Comparative Adjectives
When we talk about two things, we can "compare" them. We can see if they are the same or different. Perhaps they are the same in some ways and different in other ways. We can use comparative adjectives to describe the differences.

We can use comparative adjectives when talking about 2 things (not 3 or more things).

In the example below, "bigger" is the comparative form of the adjective "big":
A1 A2
A1 is bigger than A2.

In this lesson we will look first at how we make comparative adjectives, and then at how we use them:
http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/adjectives-comparative_1.htm
http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/adjectives-comparative_2.htm

Fonte:
http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/adjectives.htm

What are adjectives?
Adjectives are describing words - they tell you more about nouns.Nouns are 'naming' words, they are a person, place or thing.Adjectives tell you more about the noun. Using adjectives makes your sentences more interesting.

The pretty girls laughed.
In this sentence:
'girls' is the noun (it says who's laughing).
'pretty' is the adjective (it says more about the noun).

Here are some more sentences with nouns and adjectives.
The fat captain ate dinner.
Sam is blonde and gorgeous.
Old Hani and I drove up the big hill.

Remember that adjectives tell you about the noun, they describe the noun. Don't confuse adjectives with adverbs. Adverbs describe the verb, they tell you more about an action - eg: 'he laughed loudly'.

Remember that adjectives usually come before the noun.You can use more than one adjective if you need to. Eg: The tall, bright, beautiful waitress picked up the dark, dirty coffee.

There are rules about the order that you should put adjectives in when you use more than one, but the best way to know is to say the sentence to yourself. Does it sound right?

When using more than one adjective to describe a noun place the adjectives in the following order before the noun.

NOTE: We usually use no more than 3 adjectives preceding a noun.

1. Opinion : an interesting book, a boring lecture

2. Dimension : a big apple, a thin wallet

3. Age : a new car, a modern building, an ancient ruin

4. Shape : a square box, an oval mask, a round ball

5. Color : a pink hat, a blue book, a black coat

6. Origin : some Italian shoes, a Canadian town, an American car

7. Material : a wooden box, a woolen sweater, a plastic toy

Here are some examples of nouns modified with three adjectives in the correct order based on the list above. Notice that the adjectives are not separated by commas.

A wonderful old Italian clock. (opinion - age - origin)

A big square blue box. (dimension - shape - color)

A disgusting pink plastic ornament. (opinion - color - material)

Some slim new French trousers. (dimension - age - origin)

Fonte: http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blgr_adjective_order.htm

Outros:
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/grammar/adjord.htm
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/adjectives.htm
http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/adjective.htm
Quiz:
http://iteslj.org/cw/1/vm-adj.html
http://www.manythings.org/vq/mc-adj.html

big - little
cheap - expensive
clean - dirty
deep - shallow
easy - difficult
far - near
fast - slow
fat - thin
full - empty
good - bad
happy - sad
hard - easy
heavy - light
here - there
high - low
hot - cold
in - out
inside - outside
light - dark
long - short
many - few
new - old
rich - poor
right - left
right - wrong
safe - dangerous
single - married
smooth - rough
soft - hard
strong - weak
tall - short
thick - thin
tight - loose
warm - cool
wet - dry
wide - narrow
young - old

Fonte: http://www.manythings.org/vocabulary/lists/2/

Eulogy for Princess Diana of Wales

[AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from audio]

I stand before you today, the representative of a family in grief, in a country in mourning before a world in shock. We are all united not only in our desire to pay our respects to Diana but rather in our need to do so. For such was her extraordinary appeal that the tens of millions of people taking part in this service all over the world via television and radio who never actually met her, feel that they, too, lost someone close to them in the early hours of Sunday morning. It is a more remarkable tribute to Diana than I can ever hope to offer her today. Diana was the very essence of compassion, of duty, of style, of beauty. All over the world she was a symbol of selfless humanity, a standard-bearer for the rights of the truly downtrodden, a very British girl who - who transcended nationality, someone with a natural nobility who was classless, and who proved in the last year that she needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic.

Today is our chance to say "thank you" for the way you brightened our lives, even though God granted you but half a life. We will all feel cheated, always, that you were taken from us so young and yet we must learn to be grateful that you came along at all. Only now you are gone do we truly appreciate what we are now without and we want you to know that life without you is very, very difficult. We have all despaired at our loss over the past week and only the strength of the message you gave us through your years of giving has afforded us the strength to move forward.

Leia na íntegra:
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/9thearlspencerdianaeulogy.htm

"on second thought" - pensando bem
"On second thought maybe you should go."
"get a grip" - se controlar
"You need to get a grip, or you'll have to go."
"stuck-up" - prepotente - metido
"Your friend seems a little stuck-up."
"stick around" - ficar por perto
"Hey Jim, stick around and see the show."
to"jot down" - fazer uma anotação rápida - escrever um bilhete
"I want to jot down your phone number."
"since you wanna know" - já que você quer saber
"Since you wanna know, I'll tell you. I did it."
to"pass out" - desmaiar
"She looks like she is going to pass out."
to"go haywire" - endoidar de vez- ficar esculhambado
"My plans for the party are going haywire."
to "gossip" - fofocar
"It's not nice to gossip."
"Congratulations!" - Parabens!
"Congratulations! You got the job."

Fonte: http://www.omelhoringles.com/dailyexpression2.php
(Clicar neste link acima para ouvir as frases em inglês)

Leia também: Blog da Mélica

Memory Game:

Hosted by Daily Free Games


Play more games here:
http://www.2flashgames.com/learning_english_games.htm

Learn American Slang expressions


ALL EARS

Definition:
Listening carefully; keenly attentive.
Example:
1) I was all ears as Svet told me this exciting story.
Etymology:
You listen with your ears, so if you are 'all ears' your entire being is listening to someone speak.

Lista com várias gírias em inglês:
http://www.englishdaily626.com/slang.php?006
http://humanities.byu.edu/ELC/student/idioms/idiomsmain.html

Apparently, we are safe neither at home nor in the business office. We use water in both places, but the above-mentioned research shows that chemicals added to our local water supply to kill harmful bacteria can have unwanted ___1___. These chemicals can cause potential harm through drinking and in seemingly harmless activities as cleaning one's house. These ___2___ are released from water by daily actions like water running out of ___3___, spraying from garden ___4___, or splashing in dishwashers and washing machines. As the water is agitated, these chemicals are released into the air and then breathed in. Once inside our bodies, they start to affect our health adversely.

Para ouvir o audio deste texto, clique aqui:
http://www.englishdaily626.com/train-your-ear.php?001

Answers
1. side effects
2. additives
3. faucets
4. hoses

*********************************
Visite também o Blog da Mélica!!!

No Blog da Mélica tem um post chamado Inteligência é conhecer a si mesmo que fala de um documentário da BBC chamado "Battle of the brains", sobre um teste realizado cm 7 pessoas com diferentes tipos de inteligência. Vale a pena conferir o vídeo abaixo da BBC, em inglês:

Vídeo: "Battle of the brains" (BBC).

Is David Beckham intelligent? Perhaps he is. Is he intelligent in the same way as Stephen Fry? Perhaps not. The problem with intelligence has been to find ways of fairly assessing both types - and many others.

But what about "creativity"? It is not really tested by an IQ test.
Robert Sternberg, from Tufts University, Boston, maintains it's essential:

"Creativity was a tool for the high flyers - the Einsteins, the Darwins, the Newtons. But now the world has changed so much that creativity is now a vital part of intelligence for everyone"

Leia a matéria na íntegra neste link da BBC (em inglês):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6563195.stm

A lista seguinte apresenta os erros ortográficos mais comuns feitos por estudantes portugueses da língua inglesa:

Incorrect - Correct : Significado
absolutly - absolutely : absolutamente
accomodation - accommodation : alojamento
acommodation - accommodation : alojamento
addiction - addition : adição; suplemento; acréscimo
addition - addiction : dependência (ex. de drogra)
adress - address : endereço
agressive - aggressive : agressivo

Veja a lista completa neste link:
http://www.grammarnet.com/ghtml/spellerr.htm

A combinação do verbo estar com as preposições de e com é muito comum em português, sendo que os significados que essas combinações representam, podem assumir diferentes formas em inglês, conforme os seguintes exemplos:

Estou com frio. / ... fome. / ... medo. / ... sono.
- I'm cold. / ... hungry. / ... afraid. / ... sleepy.
Estou com vontade de beber uma cerveja.
- I feel like drinking a beer. / I'd like to drink ...
Estou com pressa.
- I'm in a hurry.
Estou com dor de cabeça.
- I've got a headache. / I have a headache.
Está com defeito.
- It's out of order.
Está com jeito de chuva.
- It looks like rain.
Ela está com 15 anos.
- She is 15 years old.
Estou de ressaca.
- I've got a hangover. / I have a hangover. / I'm hung over.
Ela está de aniversário.
- Today is her birthday. / She's celebrating her birthday today.
Estou de férias.
- I'm on vacation. / ... on holidays.
Estou de folga.
- It's my day off.
Estou de serviço.
- I'm on duty.
Estou de castigo.
- I'm grounded.
Estou de saída. / ... de partida.
- I'm leaving.
Estou só de passagem.
- I was just passing by.
Estamos de acordo.
- We agree.
Estou com pouco dinheiro. / Estou mal de dinheiro.
- I'm short of money.
Está de cabeça para baixo. / Está de pernas para o ar.
- It's upside down.
Está tudo misturado. ´
- It's all mixed up.

Fonte:
http://www.aprendendoingles.com.br/expressoes_idiomaticas.shtml