Learning English Comparisons
Hiroshi wanted to buy a phone.
The man in the store talked fast.
"This phone costs more than that phone. But it breaks more than the other phone."
Hiroshi heard some words: "costs... breaks... other phone."
But he didn’t know which phone was good. Which phone cost a lot of money?
His friend Akiko heard the same words. She got everything.
She knew which phone cost more money. She knew which phone was better.
Why? Akiko heard English words stick together. Hiroshi heard unconnected words.
The Problem
English speakers compare things every day.
Buying things: "This is good. That is bad."
Making choices: "Costs more but works less."
Talking about new things: "Big, not small."
These words stick together like glue.
How It Really Sounds
English speakers make words stick:
"More money than" sounds like "More-money-than"
"Not as good as" sounds like "Not-as-good-as"
"Better than" sounds like "Better-than"
All words become one big word.
Easy Patterns
**"MORE [word] THAN"
** "More-money-than the old one"
"More-people-than last time"
"More-easy-than we thought"
**"LESS [word] THAN"
** "Less-money-than the big one"
"Less-difficult-than it looks"
"Less-interesting-than we wanted"
Fast Talk
When people talk fast:
"More than" sounds like "More-than"
"Less than" sounds like "Less-than"
"Better than" sounds like "Better-than"
Don’t worry about every sound. Listen to the chunk.
Other Ways
**"AS [word] AS"
** "As-good-as the big one"
"As-fast-as we need"
"As-big-as the old one"
**"NOT AS [word] AS"
** "Not-as-much-money-as the big one"
"Not-as-good-as we wanted"
"Not-as-fast-as we needed"
These make longer chunks.
Making It Stronger
**"MUCH [word] THAN"
** "Much-better-than before"
"Much-worse-than we thought"
"Much-less-money-than last time"
**"A LITTLE [word] THAN"
** "A-little-better-than yesterday"
"A-little-more-money-than usual"
Extra words make it stronger or weaker.
Easy Examples
**Example 1:
**Speaker: "This-car-goes-faster-than-that-car, but-costs-more-money-than-we-have."
What it means: The car is fast but costs too much money.
**Example 2:
**Speaker: "The-new-phone-is-easier-than-the-old-phone, and-works-better-than-before."
What it means: The new phone is easier and works better.
**Example 3:
**Speaker: "This-bag-is-not-as-good-as-the-big-bag, but-costs-less-than-other-bags."
What it means: The bag is not the best but costs less.
Work Talk
**About money:
** "Costs-more-than we planned, but safer-than the other one."
**About work:
** "Better-than last month, but not-as-good-as we wanted."
**About things:
** "Faster-than other companies, and works-better-than old ones."
Mistakes People Make
Hearing words alone: Do not listen for "more" and "than" as two words. Listen for "more-than" as one chunk.
Missing loud parts: Listen for the loud parts: "MORE" and "THAN."
Not hearing the beat: Words stick together with rhythm, so listen for the beat.
Akiko's Way
Akiko listens for beats:
Loud sounds on important words
Words that stick together
Clear beats that show how things are different
She understands every comparison.
Hiroshi Gets Better
The next week, Hiroshi listened for chunks.
Store man: "This-phone-costs-more-than-the-cheap-phone, but-works-better-than-all-other-phones."
Hiroshi heard: "COSTS-more-than" + "WORKS-better-than"
He understood. It was an easy choice.
The Answer
English comparisons are words that stick together in chunks. These chunks show how things are different.
When you hear these word chunks, every choice becomes easy.