How do comparatives and superlatives work in Spanish?

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:

Ready to know more details? Let’s go!

When we compare elements that are not equal, we use the word más (meaning more) to express “more than” or menos (meaning 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:

Let’s see some examples:

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:

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

• 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.

  Translation: Juan is more humble than proud.

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

  Mi casa tiene más de 2000 pies cuadrados.

  Translation: My house is more than 2000 square feet.
  La casa de Juan tiene menos de 2000 pies cuadrados.

  Translation: Juan’s house is less than 2000 square feet.

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 Translation: My house	tiene Translation: has	tantas Translation: as many	recamaras Translation: rooms	como Translation: as	la casa de Juan. Translation: Juan’s house.
  Mi casa Translation: My house	tiene Translation: has	tanto Translation: as much	espacio Translation: room	como Translation: as	la casa de Juan. Translation: 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 Translation: My house	es Translation: is	tan Translation: as	grande Translation: big	como Translation: as	la casa de Juan. Translation: Juan’s house.
  Mi casa Translation: My house	se limpia Translation: is cleaned	tan Translation: as	fácilmente Translation: easy	como Translation: as	la casa de Juan. Translation: Juan’s house.

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:

For example:

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

For example:

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

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 (meaning as) in all cases.

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

• We use tan (meaning 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!)