ComparativesEspañol 1 – Unidad 3 lección 2

Learning Goal – Student will be able to make comparisons.What is a comparative?Comparatives are phrases that are used to make

comparisons in Spanish.

We also use comparatives in English to make comparisons.

Example:She is more intelligent than him.Notice that we wrap the words more & than around the

adjective “intelligent”

So, how do we make comparisons in Spanish?More….than (Más...que)

We simply wrap más and que around the adjective.Example – El es más alto que yo. (He is taller than me.)

Example – Yo soy más seria que ustedes.(I am more serious than you (plural)

Note - The adjective always agrees with the subject that comes first in the sentence.

Less…than (menos...que)

Again, we wrap menos and que around the adjective.

Example – Yo soy menos alto que tú. (I am less tall (shorter) than you.

Example – Nosotros somos menos cómicos que mi mamá

(We are less funny than my mom.)

The adjective agrees with the subject that comes first!

Tan…como (as...as)

Wrap tan and como around the adjective.

Example – Ella es tan baja como nosotros.(She is as short as us.)

Example – Nosotros somos tan inteligentes como el profesor.

(We are as intelligent as the professor.)

Tanto/a/os/as…como (as many….as)

Tanto and como are wrapped around a noun.

Tanto must agree with the noun it is describing.

Example: Hay tantas chicas como chicos en esta clase. (There are as many girls as boys in this class.)

Comparatives

You can also use these expressions without an adjective.

Example: Voy a la biblioteca más que al gimnasio. I go to the library more than to the gym.

¿Te gusta hablar tanto como escuchar? Do you like to talk as much as listen?

Irregular Comparatives

There are a few irregular comparative words (they don’t use más/menos). They need to agree with the noun in number.

They are:Mayor = olderMenor = youngerMejor = betterPeor = worse

They agree in number with the subject. Add an “es” to make them plural.

Examples Mi primo habla el español

mejor que mi hijo.

Mis tíos son mayores que mi tía.

Mi clase de español es mejor que mi clase de matemáticas.

Mi clase de historia es peor que mi clase de ciencias.

My cousin speaks Spanish better than my son.

My uncles are older than my aunt.

My Spanish class is better than my math class.

My history class is worse than my science class.