Advanced Comparisons — like / better / best / Rewriting

We will study frequently used middle-school expressions such as “like ... better,” “like ... best,” and “the more ..., the more ...,” as well as rewriting the positive, comparative, and superlative forms.

Basic Rules

like A better than B means “like A better than B,” and like A (the) best of/in 〜 means “like A the best among 〜.” These special comparative and superlative forms appear very frequently.
The comparative, the comparative means “the more ..., the more ...”: “The more you study, the better you become.”
Comparative questions using which / who: “Which is bigger, A or B?” and “Who runs faster, Tom or Ken?”
Rewriting among positive, comparative, and superlative forms: an important pattern in which the same meaning can be expressed in three ways.

Points to Note

① Rewriting patterns (three ways to express the same meaning as A is taller than B):
- Comparative: A is taller than B.
- Negative positive degree: B is not as tall as A.
- Superlative + negative: No one is taller than A. / A is the tallest in the group.
② like 〜 better / best frequently appears in middle school. “I like coffee better than tea.” and “She likes blue the best.”
③ The comparative, the comparative structure expresses a relationship in which two quantities or degrees change together. “The harder you work, the more money you earn.”
④ The form Which / Who 〜 comparative 〜, A or B? is often used for a choice between two things. “Who is taller, you or your brother?” Short answers are “I am.” or “He is.”

Practice

1. Write “I like English better than mathematics” in English.
2. Rewrite the following sentence using a comparative: No other mountain in Japan is higher than Mt. Fuji.
3. Using The 〜, the 〜, write “The more you study, the smarter you become” (study / get smart).