bigger, faster (comparatives)

An elephant is bigger than a cat — grammar children argue with. Add -er, add than, and every playground debate becomes English practice.

From age 7Cambridge level: A1 Movers

Age: Ages 7–11
Level: A1
Skill: Grammar
Format: Teacher guide

The pattern

Saying it: A is bigger than B.
Saying no: A is not faster than B.
Asking: Which is bigger?
Short answer: The elephant is.

Printable worksheet Presentation (PPT)

Sentences a child can say

Tap any sentence to hear it. Every one uses words from a topic pack you already have.

Mini exercise: choose the right word

Five sentences from this page, each with a word missing. A child taps the word that fits and, once it is right, hears the whole sentence.

An elephant is blank than a cat.
A cheetah is blank than a horse.
My tower is blank than yours!
Winter is blank than autumn.
Which is blank?

What you will actually hear

The mistakes that come up in every class, and what is behind each one, with a tag on those a first language makes typical.

more biggerbigger

One comparison per adjective: short words take -er, long words take more. Doubling them is wearing two coats.

gooderbetter

Good and bad refuse the rule — better and worse are their stage names. Two exceptions, both famous, both worth learning as songs.

Typical for Arabic speakers

My brother is taller from me.My brother is taller than me.

Arabic compares with «⁧من⁩» («⁧أخي أطول مني⁩»), and that is the word children already know as from. English compares with than.

Typical for Spanish speakers

The elephant is more big than the cat.The elephant is bigger than the cat.

Spanish compares everything with «más» («más grande»), so children say more big. Short English adjectives take -er: bigger, taller; more is for long ones.

How to teach it

1
Line up real objects and let the class rank them aloud: 'The pencil is longer than the crayon!' Physical comparison makes than mean something.
2
Animal top trumps is the perfect engine: bigger, faster, heavier, taller — every card flip forces a comparative out loud.
3
Teach the spelling dance for short words: big→bigger doubles the g, happy→happier flips the y. Two moves, chanted, cover almost everything.

Topic packs that pair with this

Same structure, words your class already knows — no new vocabulary needed.

Animals Wild animals Opposites Toys & fun Weather & sky

Questions teachers ask

Comparatives and superlatives together or apart?

Apart, by a few weeks. Bigger-than is a relationship between two things; the biggest is a podium for many. Children handle each easily and both at once badly.

Do they need 'more beautiful' at this age?

Only receptively. Teach the -er family actively and let more + adjective ride along in your own speech; production of long comparatives can wait for Flyers.