m 11 too - I’m older than Sam
and younger than Lucy.
Exploit the scene by asking the Ss to describe
what they can see. Then listen and watch the
animation. Ask some questions to check
understanding.
Ask Ss to listen and repeat the comparative
forms of the adjectives.
Screen 3
Lucy: You’re really tall Alex! Who’s taller
than you?
Kim: Well, I’m shorter than Alex, and so
is Sam!
Sam: I think Alex is taller than all the boys
in our class, as well as the girls.
Alex: Your brother Ben’s taller than me,
Lucy.
Lucy: Yes, he is, but he’s older than you,
too.
Sam: Who in our class is older than you,
Alex? You’re eleven years old, aren’t
you?
Lucy: I’m two months older than him. I’m
already 12.
Sam: I’m younger than you two – I’m still
11 but it’s my birthday soon.
Kim: And I’m 11 too – I’m older than Sam
and younger than Lucy.
Key: 1 T 2 T 3 F4 T 5 F 6 T
© Young Digital Planet 2014 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Screen 4
Audio 1:
Is Ben taller or shorter than Alex?
Audio 2:
Is Kim taller or shorter than Alex?
Audio 3:
Is Lucy older or younger than Alex?
Audio 4:
Is Kim older or younger than Lucy?
Key:
1 He’s taller than Alex.
2 She’s shorter than Alex.
3 She’s older than Alex.
4 She’s younger than Lucy.
Screen 5
Key: (from left to right)
1 giraffe 2 green
3 car 4 elephant
5 cat 6 cat
© Young Digital Planet 2014 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Screen 6
Boy: Who is older – you or me?
Girl: I’m twelve years old.
Boy: Oh, I’m still 11 – so you’re older
than me.
Give the Ss these instructions for the ‘Listen
and say’ activity. The aim is to practice a short
natural dialogue.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Look at the picture and read the
question.
Click on the audio and listen to the
dialogue.
Drag and drop the answers into the
correct speech bubbles.
Press ‘pause’ and listen again if you
want to, to complete the exercise.
Now it’s your turn. This is a ‘free practice’
stage. The aim is personalisation.
Tell students to work in pairs and ask and
answer the questions with their own answers.
Additional activity to practise comparative adjectives:
© Young Digital Planet 2014 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Handout 2
Ask Ss to complete the comparative or base forms of the adjectives.
Key:
1 old – older, 2 small – smaller, 3 tall – taller, 4 big – bigger, 5 nice – nicer, 6 strong –
stronger, 7 weak – weaker, 8 young – younger
© Young Digital Planet 2014 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Handout 1
tall / short
1
1___________________________
2
2___________________________
big / small
3
3___________________________
4
4___________________________
strong / weak
5___________________________
6
6___________________________
5
old / new
7___________________________
7
8___________________________
9
© Young Digital Planet 2014 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide
Handout 2
1.
old – ____________
2.
small – ____________
3.
tall – ____________
4.
____________ – bigger
5.
nice – ____________
6.
____________ – stronger
7.
weak – ____________
8.
____________ – younger
Handout 2
1.
old – ____________
2.
small – ____________
3.
tall – ____________
4.
____________ – bigger
5.
nice – ____________
6.
____________ – stronger
7.
weak – ____________
8.
____________ – younger
© Young Digital Planet 2014 – Core Curriculum for English – Teacher’s Guide