Comparative Conjunctions (Como, Conforme) | Portuguese (Brazil) Grammar

Comparative conjunctions (conjunções comparativas) introduce the second term of a comparison — the thing you are measuring against. Whenever you say something is bigger, smaller, or just like something else, one of these connectors links the two halves: mais alto *do que você, tão rápido **quanto o irmão. This page covers the whole set, the choice between *que and do que, the ellipsis that makes comparisons sound natural, and the colloquial Brazilian favorites that textbooks skip. For the noun-phrase mechanics of full comparison sentences, see Comparison Sentences; for the adjective forms themselves, see Regular Comparatives.

Inequality: mais / menos (do) que

To say more than or less/fewer than, you pair mais or menos with que or do que.

Meu irmão é mais alto do que eu.

My brother is taller than I am.

Esse celular custa menos do que o outro.

This phone costs less than the other one.

So when do you use que and when do que? Both are correct, but Brazilian usage has a clear tendency:

do que is preferred — and feels more natural — especially before a clause (a second verb) and in careful or written register.
que is the shorter, lighter option, common before a single word or short phrase in speech.

Ela ganha mais do que gasta.

She earns more than she spends.

Hoje está mais frio que ontem.

Today it's colder than yesterday.

In the first sentence, do que introduces a full clause (gasta has its own subject) and the do version is strongly preferred. In the second, que before a single word is perfectly idiomatic. There is also a fixed rule worth memorizing: before a number, Brazilian Portuguese uses de, not que: mais de vinte pessoas ("more than twenty people"), never mais que vinte in that quantitative sense.

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Rule of thumb: use do que before a verb (a clause) and de before a number. Between those, que alone is fine for short comparisons in speech.

Equality: tão … quanto/como and tanto … quanto/como

For comparisons of equality ("as … as"), Portuguese uses a two-part frame, and once again tão scales adjectives/adverbs while tanto scales verbs and nouns.

tão + adjective/adverb + quanto/como — "as [adj/adv] as"
tanto quanto/como (with a verb) — "as much as"
tanto/-a/-os/-as + noun + quanto/como — "as much/as many … as"

The second-term connector can be quanto or como, freely interchangeable in Brazil, with quanto slightly more frequent in this equality frame.

Ela é tão teimosa quanto a mãe.

She's as stubborn as her mother.

Esse restaurante é tão bom como dizem.

This restaurant is as good as they say.

Eu trabalho tanto quanto você, só que não reclamo.

I work as much as you do, I just don't complain.

Ele tem tantos problemas quanto qualquer um, mas não demonstra.

He has as many problems as anyone, but he doesn't show it.

Note that tanto agrees with its noun: tantos problemas (masculine plural). This gender/number agreement is something English speakers consistently forget, because "as many" never changes shape.

Ellipsis: the missing second verb

A defining feature of natural comparison is that the repeated verb in the second term is usually deleted. English does the same thing.

Sou mais paciente do que você [é].

I'm more patient than you [are].

Ele dirige tão mal quanto o pai [dirige].

He drives as badly as his father [does].

The bracketed verbs are understood but not spoken. This ellipsis is why you frequently see a subject pronoun "stranded" after the conjunction (do que eu, do que você) — and a point of contrast with English: where English props up the gap with a "dummy" auxiliary ("than you are," "as his father does"), Portuguese simply leaves the slot empty. Trying to translate the English auxiliary directly produces ungrammatical Portuguese.

assim como / bem como — "just as / as well as"

These two are comparison conjunctions that add a parallel element rather than measure a degree.

assim como — "just as / in the same way as"
bem como — "as well as" (more formal, common in writing and lists)

Assim como o pai, ela escolheu a medicina.

Just like her father, she chose medicine.

O relatório analisa os custos, bem como os riscos do projeto.

The report analyzes the costs, as well as the risks of the project.

bem como is formal and shows up in reports, contracts, and academic prose; in conversation you would just say e também ("and also").

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Match the register to the situation: que nem for casual speech, como or assim como for neutral/written, and bem como only for formal lists and documents. Using que nem in an email or bem como at a barbecue both sound off.

que nem — the colloquial "just like"

In everyday Brazilian speech, que nem is the go-to way to say "just like / exactly like." It is thoroughly informal — natural in conversation, out of place in formal writing.

Ele corre que nem doido quando está atrasado.

He runs like crazy when he's late.

Você é teimoso que nem seu avô.

You're stubborn just like your grandfather.

In writing or formal speech, replace que nem with como or assim como: teimoso como seu avô.

quanto mais … mais — "the more … the more"

This correlative pattern links two scaling quantities. The structure is quanto mais/menos … (mais/menos).

Quanto mais eu estudo, mais percebo o quanto não sei.

The more I study, the more I realize how much I don't know.

Quanto menos você se preocupa, melhor você dorme.

The less you worry, the better you sleep.

English flips both halves into "the more … the more"; Portuguese opens with quanto and lets the second clause carry a bare mais/menos/melhor. Keep the two halves parallel.

Common Mistakes

❌ Tem mais que vinte pessoas na fila.

Incorrect — before a number, use 'de', not 'que'.

✅ Tem mais de vinte pessoas na fila.

There are more than twenty people in line.

❌ Ela é tanto inteligente quanto a irmã.

Incorrect — 'inteligente' is an adjective, so use 'tão', not 'tanto'.

✅ Ela é tão inteligente quanto a irmã.

She's as intelligent as her sister.

❌ Sou mais alto do que você é.

Awkward — Portuguese drops the repeated verb; don't carry over the English auxiliary.

✅ Sou mais alto do que você.

I'm taller than you.

❌ Ele tem tanto problemas quanto eu.

Incorrect — 'tanto' must agree with the plural noun: 'tantos'.

✅ Ele tem tantos problemas quanto eu.

He has as many problems as I do.

❌ Quanto mais eu estudo, o mais eu aprendo.

Incorrect — don't insert an article; the second half just takes bare 'mais'.

✅ Quanto mais eu estudo, mais eu aprendo.

The more I study, the more I learn.

Key Takeaways

Inequality uses mais/menos (do) que; prefer do que before a clause, and switch to de before a number.
Equality uses the tão … quanto/como frame for adjectives/adverbs and tanto … quanto/como for verbs and nouns, with tanto agreeing in gender and number.
The repeated verb is normally elided — don't import the English dummy auxiliary.
assim como / bem como add a parallel element (bem como is formal); colloquial que nem means "just like"; quanto mais … mais means "the more … the more."

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