To say one thing is bigger, smaller, better, or just as good as another, Portuguese uses a small set of frames built around mais (more), menos (less), and tão (as). The good news for English speakers is that Portuguese has no two-way split like English's "-er" versus "more" (taller vs. more beautiful) — almost everything uses mais. The catch is a handful of irregular comparatives and a choice between que and do que that you need to get right.
Superiority: mais ... (do) que
To say "more X than," use mais before the adjective (or adverb) and (do) que before the thing you're comparing to.
O Pedro é mais alto que o irmão.
Pedro is taller than his brother.
Esse celular é mais caro do que o outro.
This phone is more expensive than the other one.
Ela corre mais rápido que eu.
She runs faster than me.
Notice that more beautiful and taller both become mais ... in Portuguese: mais bonito, mais alto. There is no separate "-er" pattern to learn.
Inferiority: menos ... (do) que
The mirror image uses menos (less). This is much more common in Portuguese than "less + adjective" is in English, where we often prefer "not as ... as."
Hoje está menos frio do que ontem.
Today it's less cold than yesterday.
Esse filme é menos interessante que o primeiro.
This movie is less interesting than the first one.
Equality: tão ... quanto / tão ... como
To say "as X as," frame the adjective with tão ... quanto (or tão ... como — both are correct; quanto is a touch more common in BR).
O metrô é tão rápido quanto o carro nessa cidade.
The subway is as fast as the car in this city.
Ela é tão inteligente quanto a irmã.
She's as smart as her sister.
For equality of quantity (as much/many as), use tanto/tanta/tantos/tantas ... quanto, agreeing with the noun:
Eu tenho tantos livros quanto você.
I have as many books as you.
Não bebi tanta água quanto deveria.
I didn't drink as much water as I should have.
que vs. do que — which to use?
Both que and do que are correct after a comparative. So when do you pick which?
- Both are fully acceptable in speech and writing for the basic case: mais alto que and mais alto do que are equally good.
- do que is slightly more emphatic and is the safer choice in careful writing.
- Before a clause (a comparison with its own verb), do que is strongly preferred and sounds far more natural.
Foi mais difícil do que eu imaginava.
It was harder than I imagined. (clause with its own verb → do que)
Ele gasta mais do que ganha.
He spends more than he earns. (clause → do que)
The four irregular comparatives
Four very common adjectives do not use mais. They have their own single-word comparative forms, and using mais with them is a hallmark error. English speakers actually have an advantage here, because English does the same thing (good → better, not "more good").
| Adjective | Meaning | Comparative | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|
| bom | good | melhor (better) | |
| mau / ruim | bad | pior (worse) | |
| grande | big | maior (bigger) | |
| pequeno | small | menor (smaller) |
Este restaurante é melhor do que aquele.
This restaurant is better than that one.
O trânsito hoje está pior que ontem.
The traffic today is worse than yesterday.
São Paulo é maior do que o Rio.
São Paulo is bigger than Rio.
Meu apartamento é menor que o seu.
My apartment is smaller than yours.
These four forms are invariable for gender (melhor serves both masculine and feminine) but do take a plural: melhores, piores, maiores, menores.
Superlatives: the most / the least
To say "the most X" or "the least X," put a definite article (or possessive) before the comparative. The group you're picking from is introduced by de.
Ela é a aluna mais dedicada da turma.
She's the most dedicated student in the class.
Foi o dia menos produtivo da semana.
It was the least productive day of the week.
The irregular forms work the same way — just add the article:
Esse é o melhor pastel da cidade, sem dúvida.
This is the best pastel in the city, no doubt.
O Amazonas é o maior rio do mundo em volume de água.
The Amazon is the largest river in the world by water volume.
Note the position: with a regular adjective, the pattern is o/a + noun + mais/menos + adjective (a aluna mais dedicada), but with the irregulars you say o/a + melhor/pior/maior/menor + noun (o melhor pastel). The irregulars sit before the noun like bom/grande do.
Common mistakes
❌ Este restaurante é mais bom que aquele.
Incorrect — bom has the irregular comparative melhor.
✅ Este restaurante é melhor que aquele.
This restaurant is better than that one.
❌ São Paulo é mais grande que o Rio.
Incorrect — grande becomes maior, not mais grande.
✅ São Paulo é maior que o Rio.
São Paulo is bigger than Rio.
❌ Ela é tão inteligente que a irmã.
Incorrect — equality uses quanto/como, not que.
✅ Ela é tão inteligente quanto a irmã.
She's as smart as her sister.
❌ É o melhor restaurante na cidade.
Incorrect — the group after a superlative takes de, not em/na.
✅ É o melhor restaurante da cidade.
It's the best restaurant in the city.
❌ Eu tenho tão livros quanto você.
Incorrect — a noun needs tanto (agreeing), not tão.
✅ Eu tenho tantos livros quanto você.
I have as many books as you.
Key takeaways
- Superiority/inferiority: mais / menos ... (do) que. Almost everything uses mais — no "-er" pattern.
- Equality: tão + adjective + quanto/como; tanto + noun + quanto (noun agrees).
- do que is safe everywhere and preferred before a clause; que alone is fine before a noun.
- Four irregulars: melhor, pior, maior, menor — never mais bom/mau/grande/pequeno.
- Superlative: article + comparative, with the group marked by de: o melhor da cidade.
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- Comparative: Regular FormsA2 — How to build regular comparatives in Brazilian Portuguese — superiority with mais...(do) que, inferiority with menos...(do) que, and equality with tão...quanto/como.
- Comparative: Irregular FormsA2 — Four Brazilian Portuguese adjectives have irregular comparatives you must never make analytic: bom→melhor, ruim/mau→pior, grande→maior, pequeno→menor.
- Relative Superlative (O Mais ... De)A2 — The Brazilian Portuguese relative superlative — definite article + mais/menos + adjective + DE + a set — picks out the most or least of a group, with irregulars like o melhor and o pior.
- Absolute Superlative (-íssimo)A2 — The Brazilian Portuguese absolute superlative means 'extremely' — built synthetically with -íssimo (lindíssimo, facílimo), analytically with muito, or colloquially with super-/mega- and pra caramba.
- Comparison SentencesA2 — How Brazilian Portuguese compares things at the sentence level — 'mais/menos (do) que', 'tão/tanto... quanto', irregular 'melhor/pior', and the correlative 'quanto mais... melhor'.