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Comparatives and superlatives of adverbs - Easy Learning Grammar Spanish

1   Comparative adverbs

 What is a comparative adverb?
A comparative adverb is one which, in English, has -er on the end of it or more or less in front of it, for example, earlier, later, more/less often.
  • Adverbs can be used to make comparisons in Spanish, just as they can in English. The comparative of adverbs (more often, more efficiently, faster) is formed using the same phrases as for adjectives:
•más ... (que)more ... (than)
más rápido (que)faster (than), more quickly (than)
Corre más rápido que tú.He runs faster than you do.
•menos ... (que)less ... (than)
menos rápido (que)less fast (than), less quickly (than)
Conduce menos rápido que tú.He drives less fast than you do.

2   Superlative adverbs

 What is a superlative adverb?
A superlative adverb is one which, in English, has -est on the end of it or most or least in front of it, for example, soonest, most/least often.
  • The superlative of adverbs (the most often, the most efficiently, the fastest) is formed in the same way in Spanish as the comparative, using más and menos. In this case they mean the most and the least.
María es la que corre más rápido.Maria is the one who runs (the) fastest.
la chica que sabe másthe girl who knows (the) most
la chica que sabe menosthe girl who knows (the) least
EI que llegó menos tarde fue Miguel.Miguel was the one who arrived least late.
  • Note that even though comparative and superlative adverbs are usually identical in Spanish, you can tell which one is meant by the rest of the sentence.

3   Irregular comparative and superlative adverbs

  • Some common Spanish adverbs have irregular comparative and superlatives.
AdverbMeaningComparativeMeaningSuperlativeMeaning
bienwellmejorbettermejor(the) best
malbadlypeorworsepeor(the) worst
muchoa lotmásmoremás(the) most
pocolittlemenoslessmenos(the) least
La conozco mejor que tú.I know her better than you do.
¿Quién lo hace mejor?Who does it (the) best?
Ahora salgo más/menos.I go out more/less these days.
TipWhen saying more than, less than or fewer than followed by a number, use más and menos de rather than más and menos que.
más/menos de veinte cajasmore/fewer than twenty boxes
  • Note that in phrases like it’s the least one can expect or it’s the least I can do, where the adverb is qualified by further information, in Spanish you have to put lo before the adverb.
Es lo menos que se puede esperar.It’s the least one can expect.

4   Other ways of making comparisons

  • There are other ways of making comparisons in Spanish:
  • tanto como       as much as
No lee tanto como tú.He doesn’t read as much as you.
  • tan … como       as … as
Vine tan pronto como pude.I came as fast as I could.
Key points
  • más + adverb (+ que) = more + adverb + (than)
  • menos + adverb (+ que) = less + adverb + (than)
  • más + adverb = (the) most + adverb
  • menos + adverb = (the) least + adverb
  • There are a few irregular comparative and superlative adverbs.
  • There are other ways of making comparisons in Spanish: tanto como, tan … como.
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Índice de contenidos
  • Nouns
    • Using nouns
    • Gender
    • Forming plurals
  • Articles
    • Different types of article
    • The definite article: el, la, los and las
    • The indefinite article: un, una, unos and unas
    • The article lo
  • Adjectives
    • Using adjectives
    • Making adjectives agree
    • Word order with adjectives
    • Comparatives and superlatives of adjectives
    • Demonstrative adjectives
    • Interrogative adjectives
    • Adjectives used in exclamations
    • Possessive adjectives (1)
    • Possessive adjectives (2)
    • Indefinite adjectives
  • Pronouns
    • Personal pronouns: subject
    • Personal pronouns: direct object
    • Personal pronouns: indirect object
    • Order of object pronouns
    • Further information on object pronouns
    • Pronouns after prepositions
    • Possessive pronouns
    • Indefinite pronouns
    • Relative pronouns
    • Interrogative pronouns
    • Demonstrative pronouns
  • Verbs
    • Overview of verbs
    • The present tenses
    • The present simple tense
    • ser and estar
    • The present continuous tense
    • The imperative
    • Reflexive verbs
    • The future tense
    • The conditional
    • The preterite
    • The imperfect tense
    • The perfect tense
    • The pluperfect or past perfect tense
    • The passive
    • The gerund
    • Impersonal verbs
    • The subjunctive
    • The infinitive
    • Prepositions after verbs
    • Verbal Idioms
  • Negatives
  • Questions
    • Asking questions in Spanish
  • Adverbs
    • How adverbs are used
    • How adverbs are formed
    • Comparatives and superlatives of adverbs
    • Common adverbs
    • Position of adverbs
  • Prepositions
    • Using prepositions
    • a, de, en, para and por
    • Some other common prepositions
  • Conjunctions
    • y, o, pero, porque and si
    • Some other common conjunctions
    • Split conjunctions
  • Spelling
  • Stress
    • Which syllable to stress
    • The acute accent used to show meaning
  • Numbers
  • Time and date
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