The internet's first word was “LO”: the more…, the more… and bigger and bigger

Q: What does the more, the more mean?

The more…, the more… shows two things that change together : when one grows, the other grows or shrinks with it. The more tabs you open, the slower your laptop gets. The more people joined, the bigger the network got. Each half opens with the and a comparative. The B1 lesson The internet's first word was “LO” on edio.ai teaches it with ARPANET and a studio Wi-Fi that keeps slowing down.

Q: How do you use the more…, the more… in a sentence?

Start each half with the + a comparative, then the rest : The closer you sit to the router, the better the signal is. After the more , either add a noun ( the more tabs ) or go straight to the subject and verb ( the more you practice ). A comma separates the halves. Keep the second comparative at the front of its half: …, the bigger the network got , not …, the network got bigger .

Q: What are some examples of the more, the more?

These come from The internet's first word was “LO” , a B1 lesson on edio.ai: The bigger the file, the longer it takes to send. The older the phone, the worse the camera. The more devices connect, the slower the Wi-Fi gets. The faster the internet, the happier Darius is. Quick replies shrink to two short halves : The sooner, the better. The faster, the better.

Q: What's the difference between "bigger and bigger" and "the bigger, the better"?

Bigger and bigger describes one thing that keeps changing : In 1969, ARPANET grew bigger and bigger. The bigger…, the better… links two changes, where one goes with the other: The closer you sit to the router, the better the signal is. A table in The internet's first word was “LO” on edio.ai sets the two side by side: The Wall of Weird is getting bigger and bigger. The more stories we find, the bigger it gets.

Q: Is it "more faster" or "faster and faster"?

It's faster and faster : a short adjective repeats its -er form , with no more . So The pages are loading faster and faster , not more faster or more and more fast . Long adjectives take more and more and no -er: more and more popular . Never mix the two: bigger and bigger , not bigger and more big . The help-desk chat in The internet's first word was “LO” places these traps next to each right reply.

Q: What was the first message sent over ARPANET?

It was just two letters, L and O . Late in the evening on October 29, 1969, Charley Kline, a student programmer at UCLA, tried to log in to a computer at SRI in Menlo Park, California, about 400 miles away. He typed LOGIN one letter at a time, and the system crashed after the O. About an hour later, the whole word went through. ARPANET was the network that led to the internet.

Q: When did email first go between computers?

In 1971, when Ray Tomlinson, an engineer at BBN, wrote an email program for a network ; earlier email worked on only one computer. He chose the @ sign for addresses because it reads as “at”: a person at a computer. By 1973, email was well over half of all the traffic on ARPANET. The episode notes in The internet's first word was “LO” on edio.ai tell this part of the story too.

Q: How do I teach the more…, the more… to B1 students?

Start with one change students can see , such as a phone that gets slower with every new app, then add the second half: The more apps you add, the slower it gets. Teach the repeated comparative first and the two-half pattern second, with both halves on the board. The internet's first word was “LO” on edio.ai moves from a slow-Wi-Fi dialogue to the scheme, two gap-fills and a table with both patterns.

Q: What's a good game for practicing the more, the more?

Half-sentence boxes make a quick speaking game: a student opens a box with a prompt such as The more time I spend online, the … , finishes it aloud, and the class adds one more change. The open boxes in The internet's first word was “LO” on edio.ai also ask what is getting better and better, or worse and worse, in each student's life, and which two letters they would send in 1969.

Q: What's good homework for practicing the more, the more?

Good homework mixes form drills with a real text : gaps such as The ___ (early) we leave, the ___ (soon) we arrive , a quiz on sentences that mean the same, and a short history of the internet with options to choose. In The internet's first word was “LO” on edio.ai, all ten homework tasks check themselves, from a memory game to the hosts' answer to a listener.

This B1 ESL lesson plan teaches the more…, the more… and bigger and bigger for things that change, around ARPANET's first message and early email.

Grammar: Comparative + and + comparative for steady change (slower and slower, more and more people) and the + comparative in both halves for linked changes (The more tabs you open, the slower it gets.).
Topic: The first ARPANET message, sent from UCLA in 1969, early email and slow home Wi-Fi, with words such as log in, crash, router and network.
Activities: Episode notes to read, a studio dialogue and a voice message to hear, five self-checking drills, a help-desk chat and open boxes about change.

What's inside

Chapter 1Hello, are you online?
- PictureUnlock
- Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
- Study the words: life onlineVocabularyTry it
- Look at the pictures and chooseChoose by pictureUnlock
Chapter 2Let's read: L, O… crash!
- Look at the picture: UCLA, October 29, 1969PictureUnlock
- Read the episode notesArticleUnlock
- Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
- Read again and choose the right answerQuizUnlock
Chapter 3Let's listen: is the Wi-Fi slow again?
- Listen to Riley and DariusListeningTry it
- Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
- Listen and choose the right answerQuizUnlock
- Listen to The Listener's Take: TabithaListeningUnlock
- Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
- Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
Chapter 4Grammar: Faster and faster, the more the better
- Study the scheme: bigger and bigger, the more…, the…Grammar schemeTry it
- Choose the correct optionChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: slower and slowerFill in the gapsTry it
- Fill in the gaps: the more…, the…Fill in the gapsUnlock
- Fill in the table: two kinds of changeFill in the tableUnlock
- Choose the right sentenceQuizUnlock
Chapter 5Let's talk: help, my Wi-Fi is slow!
- Choose the right replies: a chat with the help deskChatTry it
- Open a box and answerOpen the boxUnlock
Chapter 6Homework
- Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
- Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
- Fill in the gaps with the lesson's wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Find the matching pairs: words and meaningsMemory gameUnlock
- Choose the correct optionChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: make the comparativesFill in the gapsUnlock
- Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock
- Choose the sentence with the same meaningQuizUnlock
- Drag the words into the gaps: the hosts' answer to TabithaDrag and dropUnlock
- Choose the correct option: a short history of the internetChoose the optionUnlock

Internet vocabulary

12 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+9 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

network
router
tab
speed
keyboard
programmer
headset
device
help desk

Grammar: comparative and comparative; the more…, the more…

Two patterns built on comparatives describe change. Comparative + and + comparative is for something that keeps changing: My Wi-Fi is getting slower and slower. The + comparative…, the + comparative… links two changes: The more tabs you open, the slower it gets. As Darius's connection fails, learners repeat the same comparative form twice, open both halves with the and keep superlatives out.

Bigger and bigger! The more, the better!

Comparative + and + comparative: something keeps changing. The + comparative…, the + comparative…: two things change together.

Something keeps changing

Short words repeat the -er form: slower and slower, bigger and bigger, easier and easier. Long words take more and more: more and more expensive. Good and bad give better and better and worse and worse, and nouns follow more and more or less and less: less and less time.

Word	How to make it	Example
slow, fast, loud, close	-er (or -r) and -er	My Wi-Fi is getting slower and slower.
big, hot	double the last letter: -gger, -tter	The network grew bigger and bigger.
easy, busy, heavy	y → i: -ier and -ier	Sending messages got easier and easier.
long words: expensive, popular, nervous	more and more + the word	Phones are getting more and more expensive.
good, bad	better and better, worse and worse	The connection got worse and worse.
people, sites (nouns)	many / much → more and more + noun	More and more people used email.
time, space (nouns)	little → less and less + noun	I have less and less time for games.
often	more and more often	My laptop crashed more and more often.

-er or more, never both

Pick one form and say it twice: faster and faster, not more faster or more and more fast; bigger and bigger, not bigger and more big. Get, grow and become often come before it: The connection got worse and worse.

-er OR more, never both

Use -er and -er for short words and more and more for long words, never both: faster and faster (not: more faster, not: more and more fast). Repeat the same form: bigger and bigger (not: bigger and more big). Verbs that go well with it: get, grow, become.

Common mistakes

My Wi-Fi is getting more and more slow.
My Wi-Fi is getting slower and slower.
short word: -er and -er
The network grew bigger and more big.
The network grew bigger and bigger.
repeat the same form
The more people joined, the network got bigger.
The more people joined, the bigger the network got.
the + comparative starts both halves
The most tabs you open, the slowest it gets.
The more tabs you open, the slower it gets.
comparatives, not superlatives

The more…, the more…: two changes together

Each half starts with the + comparative, then the rest: The more people joined, the bigger the network got, not …, the network got bigger. After the more, add a noun (the more tabs) or the subject and verb. Superlatives never fit here: the more, not the most.

Two things change together

The + comparative + the rest,the + comparative + the rest

The more tabs you open, the slower your laptop gets.

The more people joined, the bigger the network got.

The closer you sit to the router, the better the signal is.

the + comparative starts BOTH halves

Put the + comparative first in each half, then the rest: The more people joined, the bigger the network got (not: …, the network got bigger). After the more you can add a noun (the more tabs) or go straight to the subject and the verb (the more you practice). Use comparatives, not superlatives: the more, not the most.

Short forms: the sooner, the better

The verb be can drop out: The bigger the file, the longer it takes. The older the phone, the worse the camera. A quick reply needs only two words per half: The sooner, the better. The more, the merrier! means more people, more fun.

Short forms

You can often leave out is / are: The bigger the file, the longer it takes. The older the phone, the worse the camera. For quick answers, two words are enough: The sooner, the better. The faster, the better. And a friendly one for parties: The more, the merrier! (more people, more fun).

In the studio and in 1969

Darius's Wi-Fi got slower and slower.
The more tabs Darius opens, the slower his laptop gets.
The more letters Kline typed, the closer he got to LOGIN.
In 1969, ARPANET grew bigger and bigger.
Email spread to more and more sites.
Close those tabs! The sooner, the better.

More lessons on this grammar: Comparatives and superlatives lessons and exercises

Try the the more the more exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

What's in the lesson

18 auto-checked exercises
5 games
1 article
1 grammar scheme
1 set of word cards
2 audio clips
2 pictures
2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

describe something that keeps changing: My Wi-Fi is getting slower and slower. In 1969, ARPANET grew bigger and bigger.
use more and more and less and less with long adjectives and nouns: Phones are getting more and more expensive. I have less and less time for games.
link two changes with the + comparative in each half: The closer you sit to the router, the better the signal is.
answer quickly with the short forms The sooner, the better and The more, the merrier!
avoid more faster, bigger and more big and The more people joined, the network got bigger

Lesson 13 opens Life online, unit 4 of English B1.1 · Stories That Travel, the course built around a Kansas City podcast. It builds on A2.1 lessons 10 and 13, which taught single comparatives with -er and more, and on A2.1 lesson 14's superlatives, which the new pattern keeps out. Lesson 14 turns to be supposed to and the first spam. A network that grew site by site and a laptop that slows down with every tab call for the language of change.

Students spin a wheel of questions about life online, then learn twelve words, from connect and crash to router and help desk, with pictures and audio. The episode notes on the first ARPANET message and early email come with true-or-false statements and a quiz. Riley tells Darius the story while his Wi-Fi gives up, and Tabitha, a computer science student from California, leaves a voice message; both are AI-voiced. Five self-checking drills follow the scheme, among them a table that pairs both patterns for eight words. In the speaking chapter, the student chats with an internet help desk about slow Wi-Fi, then opens boxes about change.

All ten homework tasks check themselves: a word match, an anagram, a word gap-fill and a memory game, then a choice of forms, gaps that build both patterns, sentences to order, a quiz on sentences with the same meaning, the hosts' answer to Tabitha with words to drag in and a short history of the internet.

Grammar:: comparative and comparative · more and more · the more…, the more… · comparatives
Topic:: the internet · ARPANET · UCLA · email · the @ sign · Wi-Fi · Stories That Travel

Teaching tips

Draw a line that keeps rising on the board and label it with things students know, such as phone prices, homework or screen time. They describe each one: Phones are getting more and more expensive.
Let students guess the first message before the episode notes: what did a programmer type in 1969, and how much of it arrived? After reading, they explain why only two letters got through.
Count Darius's tabs while the dialogue plays: students note every change they hear, then link two of them: The more tabs he opens, the slower his laptop gets.
Turn the chat into a role-play: one student works at the help desk, the other describes a gadget that keeps getting worse, and the help desk answers with The closer…, the better…

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The whole course: English B1.1 · Stories That Travel

32 lessons for adults at B1 in American English, each built around a true story. Riley, Jade and Darius make a podcast in Kansas City about true American stories, and each lesson tells one, from a seaplane airport in Alaska to the Marfa Lights of West Texas. Learners compare the present perfect with the past simple, use future forms, modals and quantifiers, and give their own opinions. The practice exercises check themselves.See the course

Unit 1 Travel smart
the present perfect vs the past simple, for and since, indirect questions, be used to and get used to
Unit 2 Dream jobs, new jobs
will have to and won't be allowed to, the present perfect continuous, simple vs continuous, would vs used to
Unit 3 Space and discovery
it's + adjective + to, What's it like to…?, future forms compared, future time clauses, too and enough + to
Unit 4 Life online
the more…, the more…, be supposed to, ought to and had better, let, make and allow
1. Lesson 13 · you're hereThe internet's first word was “LO”Comparative and comparative; the more…, the more…
2. Lesson 14Who sent the first spam?Be supposed to for rules, expectations and plans
3. Lesson 15Is your password really safe?Ought to and had better for advice and warnings
4. Lesson 16Who writes Wikipedia?Let, make and allow + someone
Unit 5 Screen and page
-ed and -ing adjectives, gradable and extreme adjectives, present tenses for a plot, articles for things in general
Unit 6 Green living
few and a few, little and a little, all, most, some and none, each and every, fewer and less
Unit 7 Sporting moments
could, was able to and managed to, for, during and while, present tenses for live commentary, question tags
Unit 8 Mysteries and lost worlds
both… and, either… or and neither… nor, uncountable nouns, how sure we are about the future, unless, as long as and in case

Questions about this lesson

What does the more, the more mean?

The more…, the more… shows two things that change together: when one grows, the other grows or shrinks with it. The more tabs you open, the slower your laptop gets. The more people joined, the bigger the network got. Each half opens with the and a comparative. The B1 lesson The internet's first word was “LO” on edio.ai teaches it with ARPANET and a studio Wi-Fi that keeps slowing down.

How do you use the more…, the more… in a sentence?

Start each half with the + a comparative, then the rest: The closer you sit to the router, the better the signal is. After the more, either add a noun (the more tabs) or go straight to the subject and verb (the more you practice). A comma separates the halves. Keep the second comparative at the front of its half: …, the bigger the network got, not …, the network got bigger.

What are some examples of the more, the more?

These come from The internet's first word was “LO”, a B1 lesson on edio.ai: The bigger the file, the longer it takes to send. The older the phone, the worse the camera. The more devices connect, the slower the Wi-Fi gets. The faster the internet, the happier Darius is. Quick replies shrink to two short halves: The sooner, the better. The faster, the better.

What's the difference between "bigger and bigger" and "the bigger, the better"?

Bigger and bigger describes one thing that keeps changing: In 1969, ARPANET grew bigger and bigger. The bigger…, the better… links two changes, where one goes with the other: The closer you sit to the router, the better the signal is. A table in The internet's first word was “LO” on edio.ai sets the two side by side: The Wall of Weird is getting bigger and bigger. The more stories we find, the bigger it gets.

Is it "more faster" or "faster and faster"?

It's faster and faster: a short adjective repeats its -er form, with no more. So The pages are loading faster and faster, not more faster or more and more fast. Long adjectives take more and more and no -er: more and more popular. Never mix the two: bigger and bigger, not bigger and more big. The help-desk chat in The internet's first word was “LO” places these traps next to each right reply.

What was the first message sent over ARPANET?

It was just two letters, L and O. Late in the evening on October 29, 1969, Charley Kline, a student programmer at UCLA, tried to log in to a computer at SRI in Menlo Park, California, about 400 miles away. He typed LOGIN one letter at a time, and the system crashed after the O. About an hour later, the whole word went through. ARPANET was the network that led to the internet.

When did email first go between computers?

In 1971, when Ray Tomlinson, an engineer at BBN, wrote an email program for a network; earlier email worked on only one computer. He chose the @ sign for addresses because it reads as “at”: a person at a computer. By 1973, email was well over half of all the traffic on ARPANET. The episode notes in The internet's first word was “LO” on edio.ai tell this part of the story too.

How do I teach the more…, the more… to B1 students?

Start with one change students can see, such as a phone that gets slower with every new app, then add the second half: The more apps you add, the slower it gets. Teach the repeated comparative first and the two-half pattern second, with both halves on the board. The internet's first word was “LO” on edio.ai moves from a slow-Wi-Fi dialogue to the scheme, two gap-fills and a table with both patterns.

What's a good game for practicing the more, the more?

Half-sentence boxes make a quick speaking game: a student opens a box with a prompt such as The more time I spend online, the …, finishes it aloud, and the class adds one more change. The open boxes in The internet's first word was “LO” on edio.ai also ask what is getting better and better, or worse and worse, in each student's life, and which two letters they would send in 1969.

What's good homework for practicing the more, the more?

Good homework mixes form drills with a real text: gaps such as The ___ (early) we leave, the ___ (soon) we arrive, a quiz on sentences that mean the same, and a short history of the internet with options to choose. In The internet's first word was “LO” on edio.ai, all ten homework tasks check themselves, from a memory game to the hosts' answer to a listener.

How do you practice the more, the more one-to-one?

Turn the student's own habits into pairs of changes: The more coffee I drink, the worse I sleep. After each one, the teacher asks And then what? to get a second sentence. The help-desk chat in The internet's first word was “LO”, a B1 lesson on edio.ai, needs no partner: Audrey asks about a slow connection, and every reply comes with one right form and two traps.

Are there interactive exercises for the more, the more?

Yes. With no account, this page plays three parts of The internet's first word was “LO”, a B1 lesson on edio.ai: Riley and Darius's dialogue as the studio Wi-Fi slows down, a gap-fill that turns adjectives into forms like slower and slower, and the help-desk chat. Every answer is marked as soon as it's given. The full lesson needs an account.

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About this lesson

What's inside

Internet vocabulary

Grammar: comparative and comparative; the more…, the more…

Something keeps changing

-er or more, never both

Common mistakes

The more…, the more…: two changes together

Two things change together

Short forms: the sooner, the better

In the studio and in 1969

Try the the more the more exercises

What's in the lesson

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

Teaching tips

Teach the whole lesson in edio

Start a free trial

Open the lesson

Teach it live or as homework

The whole course: English B1.1 · Stories That Travel

Unit 1 Travel smart

Unit 2 Dream jobs, new jobs

Unit 3 Space and discovery

Unit 4 Life online

Unit 5 Screen and page

Unit 6 Green living

Unit 7 Sporting moments

Unit 8 Mysteries and lost worlds

Questions about this lesson

Teach this lesson with your students