Big and small differences in comparatives and superlatives

BIG AND SMALL DIFFERENCES IN COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES

COMPARATIVES
SHOWING A small DIFFERENCE
George Clooney is slightly older than Brad Pitt.
a littlea bit (informal)

Brad Pitt is slightly more attractive than George Clooney.
a little
a bit



SHOWING A BIG DIFFERENCE
Mont Blancis much higher than Monte Baldo
a lot (informal)
far (formal)
Mont Blanc is much more dangerous than Monte Baldo.a lot
far



SHOWING A VERY BIG DIFFERENCE

Mount Everest is much, much higher than Monte Baldo.
far, far (formal)

MountEverest is much, much more dangerous than Monte Baldo.
far, far

SUPERLATIVES

There are various forms to show big differences between one absolute and everythingelse:

Look at these examples:

a) In area Russia is by far the biggest country in the world/ the biggest country of all.
b) Canada is the second biggest country one of the biggest countriesin area, but it is one of the least populated countries in the world.
c) China has by far the largest population/the biggest population of all, and is the third largest country in area.

Somegeographical comparisons:

The Nile is far, far longer than the Amazon.
The Nile is by far the longest river in the world.
The Amazon River is a lot shorter than the Nile.
The Vatican City is by farthe smallest country in the world.
The Vatican City is much, much smaller than Sao Paolo.
Monaco is much, much more densely populated than Canada.
Hong Kong is much, much more densely populatedthan Canada.
Monaco is, in fact, far more densely populated than Hong Kong, which we found surprising.

Tokyo is far, far bigger than the other cities.
The Andes in South America are much higher...