Tell Me, Is He Busier Than Before?

Introduction

This post deals with comparisons in general and more specifically with comparisons of superiority in which the subject of comparison is and adjective or adverb.

SCENARIO

Imagine you are talking to a relative, a friend or a colleague. You come to talk about how busy some of your common friends/ acquaintances are. Mentioning the name of a common male friend, the other person says:: "tell me, is he busier than before?"

In Spanish, the other person could choose to be less formal and say:

Dime, ¿está más ocupado que antes?

On the other hand, he/ she could choose to be more formal and say:

Dígame, ¿está más ocupado que antes?

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OUR TIP

You don't need be concerned about the degree of formality in what the other person says to you. Whether the other person uses a more/ less formal register is irrelevant to most choices of reply.

Perhaps what you want to consider two basic options. i.e.:

• Your male friend is busier than before
• Your male friend is not busier than before

Here are a couple of examples which deal with those choices:

• Sí, está más ocupado que antes* (yes, he is busier than before)
• No, no está más ocupado que antes* (no, he is not busier than before)

Now you should practice answering the question:

Dime, ¿está más ocupado que antes?

*Please see grammar topic below, comparisons

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Grammar – Comparisons

Basic types of comparison to consider are:

• Comparisons of superiority, typically: more beautiful than...
• Comparisons of inferiority, typically: less beautiful than...
• Comparisons of equality, typically:
  • as beautiful as...
  • as much money as...
  • as many people as...

Comparisons - Superiority

This post deals comparisons of superiority in which the subject of comparison is and adjective or adverb -see item 1 below. Other types of comparisons will be dealt with in separate posts.

When making comparisons of superiority, there are three situations to consider:

1.- Superior Characteristics Comparisons

In this is a type of comparison the subject of comparison is an adjective or adverb, e.g.:

• more intelligent than... in Spanish: más inteligente que...
• happier than... in Spanish: más feliz que...
• better than... in Spanish: mejor que...

Some examples of this type of comparisons are:

• Estoy más feliz que antes (I am happier than before)
• Pedro está más moreno que Antonio (Pedro is more suntanned than Antonio)
• Hoy andamos más deprisa que ayer (we are running around more frantically than yesterday)
• Mis amigos son más divertidos que los tuyos (my friends are more fun than yours)
• Este vino es mejor que el otro (this wine is better than the other one)

2.- Higher Unspecific Quantities Comparisons

In this type of comparisons the subjects of comparison are unspecific quantities/ numbers of things or people (nouns), e.g.:

• more money than... in Spanish: más dinero que...

Some examples of this type of comparisons are:

• Mi hermano tiene más dinero que tú (my brother has more money than you)
• Hoy hemos comprado más comida que ayer (today we have bought more food than yesterday)
• Antonio tiene más amigos que tú (Antonio has more male friends than you)
• Tú tienes más amigas que Antonio (you have more female friends than Antonio)

3.- Higher Specific Numbers Comparisons

In this type of comparisons the subjects of comparison are specific quantities or amounts of things (nouns) e.g.:

• more than ten years... in Spanish: más de diez años...

Some examples of this type of comparisons are:

• Yo llevaba más de £30 en el bolsillo (I had/ was carrying more than £30 in my pocket)
• Antonio tiene más de treinta años (Antonio is more than thirty years old)
• Os quedan más de dos días de vacaciones (you people-plural have more than two days left on your holidays)
• A Luis y Ana les queda más de media hora de viaje (Luis and Ana have more than half an hour's travel remaining)

Notes

See other posts dealing with comparisons.

Now you should practise the use of comparisons of superiority with some examples of your own.

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Tell Me, Does She Have Less Patience Than You?

Introduction

This post deals with comparisons in general and more specifically with comparisons of inferiority in which the subjects of comparison are unspecific quantities or amounts of things.

SCENARIO

Imagine you are talking to a relative, a friend or a colleague. You come to talk about people who don't have a lot of patience. Mentioning the name of a common female friend, the other person says: "tell me, does she have less patience than you?"

In Spanish, the other person could choose to be less formal and say:

Dime, ¿tiene menos paciencia que tú?

On the other hand, he/ she could choose to be more formal and say:

Dígame, ¿tiene menos paciencia que usted?

---

OUR TIP

You don't need be concerned about the degree of formality in what the other person says to you. Whether the other person uses a more/ less formal register is irrelevant to most choices of reply.

Perhaps what you want to consider two basic options. i.e.:

• Your female friend does have less patience than you
• Your female friend doesn't have less patience than you

Here are a couple of examples which deal with those choices:

• Sí, tiene menos paciencia que yo* (yes, she does have less patience than me)
• No, no tiene menos paciencia que yo* (no, she doesn't have less patience than me)

Now you should practice answering the question:

Dime, ¿tiene menos paciencia que tú?

*Please see grammar topic below, comparisons

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Grammar – Comparisons

Basic types of comparison to consider are:

• Comparisons of superiority, typically: more beautiful than...
• Comparisons of inferiority, typically: less beautiful than...
• Comparisons of equality, typically:
  • as beautiful as...
  • as much money as...
  • as many people as...

Comparisons - Inferiority

This post deals comparisons of inferiority in which the subjects of comparison are unspecific quantities or amounts -see item 2 below. Other types of comparisons will be dealt with in separate posts.

When making comparisons of inferiority, there are three situations to consider:

1.- Inferior Characteristics Comparisons

In this type of comparison the subject of comparison is an adjective or adverb, e.g.:

• less intelligent than... in Spanish: menos inteligente que...
• worse than... in Spanish: peor que...

Some examples of this type of comparisons are:

• Estoy menos feliz que antes (I am less happy than before)
• Soy menos inteligente que tú (I am less intelligent than you)
• Pedro está menos moreno que Antonio (Pedro is less suntanned than Antonio)
• Hoy andamos menos deprisa que ayer (we are running around less frantically than yesterday)
• Mis amigos son menos divertidos que los tuyos (my friends are less fun than yours)
• Este vino es peor que el otro (this wine is worse than the other one)

2.- Less Unspecific Quantities Comparisons

In this type of comparisons the subjects of comparison are unspecific quantities/ numbers of things or people (nouns), e.g.:

• less money than... in Spanish: menos dinero que...

Some examples of this type of comparisons are:

• Tú hermano tiene menos dinero que tú (your brother has less money than you)
• Hoy hemos comprado menos comida que ayer (today we have bought less food than yesterday)
• Tienes menos amigos que Antonio (you have less male friends than Antonio)
• Antonio tiene menos amigas que tú (Antonio has less female friends than you)

3.- Lower Specific Numbers Comparisons

In this type of comparisons the subjects of comparison are specific quantities or amounts of things (nouns) e.g.:

• less than ten years... in Spanish: menos de diez años...

Some examples of this type of comparisons are:

• Yo llevaba menos de £30 en el bolsillo (I had/ was carrying less than £30 in my pocket)
• Antonio tiene menos de treinta años (Antonio is less than thirty years old)
• Os quedan menos de dos días de vacaciones (you people-plural have less than two days left on your holidays)
• A Luis y Ana les queda menos de media hora de viaje (Luis and Ana have less than half an hour's travel)

Notes

See other posts dealing with comparisons. http://spanishtutor-onlinenet.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/COMPARISONS

Now you should practise the use of comparisons of inferiority with some examples of your own.

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© Copyright 2015 Love-Spanish.com by Jose M González. All Rights Reserved.

Tell Me, Are You The Youngest In Your Class?

Introduction

This post is about using superlatives in general and more specifically relative superlatives.

SCENARIO

Imagine you are a female studying Spanish and are talking to a relative, a friend or a colleague about your Spanish class.

At some point, the other person says to you: "tell me, are you the youngest in your class?".

In Spanish, the other person could choose to be less formal and say:

Dime, ¿eres la más joven de la clase?

On the other hand, he/ she could choose to be more formal and say:

Dígame, ¿es usted la más joven de la clase?

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OUR TIP

You DO NOT need be concerned about the degree of formality in the question. Whether the other person uses a more/ less formal register is irrelevant to most choices of reply. In fact, a yes/ no answer may often be sufficient.

However, if you wanted to elaborate a little and use superlatives, remember that being a male/ female is relevant to forming superlatives (such as the youngest) when they apply to yourself in Spanish. So, since you are a female^*, perhaps you want to say that:

• Yes, you are the youngest, in which case you could say:
  • Sí, yo soy la más joven^* (yes, I am the youngest)

• No, you are not the youngest, in which case you could say:
  • No, no soy la más joven^* (no, I am not the youngest)
  • No, el más joven es Pedro^* (no, the youngest is Pedro)
  • No, la más joven es María^* (no, the youngest is Maria)

*Note

There is a separate post dealing with the situation where you are a male

Now you should practice answering the question:

Dime, ¿eres la más joven de la clase?

*Please see grammar topic below, superlatives

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Superlatives

The questions and answers above are examples how superlatives are expressed in Spanish. In Spanish we have two types of superlatives:

• Absolute Superlatives
• Relative Superlatives

Absolute Superlatives

As the name indicates, these are superlatives in absolute terms. In other words, superlatives without comparison to anything else.

Absolute superlatives are usually formed by adding -ísimo/ -ísima/ -ísimos/ -ísimas to the corresponding adjective. Table 1 below shows that 'mechanism' at work for some commonly used adjectives.

Adjective	Masculine		Feminine
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
alto1	altísimo	altísimos	altísima	altísimas
grande1	grandísimo	grandísimos	grandísima	grandísimas
fácil1	facilísimo	facilísimos	facilísima	facilísimas
potente1	potentísimo	potentísimos	potentísima	potentísimas
caliente2	calentísimo	calentísimos	calentísima	calentísimas
feliz3	felicísimo	felicísimos	felicísima	felicísimas
poco3	poquísimo	poquísimos	poquísima	poquísimas
largo3	larguísimo	larguísimos	larguísima	larguísimas
joven4	jovencísimo	jovencísimos	jovencísima	jovencísimas

Table 1 – Absolute Superlatives

Notes

1 These are 'standard' absolute superlatives, which are formed by replacing the last vowel with corresponding ending (-ísimo/ -ísimos/ -ísima/ -ísimas).

2 The absolute superlative of caliente → calentísimo is an exception (nb. The “i” is removed)

3 Adjectives ending in -z, -co and -go need additional spelling changes:

• If ending in -z, replace it with a c, as in: feliz → felicísimo
• If ending in -co, replace it with a qu, as in: rico → riquísimo
• If ending in -go, replace it with a gu, as in: largo → larguísimo

4 The absolute superlative of joven is jovencísimo.

Examples

Practical examples of absolute superlatives are:

• Una torre altísima (a very high/ an extremely high tower);
• Unas casas grandísimas (some very big/ some extremely big houses);
• El español es facilísimo (Spanish is very easy/ extremely easy);
• Unos coches potentísimos (some very powerful/ some extremely powerful cars);
• El horno estaba calentísimo (the oven was very hot/ extremely hot);
• ¡Felicísimas Navidades! (a very happy/ an extremely happy Christmas!);
• La paella estaba riquísima (the paella was very tasty/ extremely tasty);
• Fue un día larguísimo (it was a very long/ an extremely long day);
• Una persona jovencísima (a very young/ an extremely young person);

Relative Superlatives

Relative superlatives are superlatives in comparative terms. In other words, superlatives in comparison with others within a group.

Relative superlatives are usually formed by adding el más/ la más/ los más/ las más to the the adjective^*. Table 2 below shows that 'mechanism' at work for some commonly used adjectives.

Adjective	Masculine		Feminine
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
alto	el más alto	los más altos	la más alta	las más altas
grande	el más grande	los más grandes	la más grande	las más grandes
fácil	el más fácil	los más fáciles	la más fácil	las más fáciles
potente	el más potente	los más potentes	la más potente	las más potentes
caliente	el más caliente	los más calientes	la más caliente	las más calientes
feliz	el más feliz	los más felices	la más feliz	las más felices
rico	el más rico	los más ricos	la más rica	las más ricas
largo	el más largo	los más largos	la más larga	las más largas
joven	el más joven	los más jóvenes	la más joven	las más jóvenes

Table 2 – Relative Superlatives

* NB There are some Spanish adjectives with special relative superlative forms. Special relative superlatives are shown in Table 3 below:

Adjective	Masculine		Feminine
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
bueno	el mejor	los mejores	la mejor	las mejores
malo	el peor	los peores	la peor	las peores
grande	el mayor	los mayores	la mayor	las mayores
pequeño	el menor	los menores	la menor	las menores

Table 3 – Special Relative Superlatives

Examples

Practical examples of relative superlatives are:

• La más alta de las torres (the tallest towers);
• Las casas más grandes (the largest houses);
• Los idiomas más fáciles (the easiest languages);
• Los coches más potentes (the most powerful cars);
• El horno más caliente (the hottest oven);
• Las Navidades más felices (the happiest Christmas!);
• La paella más rica (the tastiest paella);
• El día más largo (the longest day);
• La persona más joven (the youngest person);
• El mejor vino (the best wine);
• Las peores películas (the worst films);
• Los mayores errores (the biggest mistakes);
• Al menor descuido (at the smallest/ slightest distraction);

Note

See other posts dealing with superlatives. 

Now you should practise the use of superlatives with some examples of your own.

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© Copyright 2015 Love-Spanish.com by Jose M González. All Rights Reserved.