Your two against the log
Read out your two errors. Your teacher will say whether each is in the log, and how many times something like it happened.
One question before we open the log.
1. You said taller that rather than taller than. Why is that error so persistent?
The log
From Lesson 5 — verbatim
1. She is more tall than her sister.
2. He is much more patient than I am.
3. She is taller that her mother.
4. He is a man very kind.
5. She is more good at listening than me.
6. She is as generous as her father.
7. He has hair grey short.
8. She is not as patient as she thinks.
Read all eight aloud before you answer.
1. How many are completely correct?
2. Sentences 1 and 5 fail the same way. How?
3. Sentences 4 and 7 fail a different way. How?
4. What is wrong with sentence 3, and is it a grammar error?
Three families, three fixes
What went wrong, and the one-line rule that fixes it
| Family | What it sounds like | The rule |
|---|---|---|
| Comparative form | Short takes -er, long takes more, and six are irregular. | |
| Joining word | than after a comparative, as after as. A sound, not a rule. | |
| Adjective order | In front of the noun, opinion → size → age → colour. |
The /ð/ drill. Than begins with the same sound as this, that (the demonstrative), they, the — the voiced th you first met in Unit 1.
taller than me · older than her · better than that
Tongue between the teeth, and let it buzz. Say the three phrases ten times. This error responds to the mouth, not the explanation.
Match each log sentence to its family. Two belong to the same one, and one is not an error at all.
Repair, then produce
The log errors plus four more of the same families. Rewrite each one in full.
1. She is more tall than her sister.
2. She is more good at listening than me.
3. She is taller that her mother.
4. He is a man very kind.
5. He has hair grey short.
6. My flat is more big than yours.
7. She is as tall than me.
8. He is the more bad driver I know.
No visible errors this time. One word per gap — comparatives, joining words, and adjective order.
My two brothers could not be more different. Tomás is (tall) than me and much (organised). He is a quiet, man who has had the same job for twenty years. Rui is three years (young) and about as as anybody I know — he has never once been on time. He is (good) company Tomás, honestly, but he is not reliable.
Two people, again
Task card · Speaking
The same two people you compared in Lesson 3. Two minutes.
Fewer than three errors from the three families. Your teacher logs again, so the two logs compare directly.
- Six comparatives minimum, at least two of them irregular.
- One as … as and one not as … as.
- Every adjective in front of its noun, in the right order.
- Do not slow down. Accuracy at normal speed is the target.
Stop at one minute.
1. Which family is still slipping?
2. Compared with Lesson 5?
Two logs
Compare the counts your teacher just read.
1. Did the grammar errors go down?
2. And that for than?
3. Which will you watch for when you write next lesson?
One sentence to keep
Rebuild the sentence that holds all three rules at once.
Before Lesson 7. Next lesson you write 140 words about someone important — and a partner reads it and tries to guess who it is.
Choose who tonight. Write nothing. A portrait written at home and copied out in class measures your evening, not your English.