Comparison - Complete Guide for Spanish Speakers

🎯 Why This Matters

Comparing products, people, situations.

Learning Outcome

Ability to choose the best option and argue choices.

🇪🇸 The Challenge

Synthetic vs Analytic forms. Spanish uses 'más' (more) for everything. English mixes '-er' (faster) and 'more' (more beautiful), causing confusion.

🇲🇽🇨🇴🇦🇷 The 'más' habit

Problem: Spanish uses 'más' universally for all comparatives

Watch out: Saying 'more big' instead of 'bigger', 'more fast' instead of 'faster'

✅ Fix: Count syllables! 1 syllable = -er, 3+ syllables = more

🧠 Mental Note: Translate 'más' differently based on word length in English

❌ 'This is more cheap' → ✅ 'This is cheaper'

🇪🇸 Same challenge

Problem: Spain Spanish also uses 'más' for everything

Advantage: You know the irregular forms (mejor=better, peor=worse) from Spanish

Watch out: Over-applying the 'más' pattern to short words

✅ Fix: Remember: English has TWO systems. Spanish has ONE.

❌ 'more old' → ✅ 'older'

🧠 Visual Explanation (The Mental Fix)

Short vs Long Words Rule

Think of it as a SIZE rule: SHORT words (1 syllable) = add -ER/-EST - fast → faster → fastest - big → bigger → biggest LONG words (3+ syllables) = use MORE/MOST - beautiful → more beautiful → most beautiful - expensive → more expensive → most expensive 2 syllables = depends! (-y endings get -ER) - happy → happier (ends in -y) - modern → more modern (no -y)

If you can say it in one breath, add -er. If you need to pause, use 'more'.

🗣️ Pronunciation Guide

How Spanish speakers should pronounce this structure:

The -ER ending

Spanish Habit: Pronouncing -ER as a strong syllable

English Reality: The -ER is a weak schwa sound /ər/

Examples:

bigger → /ˈbɪɡər/ (not 'big-AIR')
faster → /ˈfæstər/ (not 'fast-AIR')
better → /ˈbetər/ (sounds like 'bettuh')

Practice: The -ER should sound like a quick 'uh' at the end

📖 How It Works

Visual comparisons of objects. Exception tables.

Learning Strategy

Teacher Recommendation: Self-study friendly

Time Investment: 4 hours

🔑 Signal Words (Memory Anchors)

These words/phrases appear with this structure:

English	Spanish	Example
than	que	bigger than / más grande que
the...est	el/la más...	the fastest car / el carro más rápido
as...as	tan...como	as tall as / tan alto como
not as...as	no tan...como	not as expensive as / no tan caro como

💬 Real Examples

Let's see this structure in action with correct vs incorrect usage:

Example 1: Using MORE with short adjectives

✅ CORRECT: "This car is faster than that one."

🇪🇸 Translation: "Este carro es más rápido que ese."

❌ COMMON MISTAKE: "This car is more fast than that one."

Why wrong? 'Fast' is one syllable, so it takes -ER, not MORE

🇲🇽 LatAm Trap: Spanish uses 'más' for everything. English splits the rule by word length!

Example 2: Using -ER with long adjectives

✅ CORRECT: "This painting is more beautiful."

🇪🇸 Translation: "Esta pintura es más hermosa."

❌ COMMON MISTAKE: "This painting is beautifuler."

Why wrong? 'Beautiful' has 3 syllables, so it needs MORE, not -ER

Example 3: Irregular comparatives

✅ CORRECT: "This is better than that. / This is the best."

🇪🇸 Translation: "Esto es mejor que eso. / Esto es lo mejor."

❌ COMMON MISTAKE: "This is gooder/more good than that."

Why wrong? GOOD is irregular: good → better → best

🇲🇽 LatAm Trap: Spanish 'bueno/mejor/el mejor' works the same way - use this as a memory aid!

Other irregulars: bad→worse→worst, far→farther→farthest

✏️ Practice Exercises

Ready to test your understanding? Let's practice!

All set? Let's reinforce what you learned.

Start Interactive Exercises

🚀 What to Study Next

More in "Adjectives & Adverbs"

Adjectives

Low

Frequency Adverbs

Low

Time Adverbs

Low

Adverbs

Medium