Comparatives ESL Games, Activities & Worksheets

ESL Comparatives Game - Grammar: Forming Sentences - Pair Work In this fun comparatives game, students practice forming comparative sentences with 'than' using common nouns and comparative adjectives. One student goes first and puts one of their noun cards face up on the table. Students then take turns putting down a noun card and making a comparative sentence with 'than', linking the new noun to the adjacent card, e.g. 'A car is faster than a bus.' 'A bus is bigger than an elephant.' Students can put a card down at either end of the chain of cards on the table, similar to dominoes. Each time a student puts down a card, they must use a different comparative adjective that hasn’t been used yet in the game. If a student makes a grammar mistake or can't think of a way to link two noun cards together, they miss a turn. The first student to get rid of all their cards wins the game. Finally, pairs write out the comparative sentences they made and then read them out to the class. show less

ESL Comparative Adjectives Game - Grammar: Gap-fill, Guessing - Pair Work In this fun comparative adjectives game, students guess missing comparative adjectives in sentences about fun facts. Both students have the same sentences, but where they have a comparative adjective in bold, their partner has a gap and vice versa. Student B starts by reading the first sentence and guessing the missing comparative adjective. Student B has three chances to guess the comparative adjective. If Student B's comparative adjective is the same as what Student A has in bold on their worksheet, Student B scores three points and writes the comparative adjective in the gap. If the guess is wrong, Student B tries again for two points and then for one point. Then, it's Student A's turn to guess the missing comparative adjective in the second sentence, and so on. The student with the most points at the end of the game wins. show less

ESL Comparative Adjectives Worksheet - Grammar Exercises: Categorizing, Gap-fill, Unscrambling, Binary Choice This comprehensive comparatives worksheet helps students learn and practice comparative adjectives and comparative sentences with 'than'. Students begin by categorising adjectives and writing them in their comparative forms. Next, students complete sentences with the comparative form of the adjectives in brackets + than. Students then put words in order to form comparative sentences. Lastly, students complete sentences with the correct comparative form. show less

ESL Comparatives Game - Grammar and Speaking: Forming Sentences from Prompts In this fast-paced comparatives game, students practice forming comparative sentences with 'than' using a variety of comparative adjectives. One student from each team comes to the front of the class. When you say 'Go!', both students race to pick up a card. The student who picks up the card first reads it aloud (e.g. a car vs. a bus) and makes the first comparative sentence using a comparative adjective. The other student then makes a second comparative sentence with a different comparative adjective. This continues back and forth until a student makes a grammar mistake, repeats a comparative adjective already used in that round, or takes more than five seconds to respond. The winning student scores a point for their team. A new student from each team then comes to the front of the class, and the process is repeated. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins. show less

ESL Comparative Adjectives Game - Grammar and Vocabulary: Forming Sentences from Prompts, Gap-fill, Guessing - Group Work In this entertaining comparatives game, students race to guess missing comparative adjectives in sentences. Students take turns picking up a card and making a sentence using the comparative form of the adjective on the card, but instead of saying the comparative adjective, the student uses the word 'blank', e.g. 'Cars are blank than bicycles.' The other group members then race to guess the missing comparative adjective. The first student to guess the full comparative form correctly wins the round and keeps the card. The student with the most cards at the end of the game is the winner. show less

ESL Comparatives Activity - Speaking: Running Dictation - Grammar Game: Writing Sentences from Prompts, True or False, Guessing - Group and Pair Work In this free comparatives running dictation activity, students dictate sentences and then use them to make true or false comparative facts, which they use in a guessing game. Working with a student from the same group, one student is the writer, and the other is the reader. The reader runs to 'Set A or B' sentences on the wall outside the classroom, reads the first fact, runs back and dictates it to their partner who writes it down. This continues until all ten facts have been fully dictated. Students then swap roles and the process is repeated. Pairs then compare their facts to make sure they are the same. Next, students use the ten facts to create true or false comparative sentences using the adjectives shown. Finally, students pair up with someone from the other group and take turns reading their comparative facts to their partner, who guesses if they are true or false. For each correct guess, students put a tick. The student with the most correct guesses wins. show less

ESL Comparatives Activity - Reading, Grammar and Vocabulary Exercises: Scanning, Unscrambling, Sentence Completion - Speaking Activity: Information Gap - Pair Work In this comparatives information-gap activity, students practice reading for specific information and using comparative adjectives to compare bicycles, then form and write comparative sentences. In two groups, students read the paragraph on the worksheet and then fill in a chart with bicycle information from the text. Next, students pair up with someone from the other group. Students then ask their partner about the other people's bikes and complete the chart with the information. After that, students use the bike information to make comparative sentences, comparing the bikes. Next, students unscramble comparative sentences using the bicycle information to help them. Finally, students write true sentences to compare the bicycles using the comparative forms of adjectives in a box. show less

ESL Comparisons Game - Grammar and Speaking: Matching, Sentence Completion, Freer Practice - Group Work In this creative making comparisons game, students match sentence halves together and connect them with the modifiers 'a lot', 'much' or 'slightly' and suitable comparative adjectives. In groups, players take turns picking up a sentence-beginning card, reading it aloud, and placing it face up on the desk. All the players then check their cards to see if they have a matching ending. If a player does, they read the ending aloud, completing the sentence with the modifier shown on the ending card and a suitable comparative adjective. If the other players agree the ending matches and the comparative adjective is appropriate, the two cards are removed from the game. If a matching card is played but the players believe it has been read out incorrectly or the comparative adjective is unsuitable, the player takes back their card, and the beginning card is put at the bottom of the pile. If the other players think the ending does not match, the player takes back their card and the game continues. The first player to get rid of all their cards wins the game. show less

ESL As ... As Expressions Activity - Grammar Exercise: Gap-fill - Speaking Activity: Guided Discussion, Role-Play, Freer Practice - Pair Work In this useful comparative expressions activity, students learn common comparative expressions with 'as ... as'. First, students complete 12 comparative 'as ... as' expressions on their worksheet with word pairs. Next, in pairs, students discuss in what situations they might use expressions 1 to 6, and what they think 'it' refers to in expressions 7 to 12, writing their ideas under the expressions. Afterwards, each pair creates a dialogue using four of the comparative expressions from the worksheet and presents it to the class. show less

ESL Comparatives Game - Grammar: Forming Sentences from Prompts, Guessing - Pair Work In this productive comparatives game, students give comparative clues with 'than' and (not) 'as ... as' to a partner, who tries to guess who or what is being described. First, in pairs, students complete three empty boxes at the bottom of the worksheet with their own words and comparative clues. Students then take turns giving their partner three comparative clues to help them guess each person or thing in bold. They do this by changing the words in bold to a subject pronoun and making comparative sentences with 'than' and (not) 'as ... as', e.g. 'It's scarier than a cat. It's not as intelligent as a wolf, etc.' After the three clues have been given, their partner has one chance to guess the answer. Students score one point for each correct guess. The student with the most points at the end of the game is the winner. Finally, students read the clues they created themselves to the class, who try to guess who or what is being described. show less

ESL Comparatives Board Game - Grammar and Speaking: Changing Word Forms, Asking and Answering Questions from Prompts, Freer Practice - Pair Work In this free comparatives board game, students change adjectives into their comparative forms and then use the comparative adjectives to ask and answer conversation questions. Students take turns rolling the dice and moving their counters along the board. When a student lands on a square, they change the adjective in the conversation question into its comparative form and then ask the question to their partner. Their partner then answers the question in sentence form, explaining any reasons in more detail. The two students continue taking turns to asking and answering the comparative conversation questions until one student reaches the finish. That student wins the game. show less

ESL Comparatives Worksheet - Grammar Exercises: Gap-Fill, Binary Choice, Rewriting Sentences Here is an insightful comparatives worksheet to help students practice comparative adjectives and the 'as ... as' comparative structure. First, students complete sentences with the comparative form of the adjectives in brackets. Next, students choose the correct comparative adjective to complete each sentence. Students then use the 'as ... as' structure to write negative comparative sentences that have the same meaning as the sentences shown. Lastly, students use prompts to write positive or negative 'as ... as' comparative sentences that give their opinion. show less

ESL Comparatives Activity - Grammar, Speaking and Writing: Gap-fill, Asking and Answering Questions from Prompts, Summary Writing, Controlled and Freer Practice In this interesting comparatives activity, students conduct a class survey where they ask and answer questions using comparative adjectives. Students begin by completing a survey question on a card with the comparative form of the adjective in brackets. Students then go around the class asking the question on their card and recording their classmates' answers on the back, e.g. 'Which country do you think is more amazing, India or Thailand?' Students must answer each question in sentence form, e.g. 'I think Thailand is more amazing than India.' When the students have spoken to everyone in the class, they write a short summary of their survey results and report back to the class on their findings. show less

ESL Comparatives Activity - Speaking: Asking and Answering Questions, Guided Discussion, Freer Practice - Group Work In this engaging comparatives discussion activity, students use comparative structures to decide which of two options is better and explain why, taking turns to ask and discuss prompts in small groups. Students take turns picking up a card and asking the other students in the group a 'Which is better, ... or ...? Why?' question from the prompt on the card, e.g. 'Which is better, waking up early or waking up late? Why?' Each student then answers the question using comparative forms. After each student has given their answer including at least one reason, the group discusses the topic before moving on to the next card. If a student picks up an 'or' card, they can ask any 'Which is better...?' question they like. When the students have finished, they give feedback to the class on which things they think are better and why. show less

ESL Comparative Adjectives Game - Grammar and Vocabulary: Gap-fill, Guessing - Pair Work Here is a comparative adjectives guessing game for Business English students or adults to play in class on the topic of workplace communication. Both students have the same sentences on their worksheet, but where one student has a comparative adjective in bold, their partner has a gap and vice versa. Student A starts by reading the first sentence to their partner and guessing the missing comparative adjective. If the comparative adjective is the same as what Student B has in bold on their worksheet, Student A scores three points and writes the comparative adjective in the gap. If the guess is wrong, Student A tries again for two points and then for one point. It's then Student B's turn to guess the missing comparative adjective in the second sentence, and so on. The student with the most points at the end of the game wins. Afterwards, in pairs, students discuss whether they agree or disagree with each sentence and then give feedback to the class. show less

ESL Comparative Correlative Worksheet - Grammar Exercises: Matching, Rewriting Sentence, Writing Short Answers - Speaking Game: Forming Sentences - Pair Work This detailed correlative comparisons worksheet helps students practice comparative correlative constructions. Students start by matching comparative correlative clauses together. Next, students rewrite conditional sentences using comparative correlative constructions. After that, students answer questions using short comparative correlative constructions with 'the better' to show their preference. Lastly, in pairs, students choose a topic and take turns making 'The ..., the...' constructions about the topic until one of them fails to make a correlative comparison. The winning student scores a point. The student with the most points at the end of the game wins. show less

ESL Comparatives Activity - Grammar and Writing: Information Gap, Matching, Writing Sentences, Controlled Practice - Pair Work In this challenging comparatives activity, students match related clauses and write sentences making complex comparisons between them. In pairs, students match each clause on their worksheet with a related clause from a box on their partner's worksheet. When they have found a matching pair of clauses, students work together to write a new sentence comparing the information in the two clauses. When the pairs have written all their sentences, review them together as a class. show less

ESL Comparatives Game - Grammar and Speaking: Matching, Forming Sentences from Prompts, Freer Practice - Group Work In this creative making comparisons game, students make complex comparisons between verb and noun phrases in order to express an opinion. The first player tries to make a sentence by placing one of their dominoes at either end of the domino on the table, matching the beginning half of a sentence with an ending or vice versa. If the player matches two sentence halves correctly, they use the adjective in brackets to make a comparative sentence with 'as ... as' or 'more/less ... than' that best expresses their own opinion, e.g. 'Learning in a classroom is not as difficult as learning online.' The player then has 30 seconds to give three reasons to back up their opinion. If the player is successful, the domino remains in place, and it's the next students turn to play. If the player is unsuccessful or makes a grammatically incorrect sentence, they take back their domino and play passes to the next student. The first player to get rid of all their dominoes wins the game. show less

ESL Modifiers and Comparatives Activity - Grammar and Speaking: Sentence Completion, Making and Responding to Statements - Group and Pair Work In this rewarding modifiers and comparatives activity, students complete comparative statements with a variety of modifiers and adjectives and then talk about their ideas. First, in two groups, students write each modifier under a suitable heading: big differences, small differences, or no difference. Working together, students then complete each statement using a modifier from Exercise A and either a comparative adjective + 'than' or an 'as ... as' structure, as appropriate, using a different modifier and adjective in each comparative statement, e.g. 'Going to the beach is far better than going to the mountains.' Next, students pair up with someone from the other group and take turns reading each statement to their partner, who agrees or disagrees with it. If their partner agrees, the student puts a tick next to the statement. If they disagree, the student asks for their reasons and writes them down. Finally, students report back to the class on which statements they and their partner disagreed with and why. show less