To say one thing is bigger, faster, or better than another, Brazilian Portuguese reaches for a small set of frames built around mais (more), menos (less), and tão / tanto (as). They're easy to learn and used constantly — but English speakers stumble on two points: when to add the little word do before que, and how the "the more... the more" pattern works. This page builds the comparison sentence from the ground up and clears up exactly those traps.
The basic frame: mais / menos ... (do) que
To compare unequal things — one has more or less of a quality than the other — you wrap the adjective or adverb in mais ... que (more ... than) or menos ... que (less ... than).
Ela é mais alta que eu.
She is taller than me.
Esse celular é menos caro que o outro.
This phone is less expensive than the other one.
Ele corre mais rápido que o irmão.
He runs faster than his brother.
English collapses "taller" into one word; Portuguese keeps it analytic — mais alta (literally "more tall"). There's no -er suffix to learn. Whatever the adjective or adverb, you simply put mais or menos in front of it.
The "do que" question
Here's the detail learners obsess over. Both que and do que mean "than," and they're often interchangeable. But there's a reliable guideline:
- Before a single word or short phrase, que alone is common and natural in speech: mais alta que eu.
- Before a full clause (a phrase with its own verb), use do que: mais difícil do que parece ("harder than it looks").
- Do que is also the safer, more careful choice in writing generally.
Foi mais fácil do que eu esperava.
It was easier than I expected.
A prova foi mais difícil do que parecia.
The test was harder than it looked.
Ele gastou mais do que devia.
He spent more than he should have.
In all three, a verb follows (esperava, parecia, devia) — so do que is the right call. Compare the bare-word cases above (que eu, que o irmão) where que alone is fine. When in doubt, do que is never wrong, so default to it.
Equality: tão ... quanto and tanto ... quanto
To say two things are equal in some quality, use tão ... quanto (as ... as) with adjectives and adverbs, and tanto ... quanto (as much/many as) with verbs and nouns.
Ela é tão alta quanto a irmã.
She is as tall as her sister.
Eu trabalho tanto quanto você.
I work as much as you do.
Aqui não chove tanto quanto no sul.
It doesn't rain as much here as in the south.
The split is mechanical: tão modifies an adjective or adverb (tão alta, tão rápido); tanto modifies a verb or noun and agrees with the noun (tanto / tanta / tantos / tantas). The second half is always quanto (you may also hear como — tão alta como a irmã — which is equally correct and slightly more formal in Brazil).
Tenho tantos livros quanto você.
I have as many books as you.
Irregular comparatives: melhor and pior
A few adjectives don't take mais. "Better" and "worse" have their own single words — melhor and pior — exactly like English. Saying mais bom or mais ruim is a classic beginner error.
| Base | Comparative | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| bom / bem (good / well) | melhor | better |
| ruim / mal (bad / badly) | pior | worse |
| grande (big) | maior | bigger |
| pequeno (small) | menor | smaller |
Esse restaurante é melhor que o outro.
This restaurant is better than the other one.
Hoje o trânsito está pior do que ontem.
Today the traffic is worse than yesterday.
É melhor prevenir do que remediar.
Prevention is better than cure. (lit. it's better to prevent than to remedy)
That last one is a fixed proverb — note the do que before the clause-like infinitive remediar. Maior and menor also replace mais grande / mais pequeno; never say mais grande.
The correlative: quanto mais ... mais
To say "the more... the more" — where two things rise (or fall) together — Brazilian Portuguese uses quanto mais ... mais (and its variants with menos). This is a single locked correlative structure.
Quanto mais eu estudo, mais eu entendo.
The more I study, the more I understand.
Quanto menos você se preocupa, melhor você dorme.
The less you worry, the better you sleep.
Quanto mais, melhor!
The more, the better!
English uses "the... the..." with no obvious logic; Portuguese uses quanto in the first half and mais / menos / melhor / pior in the second. The frozen short form Quanto mais, melhor! ("The more, the better!") is everyday and worth memorizing whole.
Common Mistakes
❌ Esse filme é mais bom que o outro.
Incorrect — 'good' has the irregular comparative 'melhor'.
✅ Esse filme é melhor que o outro.
This movie is better than the other one.
❌ Foi mais fácil que eu esperava.
Awkward — before a full clause use 'do que'.
✅ Foi mais fácil do que eu esperava.
It was easier than I expected.
❌ Eu trabalho tão quanto você.
Incorrect — with a verb use 'tanto', not 'tão'.
✅ Eu trabalho tanto quanto você.
I work as much as you.
❌ Essa casa é mais grande que a outra.
Incorrect — 'grande' has the irregular comparative 'maior'.
✅ Essa casa é maior que a outra.
This house is bigger than the other one.
❌ Mais eu estudo, mais eu entendo.
Incorrect — the correlative needs 'quanto' in the first half.
✅ Quanto mais eu estudo, mais eu entendo.
The more I study, the more I understand.
Key Takeaways
- Build comparatives analytically: mais / menos
- adjective or adverb + (do) que. There's no -er ending.
- Use do que before a full clause (do que parece) and as the safe default in writing; bare que is fine before a single word.
- Equality: tão ... quanto for adjectives/adverbs, tanto ... quanto for verbs and nouns (with tanto agreeing).
- Memorize the irregulars: melhor (better), pior (worse), maior (bigger), menor (smaller) — never mais bom or mais grande.
- The correlative "the more... the more" is quanto mais ... mais (and friends); the frozen Quanto mais, melhor! means "the more, the better."
Now practice Portuguese
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- Comparison StructuresA2 — How Brazilian Portuguese forms comparatives and superlatives with mais/menos ... (do) que, tão ... quanto, and the four irregular comparatives.
- 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.