Comparing Everyday Things with Más, Menos, and Tan in Spanish
Comparing Everyday Things with Más, Menos, and Tan in Spanish
In this lesson, you will compare two people or things using más...que, menos...que, and tan...como.
More than: más + adjective + que
Use más + adjective + que to say that one thing has more of a quality than another.
- — This hotel is bigger than that hotel.
- — The white T-shirt is cheaper than the green one.
- — Ana is taller than Marta.
Less than: menos + adjective + que
- — This restaurant is less expensive than that one.
- — The small room is less comfortable than the large one.
For this lesson, / — comfortable is useful comparison vocabulary.
Equality: tan + adjective + como
Use tan + adjective + como when the two things are equal in the quality being compared.
- — This café is as good as that one.
- — The blue room is as large as the white one.
- — Carlos is as tall as Pedro.
Keep the comparison standard clear
A comparison has two sides and one quality.
— The red shirt is cheaper than the blue shirt.
The two sides are the red shirt and the blue shirt. The quality is price expressed through — cheap.
Adjective agreement still matters
The adjective must agree with the noun it describes.
- — The T-shirt is cheaper.
- — The hotel is cheaper.
- — The rooms are larger.
Comparing size
- — This suitcase is bigger than that one.
- — This backpack is less large than the suitcase.
Comparing price
- — This ticket is more expensive than that one.
- — This ticket is less expensive than that one.
Comparing quality
- — This restaurant is as good as that one.
- — This hotel is less comfortable than that hotel.
Do not double the comparative
Use más + the normal adjective. Do not combine más with a separate comparative form that already means “better” or “worse.” Irregular comparisons come in a later lesson.
Question and answer
Person A: — Which one is cheaper?
Person B: — The white T-shirt is cheaper than the green one.
Equality question
Person A: — Are the hotels the same?
Person B: — They are as large as the others, but they are less expensive.
For this lesson, — the others is a useful contextual phrase.
A practical comparison method
- Identify the two things or people.
- Choose one quality to compare.
- Use más...que for more of the quality.
- Use menos...que for less of the quality.
- Use tan...como for equality.
- Check adjective agreement.
From Comparisons to Product Preferences
You can now compare two familiar things or people and express equality with a clear comparison standard. The next lesson applies these structures to explaining product preferences.