8.6: Comparaciones
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Objetivos
Compare two things using comparative expressions
Comparaciones de igualdad
¿What grammatical structures do we use to compare two people or things that have equal or similar qualities? In English we use the formula “as” + adjective/adverb + “as.” Here is the formula and some examples in Spanish:
Tan + (adjetivo/adverbio) + como
- Un enfermero es tan importante como un médico. ( A nurse is as important as a doctor. )
- Gina Rodríguez actúa tan bien como America Ferrera. ( Gina Rodriguez acts just as well as America Ferrera. )
Spanish and English follow a similar pattern for adjectives and adverbs but comparing nouns is different. The formula is similar, but now instead of “tan” we use the word “tanto”. “Tanto” is functioning as an adjective and as we learned in Unidad 2, adjectives need to agree in gender and in number with the nouns that they modify. Therefore, the formula is as follows:
| tanto + | (masculine singular noun) + | como |
| tanta + | (feminine singular noun) + | como |
| tantos + | (masculine plural noun) + | como |
| tantas + | (feminine plural noun) + | como |
- El músico tiene tantos instrumentos como el cantante. ( The musician has as many instruments as the singer .)
- El ingeniero tiene tantas máquinas como el mecánico. ( The engineer has as many machines as the mechanic .)
- El trabajador social tiene tanta paciencia como el psicólogo. ( The social worker has as much patience as the psychologist. )
To compare two actions, the structure is simply:
(Verbo) + tanto como
Comparaciones de desigualdad
In English, we typically add “-er” to an adjective and combine it with the word “than” to make unequal comparisons between two items. But if we have an adjective with more than two syllables in English we have to add “more.”
This is similar to Spanish where you always add “más” ( more ) in front of the adjective, the quality that is the point of comparison. However, we do not need to limit ourselves to saying “más”, we can also use “menos”. And instead of “than” we’ll use “que”. ¡Ojo! There’s no accent mark on “que” in comparisons, these are not questions. Therefore, the formula for comparisons of inequality is as follows:
más
+ (
adjective
) +
que
menos
+ (
adjective
) +
que
As always, there are no hard-and-fast grammar rules: there are some irregular adjectives when making comparisons.
joven:
menor
(
younger
)
viejo:
mayor
(
older
)
Ejemplos:
- Eva Longoria es más baja que Jennifer Lopez. ( Eva Longoria is shorter than Jennifer Lopez. )
- Camila Cabello es menor que mi hermano menor. ( Camila Cabello is younger than my younger brother .)
The same formula works for adverbs as well in comparisons of inequality:
más
+ (
adverb
) +
que
menos
+ (
adverb
) +
que
And of course, there are some “irregular” adverbs when making comparisons.
bien:
mejor
(
better
)
mal:
peor
(
worse
)
Ejemplos:
- Yo ahorro dinero más lentamente que mi hermana. ( I save money slower than my sister. )
- Esa peluquera me corta el pelo peor que mi mamá. ( That hairdresser cuts my hair worse than my mother. )
Nouns are compared in the same way:
más
+ (
noun
) +
que
menos
+ (
noun
) +
que
Ejemplos:
- Rita Moreno tiene más premios que Sofía Vergara. ( Rita Moreno has more awards than Sofia Vergara. )
- La enfermera estudia menos años que la médica. ( The nurse studies for fewer years than the doctor .)
For inequality with verbs, be sure to switch the order of the words, as below:
verbo +
más que
verbo +
menos que
Ejemplos:
- Ella camina más que yo. ( She walks more than I do .)
- La secretaria cobra menos que la abogada. ( The secretary charges less than the lawyer. )
When we compare nouns with numbers, using the number as a reference point for the more or less statement, we switch the “que” to “de”.
más de
+ número
menos de
+ número
Ejemplos:
Attributions
- Authored by : SUNY Oneonta with Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
- Espau00f1a: Tan singular como plural. Located at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-O9futG7O4 . License : All Rights Reserved . License Terms : Screen grab / Fair Use