Comparisons of Inequality in Spanish

Quick Answer

Comparisons of inequality, such as more than or less than, are used to show that there is an unequal relationship between two things.

More or Less

To say that something is more or less than another thing, the following formulas are used:

Formulas for Comparisons of Inequality

More formula: más + adjective/adverb/noun + que

Less formula: menos + adjective/adverb/noun + que

Check out these examples:

examples
Sara es más artística que su hermano. Sara is more artistic than her brother.
Marissa corre más rápido que sus compañeros de equipo. Marissa runs faster than her teammates.
Tengo menos libros que ella. I have fewer books than she does.
La pizza es más sabrosa que la calabaza. Pizza is more delicious than squash.
La calabaza es menos sabrosa que la pizza. Squash is less delicious than pizza.

Adjectives used in comparisons of quality match the first noun (the thing that is more or less) in gender and number.

Comparisons with Irregular Adjectives and Adverbs

When making more comparisons with adjectives and adverbs with irregular comparative forms, you do not need to use the word más.

More Formula for Irregulars

More formula: irregular adjective/adverb + que

Below are some common irregular forms.

Spanish	English
mejor	better
peor	worse
mayor	larger/older
mayor	older
menor	smaller/younger

It's also common to hear más grandeused to mean larger or older and más pequeñoor más chico used to mean smaller or younger.

Check out these examples.

examples
Soy mayor que mi hermana. I am older than my sister.
Esta pizza es mejor que esa pizza. This pizza is better than that pizza.
La segunda película es peor que la primera. The second movie is worse than the first.

Negating Equality

Another common way comparisons of equality are used is to say that one thing is not as ___ as as another, where the blank is a quality described by an adjective or adverb.