Despite the old saying that "Las comparaciones son odiosas" (Comparisons are odious), the truth is that they are often necessary. Whether you need to decide on a vacation destination, select a present for a loved one, or weigh the pros and cons of any situation, comparisons will be a part of your decision-making process. That said, let's learn some useful language for that purpose.
Unlike English, Spanish does not modify adjectives with the addition of suffixes (e.g. the English -er and -est) for comparative purposes. Instead, adjectives are accompanied by comparative structures to indicate equality, inequality, or difference in degree between one or more people, ideas, or things. Since there is plenty to learn on this topic, this lesson will deal with inequality, while part two will cover comparisons of equality and superlatives.
For comparisons of inequality, the word that specifies what the comparison is about will be preceded by más (more) or menos (less). One might compare qualities (adjectives), ways of doing something (adverbs), or even nouns as in the sentence: La canasta roja tiene más manzanas que la verde (The red basket has more apples than the green one). Let's take a look at some common comparative structures involving adjectives, adverbs, and nouns, and some examples of each:
La vida a esta altitud se hace más difícil que en el frondoso pinsapar.
Life at this altitude becomes more difficult than in the dense Spanish fir forest.
Caption 64, Tecnópolis - Sierra de las nieves
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Este libro es menos interesante que el otro.
This book is less interesting than the other one.
Caption 72, Karla e Isabel - Comparativos
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As you may have inferred from these examples, the comparative particle que is the equivalent of than in English. In addition, the video in our second example above introduces several comparative structures with examples and is thus worth viewing in conjunction with this lesson.
Les inyectaba hormonas para que crecieran más rápido.
She would inject them with hormones so that they would grow faster.
Caption 45, Kikirikí - Animales
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Note that, in this case, the comparative particle que is not present since the second term of the comparison is not mentioned. In addition, remember that, although the adverb rápidamente does exist, we often use rápido as an adverb as well as an adjective in the same way as the English word fast, depending upon whether it modifies a noun or a verb in a sentence.
As we saw in the introduction, this structure can also be used with nouns. In this case, it is worth mentioning that while, according to traditional English usage rules, "fewer" should be used for countable objects while "less" should be employed with singular mass nouns (i.e. salt), this distinction does not exist in Spanish. That said, menos will be used for both countable and uncountable nouns in Spanish.
Ten en cuenta que los productos en tamaño familiar,
Take into account that family-sized products,
sean de lo que sean,
whatever they are,
generan menos residuos por unidad de producto.
generate less waste per product unit.
Captions 51-53, 3R - Campaña de reciclaje
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Since the Spanish verb tener años (literally "to have years") is used to express the idea of someone being a certain age, the expression Tengo más años que mi hermana (literally "I have more years than my sister") is equivalent to saying "I am older than my sister." The following example is similar:
Yo tengo un año menos que tú.
I am a year younger than you.
Caption 12, Clara y Cristina - Saludar
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Although the position of the noun in these examples is different, they demonstrate the additional point that prepositional object pronouns like mí and ti cannot be used in comparatives as the second object of comparison (immediately after que). For example, while in English, one can say either "My sister is younger than I am" or "My sister is younger than me," Mi hermana es más joven que mí is unacceptable in Spanish, while Mi hermana es más joven que yo is the correct way to express this.
Sometimes, the difference between the objects, people, or ideas being compared is so big or so small that formulas that include intensifiers such as mucho/muchísimo/tanto + más/menos or mitigators like un poco/poquito + más/menos can help to express this.
Y eso también lo habéis comprado más barato de lo normal.
And that also you have bought cheaper than what's normal.
Pero muchísimo más barato, ochenta por ciento más barato, una cosa así.
But way cheaper, eighty percent cheaper, something like that.
Captions 14-15, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos
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No es tanto más grande que yo.
She's not that much older than me.
Caption 31, Muñeca Brava - 7 El poema
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De Los Cabos sí queda un poquito más lejitos,
From Los Cabos, it's a little bit further,
un poquito más de dos horas.
a little bit over two hours.
Captions 73-74, Alan x el mundo - Mi playa favorita de México!
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The parallel comparative structure, cuanto más + adjective/adverb, más/menos, is also useful in Spanish. The common English expression, "The sooner, the better," for example, translates as: Cuanto antes, mejor.
Cuanto más sucia, menos le[s] pagáis. -Claro.
The dirtier it is, the less you pay them. -Of course.
Caption 81, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa
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A few adjectives and adverbs have irregular comparative forms and don't fall into the typical patterns using más/menos + adjective/adverb + que:
Adjective: buen/a (good) Comparative: mejor (better)
Adjective: mal/a (bad) Comparative: peor (worse)
Es una buena cantante (She's a good singer).
Es mejor cantante que Mariana (She is a better singer than Mariana).
Es un mal alumno (He is a bad student).
Es peor alumno que Juan (He is a worse student than Juan).
Interestingly, when the adjectives mejor/peor describe how good or bad one is at something, their forms are irregular. However, when referring to good and evil, their regular comparative forms come into play:
Es más malo que el diablo.
He is more evil than the devil.
The following adverbs, however, have only an irregular comparative:
Adverb: bien (well) Comparative: mejor (better)
Adverb: mal (badly) Comparative: peor (worse)
María canta mejor que su hermana.
María sings better than her sister.
Let's conclude with some additional examples of regular and irregular comparatives from our Yabla video library:
Tres aspirinas. -Bueno, tomá algo más fuerte que te haga mejor.
Three aspirins. -Well, take something stronger that makes you better.
Caption 61, Muñeca Brava - 43 La reunión
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Mal. Peor que la semana pasada.
Bad. Worse than last week.
Caption 7, El Aula Azul - La Doctora Consejos: Subjuntivo y condicional
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That's all for this first part of our lesson on comparatives. We hope it has been clear, and don't forget to send us your questions, comments, and suggestions. ¡Hasta la próxima!
Si clauses are typical markers of the Spanish conditional:
Y yo creo que si me hubiese quedado viviendo...
And, I believe that if I had stayed living...
Caption 12, Festivaliando - Mono Núñez
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However, sometimes you could use the conditional phrase de + haber + participio:
Y yo creo que de haberme quedado viviendo...
And, I believe that if I had stayed living...
In fact, the construction de + haber + participio (endings -ado, -ido, -to, -so -cho) is based on what in Spanish is known as the conditional compuesto or condidional perfecto (perfect conditional):
Here's an example of the perfect conditional combined with a si clause:
Tal vez, si yo fuera un poco más sensata
Maybe, if I were a bit more sensible
habría inventado una poción
I would have invented a potion
Captions 20-21, Belanova - Tal vez
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And this is how you substitute si with de:
Tal vez, de ser un poco más sensata habría inventado una poción
Maybe, if I were a bit more sensible I would have invented a potion
Just for practice, instead of present subjunctive (yo fuera) let's use past perfect subjunctive:
Tal vez, si yo hubiera sido un poco más sensata habría inventado una poción
Maybe, if I had been a bit more sensible I would have invented a potion
Substitution is as follows:
Tal vez, de haber sido un poco más sensata habría inventado una poción
Maybe, if I had been a bit more sensible I would have invented a potion
This recalls the common phrase de haber sabido (if I had known). It's also common to combine it with direct object pronouns: de haberlo sabido (If I had known of it), de haberlo pensado (if I had thought of it).
But de + infinitive is not always an option. For example, you can't use it instead of the si clause when the conditional refers to an action in the future. You can't use it in the following example:
Voy a ver si alguna quiere jugar conmigo a Nimanji.
I am going to see if anyone wants to play Nimanji with me.
Caption 26, Kikirikí - Animales
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This is because the perfect conditional can only be used to refer to actions in the past. Also have in mind that the perfect conditional is not only used with si clauses, because sometimes the condition for something to happen is left unexpressed or it's inferred only by context:
Yo y mi hermana hemos vivido una vida
My sister and I have lived a life
que no nos habríamos imaginado.
that we wouldn't have imagined.
Captions 68-69, Horno San Onofre - La Historia de la Pastelería
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But if we artificially add a si clause to the previous example, let's say:
Yo y mi hermana hemos vivido una vida que no nos habríamos imaginado [si viviéramos en México]
My sister and I have lived a life that we wouldn't have imagined [if we were living in Mexico]
Then you can make the de + infinitive substitution:
Yo y mi hermana hemos vivido una vida que no nos habríamos imaginado [de vivir en México]
My sister and I have lived a life that we wouldn't have imagined [if we were living in Mexico]
It's a brand-new year, which means it's the perfect time to vow to change for good! Many of us have New Year's resolutions so we are rushing to the gym, cutting out carbs, filling out agendas with important meetings and to-do lists, etc. This is all very good and all, but learning how to balance things out and slow down once in a while is also an important part of the equation. Let’s learn some Spanish words of wisdom that may inspire you to do just that.
First of all, it's important to remain positive and don't hold on to the past. As Ramón says:
Y como que... Año nuevo, vida nueva.
And [it's] like... A New Year, a new life.
Caption 10, Muñeca Brava - 36 La pesquisa
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Of course it's important to tackle propósitos de año nuevo (New Year's resolutions) head on. So maybe you will need to madrugar (get up early) more often these days:
Yo también porque mañana tengo que madrugar y tengo que...
Me, too, because tomorrow I have to wake up early and I have to...
Caption 77, Muñeca Brava - 43 La reunión
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However, a wise grandma will certainly advice you not to push yourself too hard by saying: No por mucho madrugar amanece más temprano (No matter how early you get up, you can't make the sun rise any sooner), which in a way is similar to the English expression "the early bird does not always catch the worm." You can hear our friends from Kikiriki making a humorous adaptation of the same phrase:
y no olviden que no por ser mucho animal amanece más temprano.
and don't forget that you don't get up early because you're very much an animal.
Caption 31, Kikirikí - Animales
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Finally, it's not like you should slack off either. Yes, it's hard to wake up early to go to the gym, but try to encourage yourself with an old saying that goes al mal paso darle prisa (literally "hurry up with a difficult step") which means something along the lines of "let's get it over and done."
One of the most common prefixes used in Spanish is a. This prefix is very interesting because when coming from the Latin prefix ab- or abs-, a- denotes separation or privation, but when coming from the Latin prefix ad-, a- denotes approximation or presence. Another interesting and useful aspect of this prefix is that it can be added to certain nouns and adjectives to form verbs.
Let's compare the different uses of the prefix a-. Take the word ausente (absent). This is a perfect example of the use of the prefix a- to indicate separation. We have a full movie titled El Ausente:
Ya llegó el que andaba ausente
Now he arrived, the one who was absent
y éste no consiente nada...
and this one does not allow anything...
Captions 9-10, El Ausente - Acto 3
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Strikingly enough, the prefix a- can also mean approximation or presence. A good example is the verb asistir meaning "to attend":
Siempre hemos de asistir personalmente a la entidad bancaria.
We should always go personally to the banking entity.
Caption 13, Raquel - Abrir una cuenta bancaria
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Much more practically useful is to know that we can add the prefix a- to other words, like nouns and adjectives, to form verbs. Below is an example from a video published this week. The verb acostumbrar (to get used to) is formed with the prefix a and the noun costumbre (custom, use):
Vea, Pepino, hay sitios donde les enseñan a los animales
Look, Pepino [Cucumber], there are places where they teach animals
a que se vuelvan a acostumbrar a su hábitat.
to become used to their habitat again.
Captions 10-11, Kikirikí - Animales
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Now, using the noun tormento (torment) we get the verb atormentar (to torment):
Eso seguro era algo que podía atormentarlos.
That surely was something that could torment them.
Caption 46, La Sub30 - Familias
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There are so many! From susto (fright) you get asustar (to scare):
¡Ay no, Candelario! No me asustes.
Oh no, Candelario! Don't scare me.
Caption 44, Guillermina y Candelario - La Isla de las Serpientes
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You can also use adjectives. For example, lejos (far) and cerca (close) give us alejar (to put or to go far away), and acercar (to put or to get close):
Después me alejaré
Then I will go away
Caption 22, Reyli - Qué nos pasó
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Ella trataba de acercarse a mí.
She tried to get close to me.
Caption 9, Biografía - Pablo Echarri
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Here is a list with more examples. Maybe you can find them in our Spanish catalog.
Tonto (fool) - atontar (to fool or become a fool)
Plano (flat) - aplanar (to flatten)
Grande (big) - agrandar (to make bigger)
Pasión (passion) - apasionar (to become passionate)
Nido (nest) - anidar (to form a nest)
Morado (purple) - amoratar (to get or give bruises)
Francés (French) - afrancesar (to become French-like)
Grieta (crack) - agrietar (to crack)
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