¡Hola! Welcome to a new grammar lesson. Today, we will learn how to make comparisons in Spanish using “más/menos + adjetivos + que” and “tan + adjetivo + como“. As usual, we will be using the grammar structure in several examples of sentences and nice illustrations. Besides, you will have the chance to practice with several interactive exercises about Spanish comparatives. Let’s get started…
The basic rules for making comparisons of inequality in Spanish
Being able to describe things is the first step to make comparisons in Spanish, which is why we will begin by talking about adjectives in Spanish. “Los adjetivos” are words that are used to describe things like the physical appearance and personality of people, the way places or any object looks like and so on. Adjectives are very commonly used along with verbs like “SER”, which is often used in its forms “ES” and “SON”, just like shown in these two sentences:
- Ella es alta. (She is tall)
- La ciudad es grande. (The city is big).
In order to make comparisons of inequality in Spanish, we will use the words MÁS (more) and MENOS (less) before adjectives like “alto” or “grande”, to say things like: “Más alto” (taller) and “Menos importante“ (less important). We will also have to add the equivalent for “THAN” after the adjectives, that is “QUE”, e.g. “Más alto que…” (taller than). Following this pattern, we could say things like:
- Aprender idiomas es menos complicado que aprender finanzas. (Learning languages is less complicated than learning finance.)
Pay attention to the chart with comparisons in Spanish in the image below and two examples of sentences using Spanish comparatives:
It is important to memorize the irregular form of a few comparatives, including the comparative form for the adjectives “bueno”, “malo” and others. For example, the adjective “bueno” (good) will be used as “mejor” (better) in its comparative form when indicating superior ability or appearance rather than “más bueno”, although “más bueno” will be used when referring to a comparison of generosity/kindness between people. Check the chart below and notice how some adjectives have irregular comparatives in Spanish.
| Original adjectives | Comparatives in Spanish |
|---|---|
| Alto | Más alto que / Menos alto que |
| Bonita | Más bonita que / Menos bonita que |
| Interesante | Más interesante que / Menos interesante que |
| Bueno | Mejor que |
| Malo | Peor que |
| Pequeño (for age) | Menor que |
| Grande | Mayor que |
Interactive exercise No. 1
Choose the sentence that uses comparatives in Spanish correctly in the following single choice interactive exercise.
The sentence structure behind comparisons of inequality in Spanish
Now, we will go into more details about the structure of sentences related to comparisons of inequality in Spanish. Most comparisons in Spanish will follow the structure presented in the picture below. Try to analyze the sample sentences in it as carefully as possible:
As you can see, the sentence structure for Spanish comparisons of inequality is very similar in both English and Spanish. If you want to make a negative sentence, then just place the word “NO” behind the main verb in the sentences, which could be SER (to be) or LUCIR (to look like), just like this:
- Él no es más alto que ella. (He is not taller than her.)
- Mis perros no son tan traviesos como mis gatos. (My dogs are not as naughty as my cats.)
Remember that when writing sentences in Spanish, nouns and adjectives must agree in gender and plural form with the noun they modify, for example:
- Singular adjective: “Él es más inteligente que ella” (He’s more intelligent than her.)
- Plural adjective: “Las chicas son más inteligentes que los chicos” (The girls are more intelligent than the boys.)
Interactive exercise No. 2
Look at these interactive flashcards and write the missing words below the cards to complete each sentence comparing these things or people in Spanish.
Regular and irregular comparatives in Spanish
There are many adjectives in Spanish that can be used with the structure above, but a few others need will change entirely, such as “bueno” (good) and “malo” (bad). This way, instead of saying “más bueno”, we must say “mejor” and instead of “más malo”, we must say “peor”. Read and listen to the following examples of comparisons of inequality in Spanish. Pay attention to the way you should adjust your sentences when using irregular comparatives.
| Alto (altura) – Marcos es más alto que Alan. Tall (height) – Mark is taller than Alan. |
| Alto (calidad/posición) – De estos dos materiales, ¿Cuál es de superior calidad? High (quality / position) – From these two materials, which one is of superior quality? |
| Bajo – Sebastián es más bajo que Alejandro. Short – Sebastian is shorter than Alejandro. |
| Bajo (calidad/posición) – ¿Qué cuartos hay en la parte inferior de la casa? Low (quality / position) – What rooms are in the lower part of the house? |
| Grande (edad) – Carlos tiene 2 años y Ramiro tiene 5. Ramiro es mayor que Carlos. Big (age) – Carlos is 2 years old and Ramiro is 5. Ramiro is older than Carlos. |
| Pequeño (edad) – ¿Quién es el menor? – Carlos es menor que Ramiro. Small (age) – Who is the youngest? – Carlos is younger than Ramiro. |
| Grande (tamaño) – Las ballenas azules son más grandes que los elefantes. Large (size) – Blue whales are larger than elephants. |
| Pequeño (tamaño) – Un teléfono móvil es más pequeño que una computadora. Small (size) – A mobile phone is smaller than a computer. |
| Bonito – ¿Cuál es el auto más bonito? – Mi auto es más bonito que el tuyo. Beautiful- What is the most beautiful car? – My car is more beautiful than yours. |
| Interesante – Este libro es más interesante que ese otro. Interesting – This book is more interesting than the other one. |
| Importante – Es más importante tener buena salud que tener dinero. Important – It is more important to be in good health than having money. |
| Poblado – Estados Unidos es menos poblado que China. Populated – The United States is less populated than China. |
| Inteligente – Donald es menos inteligente que tú. Intelligent – Donald is less intelligent than you. |
| Bueno – Las canciones de Luis son mejores que las canciones de Pablo. Good – Luis’s songs are better than Pablo’s songs. |
| Malo – Los dibujos de Ana son peores que los dibujos de Fernando. Malo – Ana’s drawings are worse than Fernando’s drawings. |
Interactive exercise No. 3
Drag and drop the correct comparatives in Spanish to the blank spaces so that these sentences make sense.
Using “TAN + Adjective + COMO” for comparisons of equality in Spanish
It is really common to say things like “Más interesante” or “Menos importante” when we make comparisons in Spanish. People will definitely use that structure a lot in daily conversations. However, people will also discuss how things are similar and that’s when we will need the structure “TAN + Adjectives/Adverbs + COMO”, which would be the equivalent to “As + adjectives/adverbs + as” from the English language. Check these two sentences:
- Él es tan guapo como un actor famoso. (He is as handsome as a famous actor).
- Alberto es tan rápido como Pedro. (Francisco is as tall as Pedro.)
When the word “TAN” is used by itself without “COMO” it has the same meaning as SO in English to emphasize a quality or trait, for example: “tan guapo” (so handsome). However, when used as TAN… COMO (“AS + adjective + as”), it will become a comparison between objects or people, just as shown in the examples in the following picture:
Read the following examples of sentences applying the rules to make comparisons of equality in Spanish using «TAN COMO» and notice how similar they are to their English translation.
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Fernando es tan alto como Francisco.
Fernando is as tall as Francisco.
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Ana es tan inteligente como Alberto.
Ana is as smart as Alberto.
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Mi trabajo es tan difícil como el tuyo.
My job is as difficult as yours.
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Una libra de oro pesa tanto como una libra de plumas.
A pound of gold weighs as much as a pound of feathers.
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Mi español es tan bueno como el tuyo.
My Spanish is as good as yours.
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¿Una gacela corre tan rápido como un leopardo?
Does a gazelle run as fast as a leopard?
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Interactive exercise No. 4
Fill in the blanks with the missing words to make comparative sentences with «TAN COMO» in Spanish, and then check your answers.
Using Adverbs with TAN COMO in Spanish
It is also possible to use adverbs for comparisons of equality in Spanish too. The difference is that we will not be comparing two things, but the way actions are performed by the subject of the sentence, for example:
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Ella dice que puede hablar español tan bien como habla inglés.
She says she can speak Spanish as well as she speaks English.
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María puede resolver estos ejercicios tan fácilmente como Ana.
Mary can solve these exercises as easily as Ana.
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Ella canta tan mal como una cabra.
She sings as badly as a goat.
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Notice that we did not say “habla tan bueno como…” because we have to use the adverb BIEN (well) instead of the adjective BUENO (good). It is almost the same with MALO (bad as an adjective) and MAL (badly), but “MAL” will become an adjective to be used instead of MALO only before masculine nouns, e.g. “Mal amigo” (bad friend) not “Malo amigo”. Other adverbs that could be used are “fácilmente, rápidamente, impecablemente” (easily, quickly, flawlessly) and many more. There are various ways to use these words to compare things in Spanish, as shown in these examples:
- “Ella canta tan bien como tú”. (“She sings as well as you.”)
- “Él conduce tan mal como Carlos.” (He drives as badly as Carlos.)
- “Puedo resolver esto tan eficientemente como tú.” (I can solve this as efficiently as you.)
The differences between TAN and TANTO in Spanish
The word TANTO can be translated into “So much”, “So many” and “As much”. For the purpose of comparing things in Spanish, we would think of TANTO as “as much”. Listen to the following examples:
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Karen estudia tanto como tú.
Karen studies as much as you do.
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A mis amigos les gusta el futbol tanto como a mí.
My friends like football as much as I do.
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Carlos tiene tantos amigos como Rodrigo.
Carlos has as many friends as Rodrigo.
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Notice that one of the main differences between TAN and TANTO in Spanish is that we will not use a noun after TANTO. Also, we will place the word COMO directly after TANTO or after a noun such as “amigos” (friends) or “dinero” (money), for example:
- “Yo estudio tanto como tú” (I study as much as you.)
- “Ella tiene tantas obligaciones como tú”. (She has as many obligations as you. )
Another difference is that TANTO may have a plural and feminine form depending on the nouns it accompanies, such as in “Tanto dinero” (singular and masculine form) and “Tantas amigas” (plural and feminine form).
To sum up, make sure to use TAN with adjectives and adverbs; and use TANTO with nouns, just like this:
- “Thomas es tan inteligente como tú.” (Thomas is as smart as you.)
- “Thomas tiene tanta inteligencia como tú”. (Thomas has as much intelligence as you.)
Interactive quiz No. 5
Follow the instructions and solve this pair of exercises on Spanish comparatives with “tan como” and “tanto como”.
Making comparisons of inequality in Spanish with other verbs
As shown in the examples, adjectives play a major role when making comparisons in Spanish. Most of the examples above made use of the verb SER, but we can definitely use other verbs, including the verb ESTAR for things that can change soon. Here are some examples:
- Pedro está más gordo que Pablo. (Pedro is more fat than Pablo)
- Vosotros estáis más ocupados que yo. (You are busier than me.)
- Irania corre más rápido que Eva. (Irania runs faster than Eva)
- José Luis dibuja mejor que Felipe. (José Luis draws better than Felipe.)
- La casa luce menos desarreglada que antes. (The house looks less messy than before.)
Finally, when using numbers to compare quantities, you need to add the preposition “de” before the number, just like this:
- La casa tiene más de diez cuartos. (The house has more than 10 rooms).
- He leído este libro más de cien veces (que tú)”. (I have read this book more than 100 times.)
Notice that we did not add QUE to the last two examples, as sometimes it is possible to omit the second part of the comparison if you have provided some context before, e.g. “Este libro es más interesante”.
Interactive quiz No. 6
It’s time to practice all the rules for comparisons of inequality in Spanish through a short interactive quiz.