City &
Countryside 4
Language Focus: Adjectives & Similarity
Read the following story and pay
attention to the bold adjectives!
I was born in New York City, a bustling place
where people are always busy that’s true, but I
just love it!
Located on a large natural harbour on the North-
eastern cost of the United States, New York has a
population of over eight million people, being one
of the most crowded cities in the world. Known as
cosmopolitan city, New York has many attractive
places. Who hasn’t heard of the Statue of Liberty,
the shops of 5th Avenue, the theatres on
Broadway, cinemas, nightclubs and the World
Trade Centre and its Twin Towers, destroyed on
September 11th, 2001?
-Melissa
Read the following I was born in London, a busy city with
a lot of pollution, but the truth is I
story and pay would not live in any other place in the
attention to the world. It is situated near the mouth of
the river Thames, occupying both its
bold adjectives! banks. Populated by about 7,5 million
people, who live in 32 boroughs,
makes it the most crowded city in the
European Union.
London is a historic city. It contains
four heritage Sites: the Tower of
London; the historic settlement of
Greenwich; the Royal Botanic Gardens,
Kew; and the site comprising the
Palace of Westminster, Westminster
Abbey and St. Margaret’s church.
-Mark
Before we continue our
discussion about Melissa’s
and Mark’s stories, let’s learn
about some adjectives
commonly used to describe a
city.
Ancient – a place that has a long history. Words with similar meanings:
historic.
Example sentence: Athens is an ancient city, which was established thousands
of years ago.
Beautiful – very pleasing on the eye. Words with similar meanings: attractive,
lovely.
Example sentence: Paris is very beautiful in the spring.
Boring – dull and not very interesting. Words with similar meanings:
uninteresting.
Example sentence: Widnes is a boring place to live.
Bustling – a crowded, busy place. Words with similar meanings: lively, fast-
paced, hectic.
Example sentence: New York is a busy, bustling city. One of its nickname is
“The City That Never Sleeps”.
Charming – nice, very pleasing. Words with similar meanings: delightful,
quaint.
Example sentence: Oxford is a charming English city, which is steeped in
history.
Contemporary – modern, very up to date.
Example sentence: Manchester is a northern city with a very contemporary,
modern feel.
Compact – not very big, contained within a small area. Words with similar
meanings: small.
Example sentence: Durham is fairly compact city. You don’t need transport to
get around.
Cosmopolitan – somewhere with a rich and varied mixed of cultures and
languages.
Example sentence: Liverpool is a cosmopolitan and culturally diverse city.
Crowded – very full of people. Words with similar meanings: busy, bustling.
Example sentence: London can get really crowded during the summer months.
Exciting – fun, thrilling, with lots of enjoyable things to do. Words with similar
meanings: lively.
Example sentence: The seaside town of Blackpool offers plenty of exciting
activities for kids!
Expensive – costing a lot of money. Words with similar meanings: pricey,
costly.
Example sentence: Tokyo is a very expensive place to live.
Famous – very well-known, celebrated, notable.
Example sentence: Paris is one of the world’s most famous romantic
destinations.
Fantastic – wonderful.
Example sentence: Barcelona is a fantastic city! It’s a must to visit if you go to
northern Spain.
Fascinating – very interesting. Words with similar meanings: captivating,
intriguing.
Example sentence: Tunis is a fascinating place to visit, with a wonderful culture
and history.
Huge – very big. Words with similar meanings: big, enormous, large, giant,
sprawling, vast.
Example sentence: Istanbul is a huge city, with over thirteen million
inhabitants.
Fantastic – somewhere with lots of things going on. Words with similar
meanings: vibrant.
Example sentence: Newcastle is a lively city, with lots of things to do and see.
Inexpensive – not costing very much. Words with similar meanings: cheap.
Example sentence: Egypt, Mexico, and Thailand are inexpensive travel
destinations.
Popular – Liked by a lot of people.
Example sentence: York is a historic British town which is very popular with
tourists.
Picturesque – charming or interesting in a unique or unusual way.
Example sentence: Looe and Polperro are picturesque English seaside town.
Polluted – dirty, contaminated.
Example sentence: Bilbao’s formerly polluted river has been cleaned up and
transformed.
Touristy – visited by lots of tourists.
Example sentence: Paris can be a bit touristy and crowded during summer
Let’s back to Melissa’s
and Mark’s stories
From Melissa’s and Mark’s stories, we know
that…
No. Adjectives New York London Based on this table, we can say that…
1. Bustling • New York is as bustling as London.
2. Crowded • New York is as crowded as London.
3. Cosmopolitan • London is not as cosmopolitan as
4. Historic New York.
5. Polluted • New York is not as historic and
polluted as London.
Language Focus
Similarity with “As…as”
To describe two things with the same characteristics, we can use as…as by adding an
adjective between as.
(+) s + to be + as + adj. + as + S (+ to be)
(-) s + to be + not+ as + adj. + as + S (+ to be)
More examples:
• Namsan Tower is as high as Eiffel
Tower.
• London is as polluted as Jakarta.
• Canada is as far as Spain
• Berlin Wall is not as big as the Great
Wall China.
• Village is not as crowded as city.
Thank You
