Comparative and Superlative Adjectives For Intermediate learners

Comparative and Superlative Adjectives in Spanish

What Are Comparative and Superlative Adjectives?

Adjectives that denote a quality that can be present to a higher or lower degree can have comparative and superlative forms (adjetivos comparativos y superlativos). For example, adjectives that show temperature typically can indicate different degrees. A cup of coffee can be "más caliente" (hotter) than another. Based on such comparisons, adjectives can have comparative and superlative degrees.

Comparative Adjectives

To compare two nouns in terms of a particular quality and show that one of them has a higher or lower level of that quality, a comparative adjective can be formed using the structure:

más/menos + adjective + que

For example:

Example

Pedro es más alto que Juan.

Pedro is taller than Juan.

This sentence compares two people in terms of their height.

Esta casa es menos cara que la otra.

This house is less expensive than the other.

Showing Equality

To show that two nouns possess a quality to an equal degree, the following structure is used:

tan + adjective + como

Here are some examples:

Example

Tu coche es tan rápido como el mío.

Your car is as fast as mine.

Mi casa es tan grande como la casa de mi amigo.

My house is as big as my friend's house.

Superlative Adjectives

Superlative adjectives are used to show the highest degree of a quality between three or more nouns. To form superlative adjectives, the following structure is used:

definite article (el/la/los/las) + más/menos + adjective + de

For example:

Example

María es la más alta de la clase.

Maria is the tallest in the class.

Este examen fue el menos difícil de todos.

This exam was the least difficult of all.

Son los más inteligentes del grupo.

They are the most intelligent ones in the group.

Irregular Adjectives

Some adjectives have specific comparative and superlative forms and do not follow the typical pattern:

bueno (good) → mejor (better) → el/la mejor, los/las mejores (the best)

malo (bad) → peor (worse) → el/la peor, los/las peores (the worst)

grande/viejo (big/old) → mayor (bigger/older) → el/la mayor, los/las mayores (the biggest/oldest)

pequeño/joven (small/young) → menor (smaller/younger) → el/la menor, los/las menores (the smallest/youngest)

The last two adjectives can also be used with the regular comparative and superlative forms, so "más grande," "el menos viejo," "las más pequeñas," etc. are also acceptable. For example:

Example

Este libro es mejor que el otro.

This book is better than the other.

Juan es mayor que su hermano./Juan es más grande que su hermano.

Juan is older than his brother.

Es la peor película del año.

It's the worst movie of the year.

Esa casa es la menor del barrio./Esa casa es la más pequeño del barrio.

That house is the smallest in the neighborhood.