370. All degrees of comparison
may be expressed in Spanish by adverbs. The comparative of superiority
is expressed by using más, ' more,' immediately
before the adjective or adverb, and the comparative of inferiority
by using menos, ' less,' in the same manner.
| bueno, |
good |
más bueno, |
better |
menos bueno, |
less good |
| temprano, |
early |
más temprano, |
earlier |
menos temprano, |
less early |
| aprisa, |
quickly |
más aprisa, |
more quickly |
menos aprisa, |
less quickly |
371. The following four adjectives have, in addition
to the regular, an irregular comparative:
| bueno, |
good |
mejor, |
better |
| malo, |
bad |
peor, |
worse |
| grande, |
large |
mayor, |
larger, older |
| pequeño, |
small |
menor, |
smaller, younger |
372. The following four adverbs have also an irregular
comparative:
| mucho, |
much |
más, |
more |
| poco, |
little |
menos, |
less |
| bien, |
well |
mejor, |
better |
| mal, |
badly |
peor, |
worse |
373. ' Than ' is ordinarily expressed by que.
| Tengo más dinero
que V. |
I have more money than you. |
| Él anda más aprisa
que ella. |
He walks faster than she. |
a. Before numerals or numerical expressions,
' than ' is expressed by de in affirmative sentences
and by either que or de in negative
sentences.
| Me dieron más
de veinte pesos. |
They gave me more than twenty
dollars. |
No tenía más que (or
de)
dos libros. |
He didn't have more than two books. |
374. When each member of the comparison has a
different verb, or the second member of the comparison repeats the
verb of the first, de is generally used for ' than
' in preference to que. Furthermore, if an adjective
is the point of comparison, de is followed by the
relative lo que (' that which '), and if a noun
is the point of comparison, by the relatives el que, la
que, los que, las que (' the one which,' ' those which
').
| Es más bueno de
lo que pensaban. |
He is better than (that which)
they thought. |
| Trajo menos de lo que prometió. |
He brought less than he promised. |
Tengo más dinero del que
te presté. |
I have more money than
(that which) I loaned you. |
Me compró menos libros de
los que creí que me compraría. |
He bought me less books than (those which)
I thought he would buy me. |
375. Comparison of Equality.
tan . . . . . como, as . . . . .
as.
tanto (-a, -os, -as) .
. . . . como, as much, as many .
. . . . as.
| Es tan bueno como lo
esperaba. |
It is as good as I expected. |
| No es tan fácil como V. cree. |
It is not as easy as you believe. |
Tiene tanto dinero como
puede desear. |
He has as much money as he
can wish. |
| No creía que tenía
tantas casas como V. |
I did not believe he had as many houses as
you. |
376. Cuanto . . . . . (tanto),
followed by any comparatives, translate the English ' the more .
. . . . the less,' ' the more . . . . .
the more,' ' the less
. . . . . the less,' etc.
Cuanto más gana,
(tanto)
más (or menos) gasta.
|
The more he earns, the more
(or less) he spends. |
| Cuanto más le pidan, (tanto)
más (or menos)
les dará. |
The more you ask of him,
the more (or less) he will give you. |
377. The Superlative Degree. The superlative
degree of adjectives or adverbs is formed by putting the definite
article or a possessive pronoun before the comparative. When el
(la, lo) is used as the article, both the comparative
and superlative have the same form.
| Positive |
Comparative |
Superlative |
| |
| bueno, |
good |
mejor, |
better |
el mejor, |
best |
| rico, |
rich |
más rico, |
richer |
el más rico, |
richest |
| aprisa, |
quickly |
más aprisa, |
more quickly |
lo más aprisa, |
most quickly |
| |
| Ése es el más
rico de todos. |
That man is the richest of all. |
| Ésa es mi mejor pluma. |
That is my best pen. |
| Ése es el más rico
de los dos. |
That man is the richer of the two. |
a. After a superlative de is used for
the English ' in.'
París es la más
bella ciudad
(or la ciudad más bella) del
mundo. |
Paris is the most beautiful city
in the world. |
378. The Absolute Superlative. The absolute
superlative is expressed in two ways.
a. By the use of adverbs, emphatic prefixes, or both.
| muy bueno, muy bien, |
very good, very well |
| relindo, retelindo, |
very pretty |
| regrande, retegrande, |
very big |
| muy rebonito, |
very very pretty |
b. By the addition of the suffix -ísimo,
added directly to adjectives or adverbs ending in consonants,
and to those ending in vowels after dropping the vowel.
| hábil, |
skillful |
habilísimo, |
very skillful |
| querido, |
dear |
queridísimo, |
very dear |
| diligente, |
diligent |
diligentísimo, |
very diligent |
| pronto, |
soon |
prontísimo, |
very soon |
1. Orthographic changes may become necessary to keep the original
consonantal sound before adding -ísimo.
| rico |
riquísimo |
| largo |
larguísimo |
2. When adjectives have ie or ue
in the accented syllable, the shift of the accent may revert
these to i, o.
| bueno |
buenísimo or
bonísimo |
| nuevo |
nuevísimo or
novísimo |
| viejo |
viejísimo |
3. Adverbs with distinctive adverbial endings, such as
-os, -a, transfer these endings to the superlative
termination.
| lejos, |
far |
lejísimos, |
very far |
| cerca, |
near |
cerquísima, |
very near |
4. Adverbs in -mente have the superlative
suffix -ísima added to the original adjective
form.
| ricamente, |
richly |
riquísimamente, |
very richly |
5. There are many exceptions to the above rules, and
many adjectives and adverbs do not admit the superlative -ísimo.
|
