Comparatives Español 1 – Unidad 3 lección 2

Learning Goal – Student will be able to make comparisons.  What is a comparative?  Comparatives are phrases that are used to make comparisons in Spanish.  We also use comparatives in English to make comparisons.  Example:  She is more intelligent than him.  Notice that we wrap the words more & than around the adjective “intelligent”

So, how do we make comparisons in Spanish?  More….than (Más...que)  We simply wrap más and que around the adjective. Example – El es más alto que yo. (He is taller than me.) Example – Yo soy más seria que ustedes. (I am more serious than you (plural) Note - The adjective always agrees with the subject that comes first in the sentence.

Less…than (menos...que)  Again, we wrap menos and que around the adjective. Example – Yo soy menos alto que tú. (I am less tall (shorter) than you. Example – Nosotros somos menos cómico s que mi mamá (We are less funny than my mom.) The adjective agrees with the subject that comes first!

Tan…como (as...as)  Wrap tan and como around the adjective. Example – Ella es tan baj a como nosotros. (She is as short as us.) Example – Nosotros somos tan inteligentes como el profesor. (We are as intelligent as the professor.)

Tanto/a/os/as…como (as many….as)  Tanto and como are wrapped around a noun.  Tanto must agree with the noun it is describing. Example: Hay tantas chicas como chicos en esta clase. (There are as many girls as boys in this class.)

Comparatives  You can also use these expressions without an adjective.   Example: Voy a la biblioteca más que al gimnasio. I go to the library more than to the gym.   ¿Te gusta hablar tanto como escuchar?  Do you like to talk as much as listen?

Irregular Comparatives  There are a few irregular comparative words (they don’t use más/menos). They need to agree with the noun in number.  They are :  Mayor = older  Menor = younger  Mejor = better  Peor = worse They agree in number with the subject. Add an “es” to make them plural.

Examples  Mi primo habla el español mejor que mi hijo.  Mis tíos son mayores que mi tía.  Mi clase de español es mejor que mi clase de matemáticas.  Mi clase de historia es peor que mi clase de ciencias.  My cousin speaks Spanish better than my son.  My uncles are older than my aunt.  My Spanish class is better than my math class.  My history class is worse than my science class.