COMPARISON FOR IELTS WRITING

In the IELTS Task 1, as part of the instructions, you are often asked to make comparisons. (The
instruction usually includes the phrase ‘make comparisons where relevant.’) Diversifying and using
advanced structures will score you higher points. For the Task 1, comparisons are focused on the
quantity aspect.

1) Review: Comparative adjectives and adverbs

ADJECTIVE COMPARATIVE (ADJ) SUPERLATIVE (ADJ)

one syllable: adj +er: adj + est:
big, high, great bigger, higher, greater the biggest, the highest, the greatest
two syllables ending in –y: adj-y +ier: adj + est:
tiny, likely* tinier, likelier* the tiniest, the likeliest*
two or more syllables: more + adj: most + adj:
important, expensive more important, more expensive most important, most expensive
irregulars: better, worse, further/farther best, worst
good, bad, far furthest/ farthest
* In certain cases, both forms of a comparative adjectives are used. For example:
likely: likelier and more likely are both acceptable.
clear: clearer is standard, but more clear is also used.

a. The market for hi-tech gadgets in Japan is …….… (big) than in Vietnam.
b. China is the …….… (populous) country in the world.
c. The average American male is …….… (heavy) than their Singaporean counterpart.
d. The …….… (far) away an area is from the city center, the …….… (cheap) house prices are in
that area.
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ADJECTIVE ADVERB COMPARATIVE ADJ COMPARATIVE ADVERB SUPERLATIVE ADVERB
quick quickly quicker more quickly most quickly
significant significantly more significant more significantly most significantly
fast ** fast faster faster fastest
late ** late later later latest
good/ bad well/ badly better/ worse better/ worse best/ worst
far far farther/further farther/further farthest/furthest
** For adjectives and adverbs that share the same form (fast, late, early, high, low, etc.) the comparative/superlative
adverbs take the same form as the comparative/superlative adjectives.

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 e. Monthly sales of most record stores in the area are falling …….… (quick) this year than last
year.
f. Girls in class 4A performed …….… than those in class 4B in the last P.E exam. (good)
g. The average boy reaches puberty …….… than the average girl. (late)

Remember
NUMBER OF + plural countable noun
AMOUNT OF + uncountable noun
PERCENTAGE/PROPORTION OF [plural C]/UC noun (for percentage units (%))

Equal comparison: as …. as ‘Less’ comparison

Some of the trees in this pine woods can grow as less + long adjective
tall as 30 meters. The transitions between seasons in the South are
He is as fluent in English as most native speakers. less noticeable than those in the North.
negative: not as … as For short adjectives, use ‘not as … as’
Most rural dwellers do not earn as much as people
living in cities.
The older model of this phone does not respond
as quickly as the newer one.

Examples:
a. In Ho Chi Minh city, people go by bus ……………. (not frequent) as by motorcycles.
b. Office workers complain that they have ……………. (little) freedom now than in the past.
c. The girls in this class read books ………….... the boys. (often) Both genders spend around 4
hours on reading every week.
d. The percentage of money spent on leisure activities of students in this university is 20%, which
is ……………. (not high) the percentage spent on accommodation, at 40%.

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 2) Degrees of comparison - Use adverbs to modify the degree of difference in the
comparison.

A is more … than B.
How much more?
 A is significantly more … than B.

(BIG DEGREE) (SMALL DEGREE)

ADVERB significantly slightly
considerably marginally
noticeably fractionally
far
a lot a little
much
Practice: Choose any adverb of degree to add to the following comparisons
a. The average consumer budget in Thailand is …………………. than that in Vietnam. (big)
b. Young people are …………………. to ignore voting than older people. (likely)
c. Tokyo during rush hours is …………………… than any other city in the world. (crowded)
d. The students in class 4A perform …………………... than those in class 4B. (good)

Replace the adverb with an amount/number/percentage to be more specific.

Examples:
a. Around 20% MORE Vietnamese people choose to take their vacations within the country than
go abroad.
b. The total length of train lines of the UK is approximately 1 million miles LONGER than that
of France.
c. China is almost 30 times BIGGER than Vietnam.
d. The number of pets owned by this family is twice as many as the average number owned per
household.
e. The amount of sugar contained in this bottle of soft drink is almost three times as much as the
amount in a lollipop.

*** Use adverbs of approximation (around, about, nearly, etc…) to improve your vocabulary score as
well as avoid inaccurate data.

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 EXERCISE FOR LANGUAGE OF COMPARISON

Number of smart phones and tablets bought in six countries (in millions)

I. Fill in the following gaps (with ONE word) according to the information in the table above using the words
from the box below:

1. The Japanese purchased around 46 million smart phones, almost 43 million _________ than what
Canadians bought.

2. Americans bought nearly 9 million more smart phones _________ tablets.

3. It is notable how the Australians bought _________more smart phones than tablets.

4. The Koreans bought exactly __________ as many smart phones as tablets.

5. The British bought the __________ number of tablets. On the other hand, Canadians bought smartphones
_________.

6. There was only a slight __________ in the number of smart phones and tablets bought by Canadians.

7. Canadians bought almost as many tablets __________ smart phones.

twice difference least than as slightly smallest more

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 COMPARISON STRUCTURES FOR TASK I (cont.)

1. COMPARISON BETWEEN SENTENCES USING LINKING WORDS

In contrast A is ___. In contrast, B is ___. The most popular form of holiday

among the Welsh was self-catering
with over 60% choosing to cook
for themselves. In contrast, only
5 % of the English chose this form
of vacation.

In comparison A is ___. /In comparison, B is ___. Almost 50% of the English, Scots
/B is ___ in comparison. and Northern Irish chose to stay
in a hotel for their holiday. In
comparison, staying in self-
catering accommodation was
much less popular with around
10% of people choosing this.

However A is ___. /However, B is ___. The general pattern was for hotel
/B, however, is ___. accommodation to be the most
/B is ___, however. popular with around half the
people choosing it. The majority of
the Welsh, however, chose to
stay in self-catering
accommodation.

On the other hand A is ___. On the other hand, B is It is clear that a majority of the
___. British chose to stay in hotel for
their holiday. On the other
hand, over 50% of the Welsh
opted for self-catering
accommodation.

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 2. COMPARISON WITHIN CLAUSES IN A SENTENCE

While While A is ___, B is ___. While there are 4 million miles of

A is ___ while B is ___.
train lines in the UK, there are only 3
million in France.

Whereas Whereas A is ___, B is ___. Whereas the majority of the French

A is ___ whereas B is ___.
prefer to travel to work by train, only a
small minority of the British do.

Although Although A is ___, B is ___. Although 15% of the French read

novels, only 5% of the British do.

but A is ___, but B is ___. Almost 25% of French females study

maths with a private tutor, but nearly
60% study English with one.

Compared to Compared to A, B is___.

As opposed to A is ____ as opposed to B.

3. SHOWING SIMILARITIES/DIFFERENCES

a. SIMILARITIES
➢ Similar (to)

‘A and B are similar.’

‘A is similar to B.’
Example: The percentages of females and males who studied languages
at university were very similar.

➢ the same as

‘A and B are the same.’

‘A is the same as B.’
Example: The percentage of females who studied at university in 2011
was nearly the same as in 2012.

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b. DIFFERENCES

➢ Difference

‘There is a difference (OF how much?) (IN what?) BETWEEN A and B.’

Example: There was a difference of over 25% in the amount of time

spent at home between people living in cities and the suburbs.

➢ Different (from)

‘A is different from B.’

Example: CD sales in this store are significantly different from that of

the other stores.

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4. EXERCISE – FORMING COMPARATIVE SENTENCES

Write sentences according to the instructions.

*Note: Statistics are not factual.

Example: Using public transportation on a daily basis: 14% of Vietnamese >< 76% of
Japanese.
(Make 1 sentence with ‘while’)

 While 76% of Japanese people use public transportation on a daily basis, only
14% of Vietnamese people do so.

1) Average lifespan: dogs – 14 years; cats – 15 years (Make 1 sentence with ‘similar’)

 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

2) Average life expectancy in the UK: Male – 71 years old; Female – 77 years. (Make 1
sentence with ‘difference’)

 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

3) Total working hours per years: Japan – 1729 hours; Germany – 1371 hours. (Make
2 sentences with ‘compared to’)

 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

4) Illiteracy rate in Viet Nam: 2001 – 6%; 2013 – 3% (Make 1 sentences with ‘than’)

 …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

5) Fertility rates: Vietnam – 1.83; Indonesia – 2.15; the U.S – 1.87 (Make 2 sentences)
*Fertility rate is the average number of children born by a woman.

 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

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5. REPORT COMPLETION

Based on the information in the bar graph on the previous page, fill in each of the blanks of
the following report with ONE suitable word.

...................., the figures show that women spend more time on domestic chores,
.................... men are more involved with household maintenance, gardening and pet care.

Women spend more than .................... as much time doing kitchen tasks such as cooking,
baking and washing up .................... men (74 minutes for women as
opposed .................... 30 minutes for men). Women are also more active in cleaning the house;
it takes 58 minutes of their day .................... to 13 minutes for men. Similarly, women put in
more than twice as .................... time as men in childcare. The sharpest
.................... between the two genders is in tasks such as washing, ironing and sewing, where
men barely spend any time, .................... women who devote 25 minutes a day to them.

On the .................... hand, men are .................... more active in gardening and pet care,
where they spend .................... as .................... minutes as women, as well as maintenance
and DIY, on which they spend 15 minutes more.
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