In order to enrich our writing or speech, we have to vary our sentence structures. When describing things, we don’t always need to use adjectives. We can use comparisons to create interesting visual images. There are three different ways of comparing:

1. Use “less than”, “more than”, “the least”, “the most”, adjectival form of the word that ends in “er” or “est”

A Mercedes-Benz is expensive. è A Mercedes-Benz is more expensive than a Toyota.

Paco is smart. è Paco is smarter than Marco.

Mary is not beautiful. è Mary is the least beautiful girl in the class.

Mary is ugly. è Mary is the ugliest.

 

2. Use similes (compare a thing to anotner thing that has similar qualities and say thant one thing is like another)

2.1 Take an adjective, think of a comparison, and use “as” and “as” instead of “more” and “than”.

Yao Ming is tall. è Yao Ming is as tall as a lamppost.

2.2 Think of a comparison and use “like” to link the ideas up.

Sarah Brightman sings well. è Sarah Brightman sings like a bird.

 

3. Use metaphors (compare a thing to anotner thing that has similar qualities and say that one thing is something else)

An idea is a vehicle for change.

Life is a vehicle, and one can make a wrong turn.