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Comparisons and superlatives

Comparisons of inequality

Adjectival and adverbial comparisons of inequality (bigger than, harder than, etc. or slower than, faster than, etc.) are quite simple. The few irregularities that exist are very commonly used.

The usual way to express inequality is to place the adverbs más or menos (which themselves are the comparative forms of mucho and poco) before the adjective or adverb.

If one includes más and menos, there are only eight irregular comparative forms of adjectives and adverbs:

Adjective/Adverb –> Comparative form

* If the comparative más is followed by a number, the word de should replace que. That is, Tengo más de tres ("I have more than three.").
** Mayor and menor mean "older" and "younger," respectively. If one wishes to say "bigger" or "smaller," one uses más grande or más pequeño.

Comparisons of equality

When one wishes to compare adverbs or adjectives equally a special syntax is used in Spanish. Some examples in English are: She learns as quickly as he , They work as much as the managers, She is as happy as he is, The fish is as expensive as the meat, or That article is as long as the other one. The formula in Spanish is tan + adverb / adjective + como, and some examples are as follow:

It is also possible to construct comparisons of nouns with the following formula: tanto (a, os, as) + noun + como. In this construction it is important to remember that the word tanto must agree in number and gender with the word that it precedes.

Superlative degree of comparison

To form the superlative degree of comparison, e.g. the higest, the coldest, the most addled, etc. add the appropriate definite article before the modifier más or menos, followed by the adjective. If there is an explicit comparison, use de instead of que or en.

* Note the use of de.

See also