How To Master The 3 Types Of Comparatives In Spanish

If you're learning Spanish and have strong opinions and like to pretend you're a movie, music or food critic in your daily life (or perhaps you are actually one), keep reading! This Spanish lesson is much better than the rest of the lot.

In this article, you're going to focus on comparatives in Spanish, meaning words like “bigger” and “better”, including when to use them, how to form them and plenty of examples to use in conversation!

If you prefer watching videos to reading, you can check out this video from our YouTube channel, where our teacher Melina will tell you an interesting story, featuring comparatives in Spanish.

You’ll like it more than other videos on the subject, I am sure of it! That was another example of a comparative by the way!

What Are Comparatives In Spanish?

Comparatives in Spanish help us link two things through a common trait.

One of these two items has to be superior, inferior or equal to the second one so we can compare them – either because they are similar or because something makes them different.

You can compare people, animals, objects, activities, places, etcetera. The sky's the limit! 

For example, if you want to compare artists from the music industry, you can compare them by stating which one is younger, more talented, more successful and who innovates in their field more.

Because I love Shakira, here are some example phrases that compare her with Spanish singer Rosalía (who I also love, but not as much!):

• Shakira es menos joven que Rosalía. (Shakira is less young than Rosalía.)
• Rosalía es tan talentosa como Shakira. (Rosalía is as talented as Shakira.)
• Shakira es más exitosa que Rosalía. (Shakira is more successful than Rosalía.)
• Hoy, Rosalía innova con su música más que Shakira, pero Shakira innovó mucho cuando era más joven. (Today, Rosalía innovates with her music more than Shakira, but Shakira innovated a lot when she was younger.)

As you can see, comparatives in Spanish work in similar ways to their English equivalents, although there are a few particularities to be aware of. Let's take a look then at the three types of Spanish comparatives and how to form and use them.

3 Types Of Comparatives In Spanish

There are 3 comparative structures you'll need in order to express your opinions freely: comparisons of superiority, comparisons of inferiority and comparisons of equality. 

1. Comparisons Of Superiority

This type of Spanish comparison allows us to emphasise that an object, person or situation possesses a quality or characteristic to a greater extent than another.

When you use comparatives (adjectives that allow us to compare), you need the verbs ser or estar along with this structure:

Ser/Estar + Más + Adjective + Que

Keep in mind you’ll have to respect the gender and number agreement between the first term of the comparison and the comparative adjectives you choose.

You can find this structure in the following sentences:

• La película Nueve Reinas es más divertida que Amores Perros. (The film Nueve Reinas is more fun than Amores Perros.)
• ¡Tu hija está más alta que la mía! (Your daughter is taller than mine!)

You can also compare two elements by using a structure that focuses on the action you want to highlight, like so:

Verb + Más + Que

Here are some examples that follow this structure:

• Yo como más que mi novia. (I eat more than my girlfriend.)
• Ella corre más que yo. (She runs more than me.)

Apart from these two structures, we can compare two elements via a noun or an adverb, but these are used to modify a verb in particular, like so:

Verb + Más + Noun/Adverb + Que

You can find this comparative structure in the following sentences:

• Yo tomo más cerveza que mi padre (I drink more beer than my dad).
• ¿Ves más películas que Amalia? (Do you watch more films than Amalia?).

2. Comparisons Of Inferiority

If you wish to highlight the lesser half of the comparison, you can use this type of Spanish comparative, which shares a similar structure to the ones you've seen so far:

Ser/Estar + Menos + Adjective + Que

As you can see, you just need to use menos instead of más, like in these examples:

• Mi mascota es menos grande que la tuya. (My pet is less big than yours.)
• Rosa está menos loca que Tatiana. (Rosa is less crazy than Tatiana.)

Of course you can also compare different actions. You just need to follow this structure:

Verb + Menos + Que

Here are some example sentences for you to use:

• El atleta irlandés sonríe menos que el Peruano. (The Irish athlete smiles less than the Peruvian athlete.)
• ¿Hoy te maquillas menos que antes? (Are you wearing less make-up today than before?)

And what about nouns and Spanish adverbs? Well, you can also use them in this type of comparison, like so:

Verb + Menos + Noun/Adverb + Que

Learn how to use this structure with these examples:

• Mi nieto escucha menos música que mi nieta. (My grandson listens to less music than my granddaughter.)
• Sus padres pelean menos intensamente que los míos. (Her parents quarrel less intensely than mine.)

3. Comparisons Of Equality

Now that you've seen the other two comparisons, you're ready to learn the final one that helps us to state that two elements share the same quality or trait.

In other words, comparisons of equality help us to level the qualities between two elements, highlighting their similarity. The structure that you’ll need to use includes the words tan, igual and como:

Ser/Estar + Tan + Adjective + Como

As you can see, the word que has been replaced by como, and the word más/menos has to be replaced by tan, like in these examples:

• ¿Acaso estás tan cansada como yo? (Are you as tired as I am?)
• Mi gato es tan gordo como mi perro. (My cat is as fat as my dog.)

Another possible structure to compare via Spanish adjectives includes the word igual:

Ser/Estar + Igual De + Adjective + Que

If you decide to use this structure, you're going to need the word que again, not como:

• Mariela está igual de sorprendida que tú. (Mariela is just as surprised as you are.)
• ¡Eres igual de testarudo que tu hermano! (You are just as stubborn as your brother is!)

Now, if you wish to compare two elements via a verb, you’ll have to use the word tanto, with an O:

Verb + Tanto + Como

• Tu perro Max ladra tanto como mi perro Pelusa. (My dog Max barks as much as my dog Pelusa does.)
• Graciela ejercita tanto como otros corredores del torneo. (Graciela exercises as much as other runners in the tournament.)

In this type of comparison, nouns and adverbs follow a different structure. Let’s start with the one for the nouns, which includes the word tanto, tantos, tanta or tantas depending on the noun’s gender and number:

Verb + Tanto/Tantos/Tanta/Tantas + Noun + Como

Here are some example sentences you can learn:

• Mi sobrino come tantos dulces como tu hijo menor. (My cousin eats as much candy as your youngest son.)
• Ayer vi tantas películas como hoy. (Yesterday I watched as many movies as today.)

Now, moving on to adverbs, you’ll need to learn this structure:

Verb + Tan + Adverb + Como

For example, we can say:

• Ana nada tan velozmente como sus compañeras de equipo. (Ana swims as fast as her teammates.)
• Horacio canta tan dulcemente como Julián. (Horacio sings as sweetly as Julián.)

Irregular Comparatives In Spanish

Just like in English, there are some irregular comparatives in Spanish you should keep an eye on in order to speak Spanish correctly.

These words are:

• Más grande → Mayor (Older)
• Más pequeño/a → Menor (Younger)
• Más bueno/a → Mejor (Better)
• Más malo/a → Peor (Worse)

The structure you’ll need to use is the following:

Verb + Mayor/Menor/Mejor/Peor + Que

Let me give you some examples before we finish:

• Juan Fermín es mayor que Rodrigo. (Juan Fermín is older than Rodrigo.)
• Lucila es menor que su hermana Clara. (Lucila is younger than her sister Clara.)

• Mi guitarra suena mejor que la tuya. (My guitar sounds better than yours.)
• Trabajar es peor que estudiar. (Working is worse than studying.)

Master Comparatives In Spanish Through Story

And that’s a wrap on Spanish comparatives!

That was quite a lot of grammar in one go. But as you can see, Spanish comparatives are similar in structure in many ways to English ones. So getting your head around them shouldn't be too difficult and will help you level up your Spanish fast.

Otherwise, the best way to pick up comparatives in Spanish is to follow the rules of StoryLearning and read in Spanish. As you read short stories in Spanish at your level, you'll see comparatives again and again and they'll quickly become second nature.

And if you still need a bit of help to master comparatives and other aspects of Spanish grammar thanks to a story, not rules, then Spanish Uncovered can help. Get your free 7-day trial of the course here.