Notes from ¿Qué tal? - Describing

	Unequal Comparisons	Equal Comparisons
with adjectives or adverbs	más/menos ____ que	tan ____ como
with nouns	más/menos ____ que	tanto/a/os/as ____ como
with verbs	____ más/menos que	____ tanto como

Regular Comparisons of Adjectives
The comparative (el comparativo) of most English adjectives is formed by using the adverbs more or less (more intelligent, less important), or by adding -er (taller, longer).

In Spanish, unequal comparisons are usually expressed with más (more) + [adjective] + que (than) or menos (less) + [adjectivel + que (than).

Equal comparisons are expressed with tan + [adjective] + como.

Comparison of Nouns
Alicia tiene más/menos bolsas que Susana. – Alicia has more/fewer purses than Susana (does)
Nosotros tenemos tantas revistas como ellas. – We have as many magazines as they (do).

Nouns are compared with the expressions mäs/menos + [noun] + que and tanto/a/os/as + [noun] + como. Mas/menos de is used when the comparison is followed by a number.

Tengo más de un hijo

Tanto must agree in gender and number with the noun it modifies.

Comparison of Verbs and Adverbs
Me levanto más tarde que mi compañera. No me acuesto tan temprano como ella. Y no estudio tanto como ella. – I get up later than my roommate (does). I don’t go to bed as early as she (does). And I don’t study as much as she (does).

No llueve tanto en junio como en abril. – It doesn’t rain as much as in June as (it does) in April.

Actions expressed by verbs are compared with mas/menos que and tanto como. Tanto is invariable in this construction. Qualities expressed by adverbs are compared with mas/menos _____ que and tan _____ como.