Language/Spanish/Grammar/Comaratives-and-Superlatives
(Comparativos y Superlativos)
Comparatives and superlatives are used to make comparisons. They are a very important part of the grammar, and they are necessary when we want to express the equality or inequality of two or more nouns/pronouns or groups of nouns/pronouns. So this article is to explain how they are used in the Spanish language.
Comparatives[edit | edit source]
There are two kinds of comparatives.
Inequality comparatives[edit | edit source]
The structure for using inequality comparatives in Spanish is:
- Más [adjective / noun / adverb] que... (more [...] than).
- Menos [adjective / noun / adverb] que... (less [...] than).
Examples:
- Armando es más fuerte que Pedro (Armando is stronger than Pedro).
- Nosotros tenemos menos dinero que ellos (We have less money than them).
Equality comparatives[edit | edit source]
For the equality comparatives the structure is:
- Tan [adjective / adverb] como... / Igual de [adjective / adverb] que... (as [...] as).
Examples:
- México es tan hermoso como España (Mexico is as beautiful as Spain).
- El libro es igual de bueno que la película (The book is as good as the film).
Superlatives[edit | edit source]
There are two kinds of superlatives:
Relative superlatives[edit | edit source]
The structure for this kind of superlative is:
- [Article] [noun] más [adjective] de... (the most [...] of).
- [Article] [noun] menos [adjective] de... (the least [...] of).
NOTES: Remember that the article will depend of the gender and the number of the noun / pronoun used. The noun is optional in this structure if the context allows us to infere it. The noun can be placed either before the particle más / menos or after the adjective.
Examples:
- Gabriela es la (estudiante) más lista de su clase (Gabriela is the smartest (student) of her class).
- Alejandro Magno es considerado uno de los más grandes (generales) de la historia (Alexander the Great is considered one of the greatest (generals) of history).
Absolute superlatives[edit | edit source]
Also known as the -ísimo adjectives.
- [Adjective] + ísimo / ísima / ísimos / ísimas.
NOTE: The usage of ísimo / ísima / ísimos / ísimas will depend of the gender and number of the noun / pronoun.
Example:
- Esta comida está buena (this food is good) >> Esta comida está buenísima (this food is so good).
Other Lessons[edit | edit source]
- Los pronombres personales
- Questions
- ¿Pluscuamperfecto?
- Simple Future Tense
- Possessive Pronouns
- Adjectives
- Present Progressive
- Conditional Mood
- El Verboide
- Negation