You have to know how to make comparisons in Spanish to make decisions.<\/p>\n
Should you move to Spain<\/a> or Argentina?<\/a> Would you rather eat churros<\/em> and chocolate or dulce de leche<\/em> ice cream?<\/a><\/p>\n With this blog post, learn the nine Spanish comparative phrases, how to make comparisons correctly, as well as ways to practice.<\/p>\n [fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Meaning: <\/strong>more\/less than<\/p>\n This phrase is used when you want to say one thing is more or less than another.<\/p>\n The first way you can use this formula is with adjectives.<\/strong> This means “someone is more\/less (adjective) than someone else.”<\/p>\n Jose es m\u00e1s<\/strong>\u00a0alto\u00a0que<\/strong> Ana. \u00a0Argentina es m\u00e1s<\/strong> grande que<\/strong> Espa\u00f1a. Meaning: <\/strong>“more\/less than [action]”<\/p>\n This phrase is used to describe differences in how something is done.<\/p>\n This phrase needs the help of an adverb, which is\u00a0a word that ends in -mente<\/em> in Spanish (or,\u00a0-ly<\/em> in English).<\/p>\n \u00a0Ella escribe m\u00e1s<\/strong> lentamente<\/strong> que nosotros. \u00a0Yo hablo m\u00e1s<\/strong> r\u00e1pidamente<\/strong> que Juan. \u00a0Jorge canta m\u00e1s<\/strong> ruidosamente<\/strong> que yo. <\/em> It’s also important to note that just like in English, some adverbs in Spanish have an irregular form in spoken language.<\/p>\n \u00a0Corro r\u00e1pidamente<\/em>\u00a0\u2192 \u00a0Corro r\u00e1pido <\/strong><\/em> \u00a0Camino lentamente<\/em>\u00a0\u2192 \u00a0Camino lento<\/strong><\/em> Bailas incre\u00edblemente<\/em>\u00a0\u2192 \u00a0Bailas incre\u00edble<\/strong><\/em> Meaning:<\/strong> “more\/less of something than”\u00a0<\/p>\n This phrase is used to express that someone has more of something<\/em> than someone else.<\/p>\n \u00a0Juan tiene m\u00e1s<\/strong> autos que<\/strong> Josefina. \u00a0Tengo menos<\/strong>\u00a0libros\u00a0que<\/strong> Juan. Meaning:<\/strong> “more\/less than [number]”<\/p>\n This phrase is used to describe the amount of something.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0Esa camisa cuesta\u00a0m\u00e1s de<\/strong> $20. \u00a0Quedan menos de<\/strong> diez galletas. The exception to this is when you’re saying you don’t<\/em> have a certain number of something as a negative. In this situation, you use que<\/em> to essentially mean “no more than [number].”<\/p>\n \u00a0No<\/strong> tengo m\u00e1s que<\/strong> diez d\u00f3lares.\u00a0 \u00a0Ella no<\/strong> tiene m\u00e1s que<\/strong> un hijo.<\/em>\u00a0 Meaning:<\/strong> “the most\/the least”<\/p>\n This phrase describes something that is the most or the least.\u00a0<\/p>\n Spanish uses the pronouns lo\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0la<\/em> when you’re not using the noun directly. So el\/la\/lo<\/em> m\u00e1s <\/em>means “the most” and el\/la\/lo menos<\/em> means “the least.”<\/p>\n \u00a0Esta frase es\u00a0la m\u00e1s<\/strong> \u00fatil de todas.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00c9l es el<\/strong>\u00a0menos<\/strong>\u00a0alborotador de la clase.\u00a0 \u00a0Lo m\u00e1s <\/strong>gracioso de la pel\u00edcula fue la canci\u00f3n del villano. Meaning:<\/strong> “the most\/the least”<\/p>\n This phrase describes something or someone that is the most or least of something.<\/p>\n When you’re not replacing the noun, you can use the regular definite articles\u00a0el<\/em> and\u00a0la\u00a0<\/em>followed by\u00a0m\u00e1s\/menos<\/em>.<\/p>\n By adding\u00a0de<\/em>, it’s like saying “the most” or “the least”\u00a0of something<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00c9l es el<\/strong> chico m\u00e1s<\/strong> lindo de<\/strong> la escuela. \u00a0Ella es la<\/strong> jugadora m\u00e1s<\/strong> r\u00e1pida del<\/strong> equipo. Meaning:<\/strong> “the best\/the worst”<\/p>\n This phrase is used to describe someone or something that is the best or worst.<\/p>\n Two extremely useful\u00a0superlatives you’ll definitely need are:<\/p>\n el\/la mejor; los\/las mejores<\/strong><\/em> (pl.) <\/strong>\u2014 <\/em>the best<\/p>\n el\/la peor; los\/las peores <\/strong><\/em>(pl.) <\/strong>\u2014 <\/em>the worst<\/p>\n \u00a0De todos estos libros, este es el<\/strong> mejor. \u00a0Gracias, Karen, eres la<\/strong> mejor. Sometimes, you’ll see the article\u00a0lo<\/em> used before\u00a0mejor<\/em> or\u00a0peor<\/em>.<\/p>\n This is because\u00a0lo<\/em> is used with uncountable nouns to mean “the best\/worst thing<\/em><\/strong>,” while el\/la<\/em> have the same function, but for countable nouns, as in “the best\/worst one<\/strong><\/em>.”<\/p>\n \u00a0Comer cuando uno tiene hambre es lo mejor.<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0La lluvia es lo<\/strong> peor. \u00a0 As you can see, you can’t count rain or eating, which is why we have to use\u00a0lo<\/em> instead of\u00a0el<\/em> or\u00a0la<\/em>.<\/p>\n Not sure who’s better looking? Are those two restaurants more or less the same? You might want to use comparisons of equality.<\/p>\n Meaning:<\/strong> “as\/as”<\/p>\n This phrase is used to describe the equality of two things (or people).<\/p>\n \u00a0Ella es tan<\/strong> linda como<\/strong> su hermana. \u00a0Juan es tan<\/strong> rico como<\/strong> Josefina. \u00a0El tiempo est\u00e1\u00a0tan<\/strong>\u00a0lluvioso hoy\u00a0como<\/strong>\u00a0ayer.\u00a0 \u00a0No puedo comer tan<\/strong> r\u00e1pido como<\/strong> t\u00fa. Meaning:<\/strong> “as much as”<\/p>\n Use this phrase to say two things are equal.<\/p>\n The only tricky thing to remember here is to make sure that tanto\/a<\/em> agrees with your noun, so it needs to be either masculine or feminine, and singular or plural.<\/p>\n \u00a0Josefina\u00a0tiene tantos<\/strong> libros como<\/strong> Juan. \u00a0Hay\u00a0tanta<\/strong>\u00a0lluvia hoy\u00a0como<\/strong> ayer.\u00a0 \u00a0Elisa comi\u00f3\u00a0tantas<\/strong>\u00a0hamburguesas\u00a0como<\/strong>\u00a0Luis.\u00a0 For verbs, you don’t need to worry about making anything agree. You can just use verb + tanto <\/em>+ como.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0Yo entiendo tanto<\/strong> como<\/strong> ella. Other ways to make comparisons of inequality are to use various descriptive phrases.<\/p>\n \u00a0Son muy differentes \u00a0Son opuestos \u00a0No se los puede comparar To say things are the same and avoid all the tanto\u00a0<\/em>malarkey, you can simply say:<\/p>\n \u00a0Son iguales \u00a0 \u00a0Son lo mismo \u00a0Son m\u00e1s o menos lo mismo Of course, using these last few expressions won’t give you the chance to show off your Spanish, but they may be useful to end a particularly tiresome debate about which Netflix series<\/a> is better, which restaurant serves the best type of fries or which flavor of candy is the tastiest.<\/p>\nHow to Use Spanish Comparatives of Inequality<\/h2>\n
M<\/em>\u00e1s\/menos<\/em> + adjective + que<\/em><\/h3>\n
\n<\/em>(Jose is taller than Ana.)<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(Argentina is bigger than Spain.)<\/p>\nM\u00e1s\/menos<\/em> + adverb + que<\/em>\u00a0<\/h3>\n
\n<\/em>(She writes slower than we do.)<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(I talk faster than Juan.)
\n<\/i><\/p>\n
\n<\/i>(Jorge sings louder than me).<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(I run fast)<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(I walk slow)<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(You’re a great dancer\/You dance great)<\/p>\nM\u00e1s\/menos <\/em>+ noun +\u00a0que<\/em><\/h3>\n
\n<\/em>(Juan has more cars than Josefina.)<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(I have fewer books than Juan.)<\/p>\nM\u00e1s\/menos + de<\/em><\/h3>\n
\n<\/em>(That shirt costs more than $20.)<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(There are fewer than 10 cookies left.)<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(I only have 10 dollars. \/ I have no more than 10 dollars.)<\/p>\n
\n<\/i>(She only has one son. \/ She has no more than one son.)<\/p>\nHow to Use Superlatives in Spanish<\/h2>\n
El\/la\/lo + m\u00e1s\/menos<\/em><\/h3>\n
\n<\/em>(This sentence is the most helpful of all.)<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(He\u2019s the least disruptive in the class.)<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(The funniest [part] of the movie was the villain’s song.)<\/p>\nEl\/la <\/em>+ noun + m\u00e1s\/menos <\/em>+ adjective + de<\/em><\/h3>\n
\n<\/em>(He is the best-looking boy in school.)<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(She is the fastest player on the team.)<\/p>\nEl\/la <\/em>+\u00a0mejor\/peor<\/em><\/h3>\n
\n<\/em>(Of all these books, this is the best [one].)<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(Thanks, Karen, you’re the best [one].)<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(Eating when you’re hungry is the best [thing]).<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(The rain is the worst [thing]).<\/p>\nHow to Use Spanish Comparisons of Equality<\/h2>\n
Tan<\/em> + adjective\/adverb + como<\/em><\/h3>\n
\n<\/em>(She is as beautiful as her sister.)<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(Juan is just as rich as Josefina.)<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(The weather is as rainy today as yesterday.)<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(I can’t eat as fast as you.)<\/p>\nTanto<\/em> + noun + como<\/em><\/h3>\n
\n<\/em>(Josefina has as many books as Juan).<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(There is as much rain today as yesterday.)<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(Elisa ate as many hamburgers as Luis.)<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(I understand as much as she does.)<\/p>\nOther Expressions to Make Comparisons in Spanish<\/h2>\n
\n<\/em>(They are very different)<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(They are the opposite)<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(They can’t be compared)<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(They’re the same)<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(They’re the same)<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(They’re more or less the same)<\/p>\nHow to Get Solid Spanish Comparisons Practice<\/h2>\n
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