Compare with Más Que and Menos Que
Más...que and menos...que measure a difference between two people, places, or things. Keep the compared quality consistent and avoid inserting de where que belongs.
Learning objective
Form comparisons of inequality with más or menos, an adjective, and que.
A comparative is a structure that sets two people, places, or things beside each other and identifies a difference. Spanish commonly uses más or menos, an adjective—a word that describes a noun, or naming word—and que: Este tren es más rápido que el autobús. Rápido describes tren in this model.
Keep the quality consistent on both sides of the comparison. Mi barrio es menos ruidoso que el centro compares how noisy two places are; it does not compare noise with an unrelated feature. The adjective agrees with the first described noun, which is the subject—the person or thing the sentence is about: La ruta es más larga, but Los trayectos son más largos.
Use que, not de, before the second person or thing: Ana es más alta que Luis. Spanish does use de in other comparative contexts, including numbers, but that is a separate pattern. For this lesson, compare two named options with más or menos plus an adjective plus que.
Useful comparisons need a reason or consequence. El piso nuevo es más pequeño que el antiguo, pero está más cerca del trabajo explains a trade-off rather than announcing a winner. Link two relevant differences with pero, and add por eso only when the details genuinely support your conclusion.
Examples
La bicicleta es más barata que el coche.
The bike is cheaper than the car.
Barata agrees with the feminine noun bicicleta.
Este camino es menos directo que el otro.
This route is less direct than the other one.
Menos marks a smaller degree of the same quality.
Las habitaciones son más luminosas que el salón.
The bedrooms are brighter than the living room.
Luminosas agrees with the plural feminine noun habitaciones.
El autobús es más lento, pero es menos caro.
The bus is slower, but it is less expensive.
The contrast presents two criteria without hiding the disadvantage.
Common mistake
- Instead of
- La ruta azul es más corta de la ruta roja.
- Try
- La ruta azul es más corta que la ruta roja.
When two named routes are compared for one quality, the connector is que. Corta also agrees with ruta, the feminine noun being described. De does not replace que in this two-option pattern.
Practice
Try it yourself
Use a small comparison table for two flats. Flat A costs less and is farther from work; Flat B costs more and is closer. Write three Spanish sentences with más...que or menos...que, then choose one and justify it.