Page 64 - IELTS Preparation Grammar and Vocab

8 Comparison

la Superlatives: special cases

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That's the most convenient of the flights from London ...
Its one of the most famous buildings in the world.
They're right next to the best beach on the island.
After a superlative we usually use of before plural words and in or on before singular words for places
Or groups.

For emphasis we can put an of-phrase at the beginning of the sentence
Of the flights from London, that's the most convenient ...
In informal contexts we sometimes leave out the after a linking verb (e.g. be, become, feel), particularly when the
superlative is at the end: Which one's cheapest?
I ug Comparisons with as ...

Isn't Corfu likely to be as hot as Athens at that time of the year? (= equally hot)
Getting to Corfu is just as easy as getting to Athens. (= equally easy to get to)

Before the first as we use words and phrases such as about, almost, just, just about, nearly, and informally not
anything like, nothing like, nowhere near, not nearly to indicate degree of similarity:
The heat is nowhere near as bad as people say. (=informal)
In negative forms we can use not as in informal contexts, or less commonly not so:
Coifu is certainly not as quiet as it used to be. or... not so quiet as it used to be.
We use as much/many as or as little/few as to say that a quantity or amount is larger or smaller than expected:
There are reasonable hotel rooms for as little as 40 euros a night.
There are as many as 12 flights a day to Athens from London.
We also use as much/many as with a noun phrase, a clause or the words ever, possible and usual:
We want to see as much as possible.
We can put a singular noun between an adjective and the second as:
We want as cheap a flight as possible.
Notice that we use a/an in front of the noun.
The negative form of sentences like this can use either not as or not such:
Getting there is not as big a problem as you might think.
That's not such a bad idea.
Notice that we use not as + adjective + a/an + noun but not such a/an + adjective + noun.
As + clause
We can use a clause after as to compare two situations:
Maybe we could hire a car, as we did last year.
As or like
When followed by a noun, as is used to describe the job or role of someone, or the function of something
My friend Mark used to work there as an English teacher.
Like is used to say that one person or thing is similar to another:
stayed in a hotel like that one last year

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