Comparatives and Superlatives

To say one thing has more or less of a quality than another, Spanish uses a simple frame around the adjective:

más + adjective + que = more … than · menos + adjective + que = less … than

The adjective still agrees with the first noun (the subject).

Spanish	English
Ana es más alta que Luis.	Ana is taller than Luis.
Este libro es menos interesante que ese.	This book is less interesting than that one.
Mis hermanas son más habladoras que yo.	My sisters are more talkative than me.

Notice English often uses "-er" (taller, faster), but Spanish builds most comparisons with más plus the plain adjective: más rápido (faster), más grande (bigger). (A few irregular adjectives are the exception — see the next slide.)

After que, use a subject pronoun: más alto que yo (taller than me), más joven que él (younger than him).

To say two things are the same in some way, Spanish has two structures depending on whether you are comparing an adjective or a noun.

With an adjective or adverb — use tan … como (as … as):

Spanish	English
Soy tan alto como mi padre.	I am as tall as my father.
Ella corre tan rápido como tú.	She runs as fast as you.

With a noun — use tanto/a/os/as … como (as much/many … as). Here tanto agrees with the noun:

Spanish	English
Tengo tanto dinero como tú.	I have as much money as you.
Hay tantas casas como antes.	There are as many houses as before.

So tan stays fixed before an adjective, while tanto changes its ending to match the noun that follows it.

Four common adjectives do not use más. They have their own comparative form, and using más with them is an error.

Adjective	Irregular comparative	Meaning
bueno (good)	mejor	better
malo (bad)	peor	worse
grande (big/old)	mayor	bigger / older
pequeño (small/young)	menor	smaller / younger

Worked examples:

• Esta película es mejor que la otra. (This film is better than the other.)
• Mi nota es peor que la tuya. (My mark is worse than yours.)
• Mi hermano mayor tiene 18 años. (My older brother is 18.)
• Soy menor que mi prima. (I am younger than my cousin.)

Mejor and peor have one form for masculine and feminine, adding -es for the plural: los mejores resultados (the best results). Mayor and menor are most often used for age.

The superlative picks out the top or bottom of a group ("the tallest", "the least expensive"). Build it with the definite article plus más or menos:

el / la / los / las + más / menos + adjective (+ de)

The little word de translates the English in or of.

Spanish	English
Es el chico más alto de la clase.	He is the tallest boy in the class.
Son las casas menos caras del pueblo.	They are the least expensive houses in the town.
Madrid es la ciudad más grande de España.	Madrid is the biggest city in Spain.

The irregular comparatives also form superlatives, keeping their special word:

• el mejor jugador del equipo — the best player in the team
• la peor película del año — the worst film of the year

Remember to use de, not en, for "in" after a superlative.

To say something is very or extremely — without comparing it to anything — add the ending -ísimo to the adjective. It agrees with the noun like any adjective (-ísimo, -ísima, -ísimos, -ísimas).

Drop the final vowel first, then add the ending:

Adjective	Absolute superlative	Meaning
guapo	guapísimo	extremely good-looking
grande	grandísimo	huge
fácil	facilísimo	very easy

Some adjectives change spelling to keep their sound:

Adjective	Change	Result
rico	c → qu	riquísimo (delicious)
largo	g → gu	larguísimo (very long)
feliz	z → c	felicísimo (very happy)

La comida está riquísima (the food is delicious) shows the ending agreeing with a feminine noun. Note that facilísimo loses the accent of fácil, because the stress moves onto the -ísimo.

Before a number, "more than" and "less than" use de, not que:

Spanish	English
Tengo más de veinte libros.	I have more than twenty books.
Cuesta menos de diez euros.	It costs less than ten euros.

Compare this with que used before a noun or pronoun: más libros que tú (more books than you). The rule is simple: de before a number, que before anything else.

(Higher tier) You can also form superlatives of adverbs: lo más rápido posible (as fast as possible), using the neuter lo. And mayor / menor can compare size or importance, not just age: un problema mayor (a bigger problem).

1. Using más with the irregular adjectives

Say mejor, peor, mayor and menor on their own. Más bueno and más malo are wrong for comparisons of quality; use mejor and peor.

2. Mixing up tan and tanto

Use tan before an adjective (tan alto como) and tanto/a/os/as before a noun (tanta paciencia como). Tanto must agree with the noun.

3. Forgetting the article in the superlative

The superlative needs el, la, los or las: el chico más alto, not chico más alto.

4. Using en instead of de after a superlative

"The tallest in the class" is el más alto de la clase. Spanish uses de, never en, to mean "in" here.

5. Choosing que instead of de before a number

Before a number, use de: más de cien personas (more than a hundred people). Keep que for comparisons with a noun or pronoun.