Comparatives and superlatives

Comparatives and superlativesLos comparativos y superlativos Level 1 1.1 Comparison of adjectives indicating inequality and equality Comparaci ´on de adjetivos indicando desigualdad e ig

Comparatives and superlatives

(Los comparativos y superlativos)

Level 1

1.1 Comparison of adjectives indicating inequality and equality (Comparaci ´on de

adjetivos indicando desigualdad e igualdad)

1.2 Comparison of adverbs indicating equality and inequality (Comparaci ´on de

adverbios indicando igualdad y desigualdad)

1.3 Superlatives + adjectives (Superlativos + adjetivos)

1.4 Other features (Otros detalles)

1.1 Comparison of adjectives indicating inequality

and equality

i The comparison of adjectives is formed by using m ´as (more) and menos (less) before the adjective Que (than) is used after the adjective.

Examples

Carlos es m´as r´apido que t´u Carlos is faster than you

Este chico es m´as listo que su hermano This boy is smarter than his brother

Son menos ruidosos que las muchachas They are less noisy than the girls

Es un hotel menos tranquilo que el otro It’s a less quiet hotel than the other one

negro / m´as negro / menos negro black / blacker / less black

capaz / m´as capaz / menos capaz capable / more capable / less capable

ii Four adjectives, in addition to their regular comparatives, have other, and, in two

cases, preferred, forms:

grande (big, large) mayor (bigger, larger)

peque˜no (small) menor (littler, smaller)

Examples

Esta novela es mejor que la otra This novel is better than the other one

Isabel es peor estudiante que Mar´ıa Isabel is a worse student than Mar´ıa

Tu ni˜na es mayor que la m´ıa Your girl (daughter) is bigger than mine

Mi prima es menor que yo My cousin is smaller than me

iii Comparison of adjectives (indicating equality)

Tan (as/so) is used here, followed by como (as):

Es tan abusado (M) / listo como su pap´a (M) /

padre

He’s as smart as his father

Es tan caro como el caviar It’s as dear as caviar

1.2 Comparison of adverbs indicating equality

and inequality

i Equality As with adjectives, tan + como is used:

Habla espa˜nol tan bien como su profesora She speaks Spanish as well as her teacher

La ni˜na escribe tan perfectamente como su hermano

mayor

The little girl writes as perfectly as her older brother

ii Inequality M ´as (more) and menos (less) are used here, followed by que (than), as

with comparisons of adjective:

Corre m´as r´apidamente que yo She runs faster than me

Lee m´as lentamente que su primo She reads more slowly than her cousin

Lo arregla menos f´acilmente que yo He sorts it out less easily then me

Trabaja menos seriamente que su hijo She works less seriously than her son 1.3 Superlatives + adjectives

i The superlative is usually expressed by placing the definite article with the

comparative:

Son los m´as inteligentes They are the most intelligent

Este hotel es el m´as caro de la ciudad This hotel is the dearest in town

Este es el peor jugador del equipo This is the worst player in the team

El tiempo que hace es el mejor del a˜no The weather is the best this year

ii De follows a superlative in cases where in English we would have in:

Texas es el estado m´as extenso de los Estados Unidos Texas is the biggest state in the United

States

El Nilo es el r´ıo m´as largo del mundo The Nile is the longest river in the world 1.4 Other features

i Frequently, menos is replaced by no + tan + adjective or adverb + como:

No es tan alto como su hermana He’s not so tall as his sister

No trabaja tan seriamente como yo He doesn’t work as seriously as me

ii M ´as de and menos de are used before quantities and numbers:

Hay m´as de un mill´on de libros en aquella biblioteca There are more than a million books in

that library

¿Por qu´e compras menos de dos kilos? Why do you buy less than two kilos?

iii Tanto como, with its three other forms (tanta / tantos / tantas como), as much /

many as, is used with equality of nouns:

No tengo tanto pan como Jorge I haven’t got as much bread as Jorge

No traes tantos discos como Elena You don’t bring as many discs as Elena

Hay tanta mantequilla como en casa There’s as much butter as at home

Tienes tantas cucharas como yo You have as many spoons as me

Exercises Level 1

i Make three separate sentences from the two available Follow the example

Juan disfruta mucho Armando disfruta poco> 1 Armando disfruta menos que Juan +

2 Juan disfruta m´as que Armando + 3 Armando no disfruta tanto como Juan

a Alicia se divierte mucho Rosa se divierte poco

b Los muchachos descansan mucho Yo descanso poco

c El doctor se cansa mucho Su hijo se cansa poco

d Los ni ˜nos gritan mucho Juanito grita poco

e Me preocupo mucho T´u te preocupas poco

f La se ˜nora trabaja mucho Marta trabaja poco

g Tus amigas platican (M) / hablan mucho T´u platicas/hablas poco

h Teresa gasta mucho Sus hijos gastan poco

i Ellos comen mucho Yo como poco

j La ni ˜na se queja mucho Su hermano se queja poco

ii Put the following sentences in the negative Use tanto/a/os/as.

Example

Escrib´ı dos cartas Juan escribi´o cuatro cartas> No escrib´ı tantas cartas como Juan

a En mi pa´ıs hay muchas monta ˜nas En el tuyo hay menos

b Alicia salta tres metros Lupe salta dos

c En las ciudades hay mucha niebla En los pueblos hay poca niebla

d Luis toma mucha leche Alicia toma poca

e Practicamos varios deportes Luc´ıa practica pocos

f Ech´e a perder mucho papel Rosa ech´o a perder poco

g Jorge tiene mucho dinero Nosotros tenemos poco

h En mi coche hay mucho lugar En el tuyo hay poco

i Elena recibi´o muchos regalos Tere recibi´o pocos

j Mis sobrinos comieron muchas aceitunas Los tuyos comieron pocas

iii Paired activity

Objective – To practice statements of comparison

Method – A and B ask each other questions using ten expressions such as tan como,

m´as que, menos que, tantos

A: ¿Eres m´as listo que yo?

B: No soy tan listo como t´u

A: ¿Mi hermana es menos inteligente que yo?

B: Tu hermana no es tan inteligente como t´u

Level 2

2.1 Como = like or as in English (Como = )

2.2 Que replaced by de lo que (Que reemplazado por )

2.3 Cuanto tanto

2.4 Superlatives of adverbs (Superlativos de adverbios)

2.5 Absolute superlative of adjectives (Superlativo absoluto de adjetivos)

2.6 Absolute superlative of adverbs (Superlativo absoluto de adverbios)

2.1 Como = like or as in English

Corre como un conejo She runs like a rabbit

Lucha como un tigre He fights like a tiger

Hazlo como lo quieras Do it as you wish

i When each part of the comparison contains a different verb, que is replaced by de lo que:

Es menos f´acil de lo que dice It’s less easy than he says

El examen fue m´as dif´ıcil de lo que hab´ıamos temido The examination was more difficult than

we had feared

Es m´as tonto de lo que parece He’s dumber than he looks

ii This is also true with nouns:

Tiene menos dinero de lo que dice She has less money than she says

Ha cometido m´as delitos de lo que piensas He’s committed more crimes than you

think

i Cuanto tanto followed by any comparative are used in correlatives to express

ratio, corresponding to the English the the:

Cuanto m´as viejo es el vino, tanto mejor The older the wine, the better it is

Cuanto m´as largo es el d´ıa tanto m´as corta la noche The longer the day, the shorter the night

ii Tanto m ´as/menos cuanto que corresponds to all the more/less because :

El delito es tanto m´as grave cuanto que acaba de

salir de la c´arcel

The crime is all the more serious because he’s just come out of jail

Estoy tanto menos satisfecho de su conducta cuanto

que le di dinero

I am all the less satisfied with her conduct because I gave her money

2.4 Superlatives of adverbs

The superlative of adverbs is formed in the same manner as those of adjectives:

Los mejores alumnos son los que hablan menos The best pupils are those who speak least

Esa era la respuesta que menos esperaba o´ır That was the reply I was least expecting to

hear

Amo el mar cuando m´as alto suben las olas I love the sea when the waves rise up even

more 2.5 Absolute superlative of adjectives

i The absolute superlative of adjectives, when formed regularly, is made by adding

-´ısimo It is then varied like any adjective ending in o This ending has an intensive

value, equivalent to the English very or most As with the common Italian -issimo, and the occasional -issime in French, this form derives from the Latin.

Ejemplos

El acero es dur´ısimo Steel is very hard/tough

El oro es pur´ısimo Gold is very/most pure

La casa es alt´ısima The house is very tall

Las flores son hermos´ısimas The flowers are really lovely

Es una construcci´on fe´ısima It’s a really ugly building

ii The following distinctions are to be observed in the formation of the absolute

superlative of adjectives:

a If the positive adjective ends in a consonant, it receives -´ısimo without changing, unless the final consonant is z, which changes to c before i:

h´abil/h´abil´ısimo skillful / most skillful

feliz/felic´ısimo happy / very happy

feroz/feroc´ısimo fierce / most fierce

b A final vowel or diphthong is omitted before -´ısimo When the adjective ends in two vowels, as in io, both are omitted, although it could be maintained that the i remains

but receives a written accent, and therefore a spoken stress

importante/important´ısimo important / most important

limpio/limp´ısimo clean / very clean

sucio/suc´ısimo dirty / very dirty

amplio/ampl´ısimo wide / widest, full/fullest

pobre/pobr´ısimo poor / very poor

Ejemplos

una rec´amara (M) ampl´ısima a very spacious bedroom

una mujer pobr´ısima a very poor woman

Tiene manos limp´ısimas She’s got very clean hands

iii If, after dropping the final a or o, the last remaining letter is c, it is changed to qu, and similarly g to gu to preserve the hard sound:

blanco/blanqu´ısimo white / very white

rico/riqu´ısimo rich / very rich

fresco/fresqu´ısimo fresh / very fresh

largo/largu´ısimo long / very long

Ejemplos

una piel blanqu´ısima a very white skin

un r´ıo largu´ısimo a very long river

unas fresas fresqu´ısimas some very fresh strawberries

iv An unresolved issue In principle, the diphthongs ie and ue revert to their original vowels e and o since the stress is transferred to the ending:

cierto/cert´ısimo certain / most certain

tierno/tern´ısimo tender / most tender

ferviente/fervent´ısimo fervent / most fervent

bueno/bon´ısimo good / very good

fuerte/fort´ısimo strong / very strong

However, there has been a major shift in contemporary practice here In the author’s

experience, ciert´ısimo, tiern´ısimo, buen´ısimo, nuev´ısimo and fuert´ısimo have

replaced the above, with the result that many Spanish speakers no longer know which

is the correct one, suffering some residual sense that the original form is the correct one and the new one the wrong one In any case, the so-called wrong form holds sway This

topic is another question for the quiz program, in both Spain and Mexico, for there are

many other examples of these doublets (dobletes) It should be added that the author has never met with any form of the absolute superlative of viejo but viej´ısimo.

This innovation was strenuously resisted by the members of the Real Academia and more conservative writers but they have lost the battle

v The following is just a small sample of adjectives (there are many more) reverting to

the original Latin for their entire form:

acre/ac´errimo bitter / very bitter

´aspero/asp´errimo harsh / very harsh

c´elebre/celeb´errimo most celebrated

Needless to say, these last three are only in literary use

2.6 Absolute superlative of adverbs

i These are created by adding -mente to the superlative form of the adjective They are

not very common It is felt that you should at least be aware of their function Here are two examples:

noblemente/nobil´ısimente nobly / most nobly

ricamente/riqu´ısimamente richly / very richly

ii Since these forms are very cumbersome, they are generally replaced by, for example,

muy, altamente, sumamente, extremamente, en extremo, en gran manera:

Las pruebas resultaron altamente peligrosas The tests turned out to be highly dangerous

El problema es sumamente dif´ıcil The problem is most difficult

Se enoja (M) / enfada en extremo por cualquier cosa She gets angry over the slightest thing

iii Many adjectives do not admit of comparisons The principal ones are those that

involve the idea of infinity and therefore express in themselves the idea of a superlative degree, or denote origin, material, shape or class Such adjectives are:

supremo met´alico principal inmortal

italiano circular triangular celestial

Of course, italiano is only one example among hundreds related to adjectives of

countries: mexicano, espa˜nol, norteamericano, ingl´es, franc´es, and so on

Exercises

Level 2

i Completa los blancos con una de las siguientes expresiones Puede haber m ´as de una respuesta

como, tanto como, m´as que, menos que, de lo que

Ejemplos

Tiene seis a ˜nos pero escribe ( ) una persona mayor> Tiene seis a˜nos pero escribe como

una persona mayor

Hay caballos vacas> Hay tantos caballos como vacas

a Trabaja ( ) un loco

b Me ba ˜no (= nado in M) en el mar ( ) veces ( ) t´u

c Recibi´o ( ) regalos ( ) parientes ten´ıa

d Env´ıa ( ) postales ( ) env´ıa su amigo

e Coge / Toma (M) ( ) ( ) (dos palabras) puedas

f Coge / Toma (M) ( ) flores ( ) puedas

g Estoy ( ) ( ) (dos palabras) ronco que no dej´e de hablar / platicar (M) en toda la

noche

h Lleg´o con mucho ( ) retraso ( ) ( ) ( ) (cuatro palabras) sol´ıa llevar

i Es ( ) culto ( ) ( ) ( ) (cuatro palabras) yo pensaba

j Tiene ( ) d´olares ( ) yo, de suerte que me invita a cenar

k Le ofrec´ı un helado por que ten´ıa ( ) dinero que yo

l Hab´ıa ( ) ( ) (dos palabras) mil espectadores y no cab´ıan todos

m Hab´ıa ( ) ( ) (dos palabras) veinte nadadores en la alberca (M) / piscina y hab´ıa

mucho espacio

n Compr´e ( ) peras por que ten´ıa ( ) dinero ( ) ( ) ( ) (cinco palabras) pensaba

o Aprob´o todos sus ex´amenes, es ( ) listo ( ) ( ) ( ) (cuatro palabras) pensaba

ii Actividad en clase

Objetivo – Usar el superlativo de adjetivos

M ´etodo – Se le elige a un miembro de la clase Se divide la clase en dos equipos El miembro de la clase escribe un adjetivo en el pizarr´on (M) / la pizarra La clase tiene

que encontrar el superlativo correspondiente Huelga decir (Needless to say) que el primer

equipo que alcance diez puntos gana el concurso

Miembro de la clase: ¿Cu´al es el superlativo de “bueno”?

Miembro de la clase: ¿Cu´al es el superlativo de “malo”?

Despu´es, el profesor le pide a cada equipo que forme una frase con los superlativos encontrados El miembro de la clase se queda cerca del pizarr´on para indicar los puntos ganados en este concurso Diez puntos es la meta