Comparing options

What's in the lesson

1. 1Warm-up
2. 2In this lesson
3. 3Guess the words (1)Vocabulary exercise
4. 4Guess the words (2)Vocabulary exercise
5. 5Check the wordsVocabulary
6. 6Useful phrases for choosing a supplierVocabulary
7. 7Check your understandingReading comprehension
8. 8Brightwave's business plansReading
9. 9Check the callListening comprehension
10. 10Use the new wordsVocabulary exercise
11. 11What does it mean?Grammar exercise
12. 12Find the comparisonsGrammar exercise
13. 13Comparing: how big is the difference?Grammar rule
14. 14Choose the right formGrammar exercise
15. 15Three quotes for office cleaningGrammar exercise
16. 16Fix the comparisonsGrammar exercise
17. 17Say it naturallySpeaking practice
18. 18Make a decisionSpeaking practice
19. 19Let's discussDiscussion
20. 20Wrap-up

Homework

1. 1Homework: closest meaningVocabulary exercise
2. 2Homework: your sentencesVocabulary exercise
3. 3Homework: compare the laptopsGrammar exercise
4. 4Homework: a recommendation emailDiscussion

Words

• provider/prəˈvaɪdər/

  a company that sells a service, like phone, internet or energy

• quote/kwoʊt/

  a statement of how much a job or a service will cost (get a quote)

• coverage/ˈkʌvərɪdʒ/

  the area where a phone network works well

• go with/ˈɡoʊ wɪð/

  to choose something, often after comparing it with other things

• upfront/ˌʌpˈfrʌnt/

  paid at the start, before you use a product or a service (an upfront cost)

• commitment/kəˈmɪtmənt/

  a promise to stay with something or to pay for it for a set time

• switch/swɪtʃ/

  to change from one thing to another, for example from one provider to another (also a noun)

• hidden fee/ˌhɪdn ˈfiː/

  a cost that is not shown clearly when you agree to buy something

• trade-off/ˈtreɪd ɔːf/

  a balance between two things that you can't have at the same time

• value/ˈvæljuː/

  how good or useful something is compared with what it costs (good value, the best value)

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

Let's talk about choosing and buying at work.

1. Who decides what your company buys, for example software, phones or office supplies?
2. Would you recommend your phone or internet company to a friend? Why, or why not?
3. Have you ever chosen the cheapest option and regretted it? What happened?

Grammar rule

Comparing: how big is the difference?

Comparing two things

Form	Examples
short adjective + -er + than	cheap → cheaper than · big → bigger than · easy → easier than
more / less + longer adjective + than	more flexible than · less popular than
irregular	good → better · bad → worse · far → farther (or further)

How big is the difference?

Difference	Before the comparative	Example
small	a bit / a little / slightly	a little warmer than yesterday
big	much / a lot / far	far more popular than last year
exact	twice as … as · three times as … as · half as … as · $20 / 10% + comparative	three times as big as our office · $20 cheaper
none	as … as · the same as	as comfortable as my own bed · the same size as my desk
the other way around	not as … as (= less)	not as fast as the train

Three or more things: superlatives

Form	Examples
the + -est / the most / the least	the fastest · the most popular · the least popular
how big the difference is	by far the best (a big difference) · one of the best + plural noun

than goes with a comparative (faster than); as goes with as … as and the same as. With three or more things, use the superlative, not the comparative.

Not more cheaper, very cheaper, the most cheap or faster as. Before a comparative, use much, a lot or far, not very. Also common in speech: three times faster than.