Advanced Degree, Result & Comparative Structures (C1/C2)
📌 Lesson contents
- 🎯 Lesson goal (C1/C2)
- 🌟 Proportional Comparatives (The more…, the more…)
- ⏱️ Intensity and Advanced Result (So… that / Such… that)
- 🔗 Hypothetical Comparisons (As if / As though with Unreal Past)
- 🛠️ How to form them
- 🚫 Common mistakes to avoid
- 🎮 1. Gap Fill & Translation Exercises
- 🧩 2. Extra: Sentence Builder
🎯 Lesson goal (C1/C2)
At an advanced level, showing degree, proportion and result needs fixed, elegant structures. In this lesson you will master correlative comparatives (the more… the more), the advanced use of so/such for results, and hypothetical comparisons with as if / as though. 🚀
🌟 Proportional Comparatives (The… the…)
This structure shows a direct or opposite proportion between two events: when one thing happens, another thing happens as a result.
| Correlative structure | Meaning | Practical example |
|---|---|---|
| The + comparativo …, the + comparativo … | More …, more … | The harder you work, the better results you get. |
| The + comparative …, the + less … | More …, less … | The earlier we leave, the less traffic we will encounter. |
⏱️ Intensity and Result (So… that / Such… that)
To express an extraordinary result of a high degree, we use so or such. Be careful with inversion when so starts the sentence.
- So + adjective/adverb + that: The music was so loud that we couldn’t talk.
- Such + (adjective) + noun + that: It was such a difficult exam that most students failed.
- Inversion with “So”: So cold was the weather that all flights were grounded.
🔗 Hypothetical comparisons (As if / As though)
They mean “in a way that seems like…”. They are followed by a past tense (Unreal Past) when they describe an imaginary situation that is not true in the present:
- He speaks as if he knew everything about the matter. (But he doesn’t know everything.)
- She acted as though nothing had happened. (Something did happen, in the past.)
- (Note: were is preferred to was in hypothetical forms: He talks as if he were a boss).
🛠️ How to form them
To build structures of degree, result and advanced comparison correctly, follow these patterns:
| Advanced structure | Building formula | Key example |
|---|---|---|
| Proportional (The… the…) | The + Comparative + Clause + , the + Comparative + Clause | The more you practice, the more fluent you become. |
| Result (Such) | Such + [a/an] + [adjective] + noun + that + clause | It was such a remarkable achievement that everyone cheered. |
| Hypothetical (As if / As though) | Main clause + as if / as though + Past Simple / Past Perfect | He looked as though he had seen a ghost. |
🚫 Common mistakes to avoid
| C1/C2 Mistake ❌ | Correct ✅ |
|---|---|
| The more you study, more you learn. | The more you study, the more you learn. (Both parts need ‘the’!) |
| It was so a nice day that we went out. | It was such a nice day that we went out. (Before a countable noun with an adjective we use ‘such a’, not ‘so’!) |
| He speaks as if he knows everything. (about an unreal situation) | He speaks as if he knew everything. (Hypothetical comparisons need the Unreal Past!) |
1. Gap Fill & Translation (C1/C2)
Complete the sentences with the missing word (e.g. the, such, so, as if, knew).
2. Extra: Sentence Builder 🧩
Tap the words to move them and build perfect advanced comparative structures!