A2 · Adjectives
Comparisons: más que, tan como
Three patterns — and before a number it is de, not que.
At a glance
- Remember
- que before a comparison, de before a number.
- Form
- más caro que el otromore than
- Signal words
- más que
- menos que
- tan como
- tanto como
- más de
- Trap
- Wrong:Costó más que cien euros.Right:Costó más de cien euros.
Your turn
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The form
The patterns at a glance
Each row first says when or what the pattern is used for, then gives an example in Spanish.
negation
| more than | más caro que el otro |
| less than | menos difícil que ayer |
| as … as | tan rápido como tú |
| with a noun | tanto trabajo como siempre |
| before a number | más de cien euros |
| only | no más que dos |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
más and menos take que.
Este libro es más interesante que el otro.This book is more interesting than the other one.
Equality takes tan … como.
No es tan difícil como parece.It is not as hard as it looks.
Before a noun tan becomes tanto and agrees.
No tengo tanto tiempo como tú.I do not have as much time as you.
Before a number it is de.
Había más de doscientas personas.There were over two hundred people.
Example sentences
Madrid es más grande que Sevilla.Madrid is bigger than Seville.
Corre tan rápido como su hermano.He runs as fast as his brother.
Cuesta menos de lo que pensaba.It costs less than I thought.
Trabaja tanto como antes.He works as much as before.
6 more example sentences
Hoy hace menos calor que ayer.It is less hot today than yesterday.
Tiene tantos libros como una biblioteca.He has as many books as a library.
Vinieron más de treinta personas.More than thirty people came.
No es tan caro como creía.It is not as expensive as I believed.
Duerme menos de seis horas.He sleeps less than six hours.
Es peor de lo que imaginas.It is worse than you imagine.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
que gets used before a number: más que cien euros. That is wrong — and in the negative (no costó más que cien euros) it would even mean «only a hundred euros». Before numbers it is de: más de cien euros. The difference is not a nicety — it turns the statement round.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
Comparison runs on three fixed patterns: más … que (more than), menos … que (less than) and tan … como (as … as). Es más alto que yo, es tan alto como yo.
With a noun tan becomes tanto, and that agrees: tanto dinero como, tantas casas como.
Before a number it is not que but de: más de veinte personas. With que the sentence says something else — no tengo más que veinte euros means «I have only twenty euros».
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The verbs on this page, in every form: ser · tener · haber · trabajar · costar · parecer · pensar · correr