Business English- Comparing products using comparative and superlative adjectives

Business English- Comparing products using comparative and superlative
adjectives

Work in groups of three or four. Choose a kind of product such as one of the ones below
and compare it to other products on the market to make it sound good, using your
imagination as much as you like. You can only use one superlative adjective and one
comparative adjective to do so, e.g. “It’s the… est product of this kind on the market” and
“It’s more… than most equivalent products”, and people can’t use the same adjective more
than once. Someone else in your group will two different adjectives in the same way.
Perhaps after asking for more information about the products, the other person or people
in your group should choose which one of those two products of the same type they would
be likely to buy (as a consumer or B2B buyer). Then switch roles and products and do the
same again.

Useful phrases
“It’s the… est product of this kind on the market”
“It’s more… than most equivalent products”,
“I’ll take it”
“To be honest I’m not really interested, because…”

What are all the comparative and superlative forms of the adjectives below (including the
words in brackets)?

What are the rules on making comparative and superlative forms of adjectives?

Have you ever seen any advertisements where the producers compared their products to
other companies’? What did they say?

What do you think about that kind of advertising?

Think about a product that you bought recently and describe why you decided on that
exact one rather than other similar products.

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2015

Suggested products to describe


air conditioning



app (= application, e.g. smartphone application)



armchair



automatic pencil (= mechanical pencil)



ballpoint (pen) (= biro)



bin (= trash can)



business shirt (= dress shirt)



correcting fluid (=Tippex/ Whiteout)



desk lamp



eraser (= rubber)



glue



hair clippers



HDTV



hole punch



humidifier



intercom



jumper (= sweater)



laptop (computer)



lift (= elevator)



light bulb



plastic container



pot noodles



remote control



ring binder



rubber band



safe



(winter) scarf



Sellotape/ Scotch tape



socket (= electrical outlet)



stapler



sticky label



sunglasses



tracksuit



trainers (= sports shoes)



travel alarm clock



vending machine



video conferencing system



washing powder



washing up liquid

Ask about anything above you don’t know, each time also discussing what you might
explain about such a product.

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2015

Suggested adjectives


big (= large) – small/ tiny/ compact

 bright
 cheap/ economical


clean



colourful



comfortable



compact



customisable



easy to… - hard to…



effective way to…



efficient use of…



ergonomic



exciting



exclusive



fast (= quick/ rapid)



flexible



futuristic/ high-tech



good value for money



green (= ecologically friendly)



healthy



heavy – light



high in… - low in…



interesting



long – short



loud – quiet



luxurious



narrow – wide



new/ up to date – traditional



nice to…



popular



portable



powerful



practical



pure



radical



reliable



safe



smooth



sticky



strong



stylish



sweet



tasty



thick – thin



unusual

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2015