What the song is about
This song is a short English lesson about comparing things. It compares animals, objects and vehicles: a mouse and a bug, a tree and a tower, a car and a plane. Step by step it explains how to make comparatives (bigger) and superlatives (the biggest). The chorus cheers the listener on: You are the brightest shining star!
Useful words and expressions
- Let's compare! means let us look at how things are different.
- the master is a person who knows something very well.
- win the race means to finish first.
- the test here means a simple rule you can check.
- expensive means it costs a lot of money. delicious means it tastes very good.
- defensive means ready to protect itself.
- Hear the bass, hear the boom! Bass is the deep sound in music, and boom is a loud, deep sound.
- yes we are is a short answer that repeats the verb from We are comparing.
Grammar
Short words: -er and -est
For short adjectives, add -er for the comparative and -est for the superlative. Use the before a superlative.
- small → smaller → the smallest
- tall → taller → the tallest
- fast → faster → the fastest
- hard → harder → the hardest
- When a word ends in one vowel + one consonant, double the consonant: big → bigger → the biggest.
- When a word ends in -e, just add -r or -st: nice → nicer → the nicest.
Long words: more and the most
For long adjectives, put more or the most in front. The adjective does not change.
- expensive → more expensive → the most expensive
- beautiful → more beautiful → the most beautiful
- interesting → the most interesting book
Words that break the rules
Some adjectives are irregular, and you need to learn them by heart:
- good → better → the best
- bad → worse → the worst
- far → farther → the farthest. The song uses farthest in the -est verse, but it is irregular too. It is not far + -est.
Comparing with than
The song compares with but: A mouse is small, but a bug is smaller. In everyday English we often use than:
- A bug is smaller than a mouse.
- A plane is faster than a car.
Careful: lines bent for the rhyme
- A bike is cool, but a car is more expensive. This line compares two different qualities, cool and expensive, to fit the music. A clearer sentence would be A car is more expensive than a bike.
- A big wild bear is more defensive. This line does not say what the bear is compared to, because the word needed to rhyme with expensive. In normal speech, say what you are comparing: A bear is more defensive than a rabbit.
- Like "beautiful" songs of the morning birds. This is not a full sentence. It only gives an example of a long word.