Learn Spanish Grammar with Comparatives

Comparatives Part I

General Rules

Comparatives, as the name suggests, draw a comparison between two people, items, situations, etc.  If I compare myself to my sister, I could say that I am older than my sister, that my sister is taller than me, that I have darker hair, etc.  Older, taller and darker are all comparative adjectives.  As you can see, many comparative constructions in English are formed by adding –er to the end of an adjective.  Others, like beautiful, use the words more or less to draw a comparison: 

 

She says roses are more beautiful than daisies.

Cooking at home is less expensive than eating in restaurants.

 

Notice that, in all cases, than follows the comparative construction.  Most Spanish comparatives use a construction very similar to the more…  than construction—the más… que construction.  Observe the translations of the sentences about my sister:

 

Mi hermana es más alta que yo.

Mi pelo es más oscuro que el suyo.

 

Note that the adjective still agrees with the noun—in “My sister is more tall than me,” the adjective tall is in a feminine singular form.  The más… que construction may also be used with nouns and adverbs, as below:

 

Él trabaja más rápido que ella.	He works faster than she.[1]
Ella gana más dinero que él.	She earns more money than he.

 

To express less… than in Spanish, use menos… que:

 

Él gana menos dinero que yo.                    He earns less money than I.

Note that there is also an exception for numbers. When a comparative is followed by a number, use más… de: 

Ella gana más de veinte dólares por hora.

She earns more than twenty dollars per hour.

 

 

 

Negative Comparisons

When the meaning of the sentence is negative, use no… más… que.  Do NOT use de if the sentence is negative! 

Debes devolver el libro no más tarde que viernes.	You should return the book no later than Friday.
Ella no quiere más que tres hijos.	She doesn’t want (to have) more than three children.

 

 

 

Irregular Comparatives

The following adjectives have irregular comparative forms.  Both English and Spanish forms are included:

 

Adjetivo	Comparativo	Adjective	Comparative
bueno	mejor	good	better
malo	peor	bad	worse
grande[2] viejo	mayor	big old	bigger (also older)
pequeño joven	menor	small young	smaller (also younger)

 

Note that irregular comparatives are also followed by que:

 

Yo soy mayor que mi hermana.

I am older than my sister.

Practice

 

Fill in the blanks with the missing words:

 

1)      Nueva York es _____________ grande _____________ Pittsburgh.

2)      Es una ciudad con _____________ _____________ ocho millones de habitantes.

3)      Hay _____________ personas en el centro _____________ en las afueras.

4)      Hay _____________ personas en la ciudad de Nueva York _____________ en muchos estados.

 

Form sentences according to the model:

Yo soy vieja.     Ella es joven.                        Yo soy mayor que ella.  

                                                                                        OR

                                                                        Ella es menor que yo.

 

5)      Elena es muy alta.  Carlos es mediano. 

6)      El gato es gordo.  El perro no es muy gordo.

7)      85% es bueno.  95% es muy bueno.

8)      60% es malo.  45% es muy malo.

 

 

 

For extra credit, translate the exercises to English.

 

Answers

1)      Nueva York es más grande que Pittsburgh.

2)      Es una ciudad con más de ocho millones de habitantes.

3)      Hay más personas en el centro que en las afueras.

4)      Hay más personas en la ciudad de Nueva York que en muchos estados.

5)      Elena es más alta que Carlos.  OR   Carlos es más bajo que Elena.

6)      El gato es más gordo que el perro.

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7)      95% es mejor que 85%.    OR    85% es peor que 95%.

8)      45% es peor que 60%.    OR    60% es mejor que 45%.

 

 

 

Translation

1)      New York is larger than Pittsburgh.

2)      It is a city with more than 8 million inhabitants.

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3)      There are more people in the main city (downtown) than in the outskirts (suburbs).

4)      There are more people in New York City than in many states.

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5)      Elena is taller than Carlos.    OR    Carlos is shorter than Elena.

6)      The cat is heavier (fatter) than the dog.

7)      95% is better than 85%.    OR    85% is worse than 95%.

8)      45% is worse than 60%.    OR    60% is better than 45%.

 

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