aubry when was the last time you had a cold i thought you were going to say aubrey you're
simply the best oh start it oh gosh okay start over no i'm just kidding i haven't had a cold
in a while luckily my kids will get colds and miraculously i usually don't get them or if i do
i ignore it i pretend i don't so i don't even remember having it i know right yeah i can in the
past like literally like four years i think i've gotten something like a bad colder flu from james
like twice you know usually like he just gets it like you said and like i don't get it and life
goes on um but right now i do have a little bit of a cold um and you know talking would be
easier if i did not have a cold and um that is simply the truth but now why
it is a paltry cold it is paltrier than the cold my son got guys i'm so proud of us we
just worked into that conversation just totally naturally um some great adjectives that we're
gonna talk about today yes and these are some of the trickiest comparative adjectives tricky
there's another one tricky these are the trickiest adjectives in the english language because
it has sort of a very specific rule and we had a great question about this so we're excited to
answer it for you because these are really really high level words for task 1 writing you can also
use them on the speaking exam so you definitely want to get out your vocabulary notebook here
totally guys so let's talk about that question first that started these ideas we're gonna talk
about today and remember guys these are all adjectives that you can definitely for sure use
in academic task one writing um where you're comparing numbers comparing sizes comparing
anything because we're talking about comparative and superlative grammar rules today but of course
guys even though these adjectives are perfect for that part of the ielts exam you need interesting
adjectives to describe big and small throughout the ielts exam guys not just academic task one but
general training all the speaking tests writing task two so it doesn't matter what part of ielts
you're worried about guys you need today's grammar lesson um and just to remind you guys that in our
three keys ielts online course um for writing task one we give you all the grammar structures
you need for a seven or higher and this isn't just individual grammar rules like you're getting today
which you do need to understand these but guys you also need the entire structures sentence
structures that's what gives you the seven or higher for grammar that variety so if you want
everything organized for you in one place so you get that seven or higher for your next ielts exam
go to all there's english dot com slash k-e-y-s because it's available now and it's guaranteed
to increase your ielts score um all right speaking of three keys this question was actually from a
three-key student fernando in the three kids facebook group because when you guys purchase
our course you also get access to this facebook group you can ask any question about ielts
test questions grammar like fernando did and we're in there giving you answers you know you can trust
so here's fernando's question what is the correct superlative and comparative forms of paltry is
it paltrier paltrist or more paltry the most paltry i have found both of them on the internet
such a good question and there's a reason you're seeing them both on the internet but
there's so many things about english grammar where natives will just make mistakes and so if you see
both you might think oh maybe that's a mistake and one totally correct so i love that he sent
in this question i already gave him his answer but we want to share this with you guys today as well
so um general rules for comparatives and superlatives right if it is a
one syllable adjective like vast for example right how do we turn a one-syllable adjective
into a comparative aubry yeah so for a regular one right we just add er so for that we would just say
vaster and you guys know there are irregular you you know not to say um for example
if the word is good you're not going to say gooder or goodest you know these are irregular so it's
best better but these are for regular adjectives you can take this rule for one syllable
add er instead of adding more you would just say vaster exactly so
any adjective that is one syllable except for irregulars right just like aubrey said so on
academic task one because that is the framework we are providing today for these adjectives
you could say that um sales were vaster in 2001 as compared to 2002 or we could say the increase
the the the vastest increase was seen even that sounds weird but like if you write it it's perfect
because the grammar is perfect it just sounds weird to say um the vastest increase was seen
in uh 2006 right so those are perfect sentences you could use in task one so
those are one syllable adjectives right now two syllable adjectives this is where there's
a few different rules and examples you might see online guys so paltry paltry means little
vast means huge in case you didn't know that guys paltry means tiny insignificant almost so
it's two syllables but it ends in y so this is a switcher rooney adjective
you can add er or you could put more before it you can't do both at the same time you have to
choose but they are both considered grammatically correct like technically we're supposed to just
take off the y and add i-e-r and say paltr or paltrist technically that is the rule you'll see
that is correct quote-unquote most often but to be honest saying more paltry or the most paltry
that is also considered grammatically correct these days yes and you will see both online within
examples like fernando saw and both rules right some websites you're going to see they'll say both
are accepted and some maybe you'll just see one or the other but as a a generally accepted grammar
you can do either you can say most paltry most paltriest or not most paltriest most poultry more
poultry just like you said don't do both don't say most paltriest that's where the error comes in
that's awesome um so again if we're using this in academic task one guys
um or maybe in a general task one if you have to write about some sort of job or business related
topic right we can use these structures as well we could say instead of saying like
the lowest number was in you know 2020 you would be like the paltriest number was seen
in 2020 right um and uh yeah so a couple other adjectives that we hear students
wonder about what is correct let's throw these out there because guys we're telling you right
now they're both correct so easy two syllables n's and y crazy two syllables ends in y tricky two
syllables ends in y so you can't use more and er make a choice either one is correct so you could
say easier right i think more easy sounds bad um that like sounds very incorrect to me what do you
think about that it's really interesting that i will hear both and sometimes i'll have to take a
second and think and i'm like no i guess they're both right right we just generally we accept
both for these just if they end in a y if they have two syllables an end and a y but that's
going to happen depending on where you're from geographically what you hear more often
one is going to sound better to you based on what you've heard growing up
is true it's true um but we're here today to tell you about what's best for your ielts score right
so always err on the side of caution as they say so if it's a two-syllable adjective that
ends in y just at just take away the y and add i-e-r because that is always going to be correct
so if you're in doubt right do that paltrier right easier crazier that's going to be correct
more often than um adding more before it cause like i said i wouldn't say more easy
like that sounds really wrong to me um same with crazy like i know i hear people say more crazy
but it doesn't sound correct to me i would say crazier is well and that's a good point that it
would be wise to just choose one and stick to it because even though the examiner might accept both
you don't want to throw yourself off for other maybe three syllable adjectives or once so if you
can pick one rule pick one choose and stick with it i think you're going to feel more confident
exactly exactly so for all other adjectives guys two syllable adjectives that don't
end in y and for all adjectives that are three syllables or more you're always going to add more
or most before the adjective you're not going to change the word itself so for example
meager meager is two syllables no y so we have to say more meager or most meager now meager is
a great synonym for small now let's look at a word that means big let's say massive massive
is like huge right two syllables no y so you're gonna say more massive for the comparative or the
most massive for the superlative okay keep in mind guys this will help you avoid repetition you can
totally say lower lowest over and over over higher highest you need these synonyms especially where
they're much higher banned so you're avoiding that band six vocab you're avoiding repetition this is
vital for academic task one but also for speaking like you were saying there's a good chance you'll
need to say higher lower and you can't repeat vocabulary you want to replace that with this
much more high scoring vocabulary totally i could see so many of these adjectives guys
paltry vast massive meager all of these adjectives you must i'm gonna say must use in speaking part
one because you're definitely gonna talk about like small and big you're describing your home
you're describing uh you know your city your neighborhood whatever you're gonna say big and
small so instead use today's adjectives guys and now you can use them with the correct grammar as
well alright guys so remember we give you all the vocab and grammar and everything you need to get a
seven or higher on every part of the ielts exam in our online course three keys ielts so definitely
guys do check that out choose the package that works best for you we have three options um and
also guys remember that it doesn't matter what version of ielts you're taking we have a specific
course for you academic general computer you know it's all there so guys go to all years english dot
com slash k-e-y-s to check out our ielts course and whichever package you choose you get into
our three keys facebook group which is a private group that is so helpful so we will see you guys
in the facebook group and i'll see you next time all right aubry have a good day bye bye bye you