Grammar Talks A2-09 Comparatives

Comparatives

Listen to someone compare two famous cities in California.
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Aimee: So Todd, you said before, that your mom is from San Francisco.

Todd: Yes. No, my dad is from San Francisco.

Aimee: So, your dad is from San Francisco and your mom is from Los Angeles.

Todd: Yes, that's right.

Aimee: Okay, so which city is better?

Todd: Ooh, wow. They both are great American cities. They are very, very different. I think San Francisco is better but I think people in LA think LA is better. So it's tough. Yeah.

Aimee: So, is LA bigger than San Francisco?

Todd: Yes, it is much, much much bigger. LA is huge. It is about 10 million people, maybe more.

Aimee: That is huge.

Todd: Yeah. San Francisco is only one million people.

Aimee: Oh, that's tiny.

Todd: Yeah, it's much smaller than LA.

Aimee: Okay.

Todd: Yeah, much smaller.

Aimee: Okay. And is LA more expensive than San Francisco.

Todd: I don't think so. LA is expensive but San Francisco is more expensive. San Francisco is maybe the most expensive city in the US. Because of Google, Yahoo, Apple, all these famous companies.

Aimee: Yes, they are big companies.

Todd: So it's big, there's many rich companies there and the space is very small so it's expensive.

Aimee: Right, okay. And so about the weather? Is LA warmer than San Francisco?

Todd: Yeah, it's much warmer. It's much, much warmer. LA has beautiful weather so most days it's warm, no clouds, maybe 25 degrees Celsius.

Aimee: That sound so nice.

Todd: Or above. Beautiful. San Francisco is much colder and it's much wetter. It rains a lot in San Francisco.

Aimee: I know that. What about the looks? Is LA prettier than San Francisco?

Todd: No, not at all.

Aimee: No?

Todd: No, not at all. San Francisco is much prettier. LA is pretty but San Francisco much prettier. It's near the sea, it's near nature. It has lots of beautiful buildings downtown. I think San Francisco is prettier but maybe people in Los Angeles think LA is prettier but I don't think so.

Aimee: Okay. You disagree with them.

Todd: I do disagree.

Aimee: So how are those people? Are the people nicer in LA?

Todd: I don't think so. I think the people in San Francisco are friendlier. People in Los Angeles are a little reserved. They are not as friendly.

Aimee: There are more people really.

Todd: There are, it is true. It's a big city. I think people are nicer and more easy going in San Francisco.

Aimee: Okay. So now that we have talked about it, is LA better than San Francisco?

Todd: No. No. I think, yeah, somebody from LA will disagree but I will say this, Los Angeles is maybe more exciting and is more interesting than San Francisco. There's lots to do there. It has the beach and it has lots of cool places like Disneyland. So LA is a really great place.

Aimee: LA has hills for hiking too, doesn't it?

Todd: A little bit, not close. Actually San Francisco is closer to nature and hiking.

Aimee: Is it?

Todd: Yeah.

Aimee: Okay, I didn't know that.

Todd: So, you can choose on my description which city sounds more interesting.

Aimee: I want to go to both but I think I would prefer to go San Francisco.

Todd: Yay. We need more people. No actually we don't need more people.

Comparatives

One Syllable / -er

small – smaller
cold – colder
young – younger

One Syllable ends in /e/ -r

safe – safer
nice – nicer
close – closer

Consonant + vowel + Consonant -(x)er

hot – hotter
big – bigger
fat – fatter

Two Syllable ends in /y/ -ier

happy – happier
angry – angrier
hungry – hungrier

Two or More Syllables >> more -

dangerous – more dangerous
expensive – more expensive
difficult – more difficult

Irregular

good – better
bad – worse

Answer the following questions about the interview.

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