Comparatives Realidades 6A gramática

What are comparisons? Comparisons are made when one object/one group is compared to another object/group and a difference is apparent. Comparisons are between 2 things, groups, ideas, or concepts.

Comparison formula Comparisons that are regular have the same pattern: más/menos + adjective + que más = more menos = less que = than [notice… no accent!]

Comparison The boy is taller than the girl. This is a comparison of two people. It will use the formula más + adjective + que Taller is not a word in Spanish– so comparative words that end in –er in English are made by saying más + the adjective in Spanish. taller = more tall = más alto

Comparison The boy is taller than the girl más + adjective + que El chico es más alto que la chica. Make sure the adjective agrees in number and gender with the subject. (Notice the verb ser = es.) el chico = alto

Comparisons The cats are smaller than the dogs. más + adjective + que Los gatos son más pequeños que los perros. Make sure the adjective agrees in number and gender. (Notice the verb ser = son.) los gatos = pequeños

Comparison The boy is taller than the girl más + adjective + que El chico es más alto que la chica. Make sure the adjective agrees in number and gender with the subject. There is a second way of saying this: use menos El chico es menos bajo que la chica.

Comparisons - irregulars There are 4 irregulars: viejo, vieja old jovenyoung malo, mala(mal)bad (badly) bueno, buena (bien)good (well) These are the adjectives or adverbs that you will see in the sentence.

Comparisons - irregular viejo = old mayor = older My grandfather is older than my grandmother. Mi abuelo es mayor que mi abuela. NOTICE: This sentence does not use más or menos. With irregulars, you do not need to say more or less because it is already in the word = older.

Comparisons - irregular joven=young menor = younger The student is younger than the teacher. El estudiante es menor que el profesor. NOTICE: This sentence does not use más or menos. With irregulars, you do not need to say more or less because it is already in the word = younger.

Comparisons The cats are smaller than the dogs. más + adjective + que Los gatos son más pequeños que los perros. Make sure the adjective agrees in number and gender. There is a second way of saying this: use menos Los gatos son menos grandes que los perros.

Comparisons - irregular malo, mal=bad (badly) peor = worse The rain is worse than the snow. La lluvia es peor que la nieve. NOTICE: This sentence does not use más or menos. With irregulars, you do not need to say more or less because it is already in the word = worse.

Comparisons - irregular bueno, bien=good (well) mejor = better The pen writes better than the pencil. El bolígrafo escribe mejor que el lápiz. NOTICE: This sentence does not use más or menos. With irregulars, you do not need to say more or less because it is already in the word = better.

Comparison Más que and menos que can also be used to compare nouns. Sara tiene más libros que Juan. Sara has more books than Juan. Juan tiene menos libros que Sara. Juan has less (fewer) books than Sara. Hay más chicos que chicas (en la clase). There are more boys than girls in the class.

Comparisons Both más que and menos que also can be used with infinitives that function as nouns. Me gusta nadar más que estudiar. I like to swim more than to study. Me gusta ver la tele menos que escuchar mi !pod. I like less to watch T.V. than to listen to my !pod.