Comparisons in Spanish - Notes

Comparisons in Spanish

• Purpose of Comparisons:

  • Both Spanish and English employ comparisons to showcase degrees of inequality (lesser or greater amounts) and equality (similar amounts).

• Types of Comparisons:

  • Inequality Comparisons:
  • Formed by using "más" (more) or "menos" (less) followed by an adjective, adverb, or noun and "que" (than).
  • Example structures:
    • $ext{más/menos} + [ ext{adjective/adverb/noun}] + ext{que}$
  • Examples:
    • "Estas uvas son menos ricas que esa pera." (These grapes are less tasty than that pear.)
    • "Los bistecs son más caros que el pollo." (Steaks are more expensive than chicken.)

• Note on English vs. Spanish:

  • English uses comparative forms (e.g., taller), while Spanish does not; use "más alto" instead.

• Numerical Comparisons:

  • When comparing numerical expressions, use "de" instead of "que".
  • Example structures:
    • "Llego en menos de diez minutos." (I’ll be there in less than ten minutes.)
    • "Hay más de cincuenta naranjas." (There are more than fifty oranges.)

• Verbal Comparisons:

  • To make comparisons using verbs, the structure is:
  • $[ ext{verb}] + ext{más/menos que}$
  • Examples:
    • "Arturo duerme menos que su padre." (Arturo sleeps less than his father.)
    • "Mis hermanos comen más que yo." (My brothers eat more than I.)

• Equality Comparisons:

  • Structure for comparisons of equality:
  • $ext{tan} + [ ext{adjective/adverb}] + ext{como}$ or $ext{tanto/a(s)} + [ ext{singular/plural noun}] + ext{como}$
  • Examples:
    • "Yo probé tantos platos como él." (I tried as many dishes as he did.)
    • "Estas uvas son tan ricas como aquéllas." (These grapes are as tasty as those ones.)

• Emphasis with Tan and Tanto:

  • Tan and tanto can also be used for emphasis rather than comparison:
  • Examples:
    • "¡Comes tantas manzanas!" (You eat so many apples!)
    • "¡Tu almuerzo es tan grande!" (Your lunch is so big!)

• Equality with Verbs:

  • To form comparisons of equality involving verbs, use the structure:
  • $[ ext{verb}] + ext{tanto como}$
  • Examples:
    • "Ellos hablan tanto como mis hermanas." (They talk as much as my sisters.)
    • "No estudio tanto como Felipe." (I don’t study as much as Felipe.)

• Irregular Comparative Forms:

  • Some adjectives have irregular forms in both languages.
  • Adjectives and their irregular comparative forms:
    • bueno/a → mejor (better)
    • malo/a → peor (worse)
    • grande → mayor (older) / más grande (bigger)
    • pequeño/a → menor (younger) / más pequeño (smaller)

• Use of Bien and Mal:

  • The adverbs "bien" and "mal" have irregular forms similar to the adjectives:
  • Examples:
    • "Ellas cantan peor que las otras chicas." (They sing worse than the other girls.)
    • "Julio nada mejor que los otros chicos." (Julio swims better than the other boys.)

• Practice Exercise:

  • Write the equivalents of the following in Spanish:
  1. Ernesto mira más televisión ___ (than) Alberto.
  2. Tú eres ___ (less) simpático que Federico.
  3. La camarera sirve ___ (as much) carne como pescado.
  4. Conozco ___ (more) restaurantes que tú.
  5. No estudio ___ (as much as) tú.
  6. ¿Sabes jugar al tenis tan bien ___ (as) tu hermana?
  7. ¿Puedes beber ___ (as many) refrescos como yo?
  8. Mis amigos parecen ___ (as) simpáticos como ustedes.