The project was less difficult than expected. (easy)
The project was  (a)   than expected.

• This interview was shorter than the first one. (long)
  This interview was ___ __ ____ __ the first one.

Finishing on time was harder than anything. (difficult)
The  (a)    thing was to finish on time.

The final stage of the job was the easiest part. (challenging)

The final stage of the job was the   (a)   part.

We finished the project ahead of time. (soon)
We finished the project   (a)   than planned.

The company has more work now than any other time of year. (busy)
It’s the  (a)    time of the year for us now.

They completed the bridge ahead of schedule. (quickly)
They completed the bridge  (a)    than they planned

Finding suitable suppliers was not as easy as we thought. (hard)
Finding suitable suppliers was   (a)   than we thought.

He did worse than he expected at the interview. (well)
He did not do (a)    expected at the interview.

My new job is worse than the last one. (good)
My new job is not (a)     the last one.