Three everyday comparisons:

• "This café is cheaper than the one on the corner."
• "The new bridge makes the drive quicker, but crossing it is more expensive."
• "Out of all three flights, the morning one was the cheapest, but the evening one was the fastest."

Before you check: which words get -er/-est, and which get "more/most" instead?

1. My train usually takes 45 minutes. Today the roadworks meant the bus took over an hour.

"The train's normally than the bus."

2. We tried two restaurants this week. The pasta at Luigi's was fine, but the pizza at Tony's was amazing.

"Tony's pizza was than Luigi's pasta."

3. We saw three flats today: one for £900, one for £1,100, and one for £1,400 a month.

"Of the three, the last one was ."

Three everyday comparisons of equal things:

• "This bag isn't as expensive as the leather one, but it looks just as nice."
• "The 8am train is as crowded as the 9am one — don't bother waiting."
• "My commute isn't as long as it used to be since they opened the new road."

What goes on either side of the adjective? Say it before you check.

1. Both supermarkets charge exactly £3 for a dozen eggs.

"Eggs here are at the shop next door."

2. My friend's flight was delayed by two hours too — the exact same as mine.

"My flight was hers."

3. This café gets busy at lunchtime, but the one next door is quiet all day.

"The café next door isn't this one."

• "The new printer is much faster than the old one."
• "This laptop was only a bit more expensive than the last one, so I got it."
• "The traffic today is nearly as bad as it was during the roadworks."

Where does each small word sit — next to a comparative, or next to "as…as"?

1. My commute used to take 20 minutes. Now it takes 45.

"My commute is than it used to be."

2. The two cafés charge almost the same for coffee — £2.80 here, £2.90 next door.

"The coffee here is at the place next door."

3. My new phone weighs 180g. My old one weighed 175g — hardly any difference.

"My new phone is than my old one."

Think of two things you can genuinely compare — two flats or houses you've lived in, two phones, two jobs, two towns, or two trips. (If nothing comes to mind, invent one.)

Talk about them out loud for one minute. Try to cover:

• Which one is bigger, cheaper, or better?
• Is anything about them equal?
• How big is the difference — is it a huge gap, or barely any?

Write a short message (3–5 sentences) comparing the same two things to a friend. Use all three patterns from today — a comparative, an as…as, and a modifier — the checker will tell you which ones it finds.

1. "This shop is more cheaper than the supermarket."

2. "My commute is as quick than my sister's."

3. "The new pedestrian crossing is a bit more safer than the old one."

4. "That was the baddest film I've seen all year."

5. "Out of all the phones I've tried, this one is ___."

6. "The queue today is ___ yesterday — maybe even a little shorter."

7. "This is ___ restaurant in town — everyone says so."

1. The form you knew before today — complete it: "This coffee is than that one."

2. Say it out loud: what word do we almost always need in front of a superlative like "biggest" or "most expensive"?

3. It was 15°C in my city yesterday; it's 22°C today.

"Today is than yesterday."

4. We both got parking fines this week — mine was £60, and so was his.

"My fine was his."

5. The gym membership used to be £40; now it's £42 — hardly changed.

"The membership is than before."

Which practice helped you most today — fixing the mistakes, choosing the right form, or the speaking tasks? Say why you think that one worked for you.