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How do comparatives and superlatives work in Spanish?

By: Mango Languages Fri Aug 30 2024
Spanish
Adjectives, Adverbs, Sentences

When we compare, we consider the similarities or dissimilarities between two or more things, people, feelings, or ideas. There are three types of comparative sentences, depending on whether we compare two or more elements and the degree of similarity of the compared elements. Also, the kinds of words we are comparing (nouns, adjectives, adverbs…) can affect how we build comparative sentences in Spanish.

For instance, my brother, Juan, and I recently bought our first homes. Here’s how both homes are compared:

1. Comparison of inequality

Mi casa es más grande que la casa de Juan.

My house is bigger than Juan’s.

2. Comparison of equality

Mi casa tiene tantas habitaciones como la de Juan.

My house has as many rooms as Juan’s.

3. Superlatives

Mi casa es la más grande de la calle.

My house is the biggest in the street.

Ready to know more details? Let’s go!

Table of Contents

    Comparisons of inequality: “more/less…than”

    When we compare elements that are not equal, we use the word más ("more") to express “more than” or menos ("less") to express “less than”. This is equivalent to English “more/less...than” or suffix “-er” in “bigger than…,” “stronger than…,” etc. The type of sentence we use is different depending on the type of elements we are comparing. Let’s compare two similar elements (e.g. two houses) in terms of their qualities, or what they have.

    With adjectives, nouns, and adverbs, we use the following model:

    element 1 + verb + más/menos ("more/less") + adjective/noun/adverb + que ("than") + element 2

    Let’s see some examples:

    element 1
    verb
    más/menos
    adjective/noun/ adverb
    que
    element 2

    La casa de Juan

    Juan’s house

    es

    is

    menos

    less

    grande

    big

    (adjective)

    que

    than

    mi casa.

    my house.

    Mi casa

    My house

    tiene

    has

    más

    more

    espacio

    space

    (noun)

    que

    than

    la casa de Juan.

    Juan’s house.

    Mi casa

    My house

    se limpia

    is cleaned

    más

    more

    fácilmente

    easily

    (adverb)

    que

    than

    la casa de Juan.

    Juan’s house.

    Don’t forget that when you use adjectives in Spanish, they have to match the gender and number of the noun they modify. For instance:

    La casa de mi abuela es más bonita que la mía.

    My grandmother's house is prettier than mine.

    Tip

    If you want to use a possessive pronoun like English “…than mine/yours/his, etc.” in Spanish, you’ll use a long possessive pronoun preceded by a definite article:

    Mi casa es más cómoda que la suya.
    My house is more comfortable than his.

    Click the link for more on Spanish possessive pronouns.

    Sometimes, it’s not necessary to mention the second comparing element if, by context, we know what the element is being compared to.

    Mi casa es más cómoda.

    My house is more comfortable.

    Tip

    If the first element is a subject pronoun and it's omitted, then the first thing you'll see is the verb:

    Tengo más libros que Ramón.

    I have more books than Ramon.

    • We can also compare two qualities instead of two elements using the same formula. In this case, element 2 will be an adjective:

      Juan es más humilde que orgulloso.

      Juan is more humble than proud.

    • With numbers, we use de ("of, from") instead of que. De is placed between más/menos and the number.

      Mi casa tiene más de 2000 pies cuadrados.

      My house is more than 2000 square feet.

      La casa de Juan tiene menos de 2000 pies cuadrados.

      Juan’s house is less than 2000 square feet.

    Exception!

    In negative sentences, más que is an equivalent of solo or solamente ("only") and does not indicate comparison:

    No tiene más que quince años.

    He’s only fifteen.

    Irregular comparatives in Spanish

    Some adjectives and adverbs when combined with más have an irregular form:

    Más + adjective
    becomes
    Irregular form
    Translations

    bueno/a
    buenos/as

    good

    mejor
    • mejores

    better, best

    malo/a
    malos/as

    bad

    peor
    • peores

    worse, worst

    viejo/a
    viejos/as

    old

    mayor
    • mayores

    older, oldest

    joven
    jóvenes

    young

    menor
    • menores

    younger, youngest

    grande
    grandes

    large

    mayor
    • mayores

    larger, largest

    pequeño/a
    pequeños/as

    small

    menor
    • menores

    younger, youngest

    Tip

    When talking about size, it’s more common to use “más grande/pequeño” than “mayor/menor.Mayor/menor are mostly used in the sense of “older/younger.”

    Más + adjective
    becomes
    Irregular form
    Translations

    bien

    well

    mejor

    better
    best

    mal

    badly

    peor

    worse
    worst

    Exception!
    • más bueno/a can occasionally be used to highlight someone’s goodness.

    • más malo/a can occasionally be used to highlight someone’s wickedness.

      Anita es más buena que un ángel.

      Anita is kinder than an angel.

    Important

    Be careful with the pronouns we use when comparing people. For instance, if we want to say, “He is better than me” it should not be X Él es mejor que me/mí,” but:

    O Él es mejor que yo.

    We use subject pronouns in Spanish on both sides of the comparison.

    Single element: “more/less than what…”

    There is another type of comparison where instead of comparing two similar elements (e.g. two houses, two people, etc.), you can compare a single element to another clause. For example, instead of comparing my house to Juan’s, I can say that “my house is bigger than what I expected”:

    Mi casa es más grande de lo que esperaba.

    In English, the equivalent of these comparisons is “than what…(e.g. I expected/knew/need)”

    Just like above, we can make comparisons in terms of qualities or things. In these cases we are going to use “de + definite article + que” to introduce the clause, but there are some slight variations depending on the type of word we bring the focus to, so let’s break them down.

    Nouns

    When we want to say that our element has more or fewer “of something than…,” we use the following model:

    element + verb + más/menos + noun + de + definite article + que + clause

    For example:

    element & verb
    más/menos
    noun
    de + definite article + que
    clause (verb)

    Mi casa tiene

    My house has

    más

    more

    espacio

    space

    del que

    than (what)

    necesito.

    I need.

    Mi casa tiene

    My house has

    menos

    fewer

    ventanas

    windows

    de las que

    than (what)

    quería.

    I wanted.

    In this case, the Spanish definite article (el/la/los/las) after de will agree in gender and number with the noun we’re focusing on.

    Noun

    de + definite article + que

    masculine, singular
    feminine, singular
    masculine, plural
    feminine, plural

    del que
    • de la que
    • de los que
    • de las que

    Adjectives and Adverbs

    If the focus is on describing the element or an action related to the element, then we can use an adjective or an adverb using the following formula:

    element + verb + más/menos + adjective/adverb + de lo que + clause

    For example:

    element & verb
    más/menos
    adjective/
    • adverb
    de lo que
    clause (verb)

    La casa de Juan es

    Juan’s house is

    más

    more

    grande

    big

    (adjective)

    de lo que

    than (what)

    habíamos imaginado.

    we had imagined.

    La casa de Juan se limpia

    Juan’s house is cleaned

    más

    more

    fácilmente

    easily

    (adverb)

    de lo que

    than (what)

    pensábamos.

    we thought.

    In this case, “de lo que” is invariable, no need for agreement!

    Verbs

    Similarly, we can bring a verb as the element of focus, also using invariable “de lo que,” in the following model:

    verb + más/menos + de lo que + clause

    For example:

    verb
    más/menos
    de lo que
    clause (verb)

    Llueve

    It rains

    menos

    less

    de lo que

    than (what)

    habíamos esperado.

    we had expected.

    (él) Gasta

    He spends

    más

    more

    de lo que

    than (what)

    gana.

    he earns.

    Comparisons of equality: “as… as”

    When we compare two elements that are equal, use: tan or tanto/a/os/as...como (equivalent to English "as (many/much)…as") instead of más/menos…que.

    • To compare how many/much of “something” the elements have, use this model:

      element 1 + verb + tanto/tanta/tantos/tantas + noun + como + element 2

      For example:

      element 1
      verb
      tanto
      noun
      como
      element 2

      Mi casa

      My house

      tiene

      has

      tantas

      as many

      recamaras

      rooms

      como

      as

      la casa de Juan.

      Juan’s house.

      Mi casa

      My house

      tiene

      has

      tanto

      as much

      espacio

      room

      como

      as

      la casa de Juan.

      Juan’s house.

      Don’t forget that the form of tanto has to match the gender and number of the following noun.

      tanto
      noun
      tanto →
      tanta →
      tantos →
      tantas →

      masculine, singular
      feminine, singular
      masculine, plural
      feminine, plural

    • To refer to qualities, use the invariable “tan,” as seen in this model:

      element 1 + verb + tan + adjective/adverb + como + element 2

      For example:

      element 1
      verb
      tan
      adjective/adverb
      como
      element 2

      Mi casa

      My house

      es

      is

      tan

      as

      grande

      big

      como

      as

      la casa de Juan.

      Juan’s house.

      Mi casa

      My house

      se limpia

      is cleaned

      tan

      as

      fácilmente

      easy

      como

      as

      la casa de Juan.

      Juan’s house.

      Important

      Tanto como can be used on its own as an adverb meaning “as much as”:

      No estudia tanto como yo.

      She doesn’t study as much as I do.

    Superlatives: “the most/least…”

    We use superlatives with adjectives when we want to highlight a quality of a noun, describing someone or something, above or below the rest. The English equivalent is "the most/least + adjective" or suffix -est (“smallest”). Superlatives are built differently depending on whether the noun we are comparing is the subject of the sentence or not.

    • When the noun we are highlighting is not the subject of the sentence, superlatives are placed after the verb like this:

    definite article + noun + más/menos + adjective + (de + group)

    For example:

    Yo tengo la casa más grande de la ciudad.

    I have the biggest house in the city.

    definite article
    noun
    más/menos
    adjective
    de + group
    • (used optionally)

    la

    the

    casa

    house

    más

    more

    grande

    big

    (de la ciudad)

    (of the city)

    • When the subject of the sentence is the element we are highlighting, we can omit the noun after the article:

    definite article + más/menos + adjective + (de + group)

    For example:

    Mi casa es la (casa) más grande de la ciudad.

    My house is the biggest in the city.

    definite article
    más/menos
    adjective
    de + group
    • (used optionally)
    la
    más
    grande
    (de la ciudad)

    Remember that even when we omit the noun, the article still has to agree in gender and number with the subject.

    Él es el más inteligente de la clase.

    He’s the most intelligent boy in class.

    Irregular superlatives in Spanish

    The irregular comparatives that we saw before also work to form irregular superlatives, but when used as superlatives, they need to be preceded by a definite article. For instance:

    Mi equipo es el mejor del mundo.

    My team is the best in the world.

    Also, superlatives el/la/los/las más grande/s and el/la/los/las más pequeño/s become el/la/los/las mayor/es ("the oldest") and el/la/los/las menor/es ("the youngest") only when they refer to age:

    María es la menor y Rosa y Beatriz son las mayores.

    María is the youngest, whereas Rosa and Beatriz are the oldest.

    Important

    Adding -ísimo/a/os/as to adjectives enhances the quality of the superlative:

    Mi casa es grandísima.

    My house is very big.

    • If the adjective ends in a consonant, simply add -ísimo:

      fácil → facilísimo ("easy → very easy")
    • If it ends in a vowel, just drop the last vowel and attach -ísimo:

      bueno → buenísimo ("good → very/so good")

      ¡Estas galletas están buenísimas!

      These cookies are so good!

      don’t forget to do the agreement with the noun!

    Summary

    Comparisons of inequality:

    • When we compare two elements, we use más/menos…que in all cases.

    • When we compare an element to a verb, we use de lo que.

      • If the focus is a noun, we use del/de la/de los/de las que agreeing with the noun.

    Comparisons of equality:

    • We use como ("as") in all cases.

    • We use tanto/a/os/as ("as much/many") before nouns.

    • We use tan ("as") before adjectives and adverbs.

    Superlatives:

    • We use the definite article and más/menos in all cases.

    • When the subject of the sentence is not the highlighted element, we add the noun after the definite article.

    • When the subject of the sentence is the highlighted element, the noun can be omitted after the definite article.

    Here are some activities to practice what we’ve learned (answer key included!)

    Downloadable Resources

    Elevate your language-learning journey to new heights with the following downloadable resources.

    How do comparatives and superlatives work in Spanish~ActivitiesHow do comparatives and superlatives work in Spanish~Activities

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