Four common Spanish adjectives have irregular comparative forms that don't use más or menos. Instead of saying más bueno or más malo, Spanish uses single words: mejor, peor, mayor, and menor.
The Four Irregulars
| Adjective | Comparative | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| bueno | mejor | better |
| malo | peor | worse |
| grande | mayor | older, greater |
| pequeño | menor | younger, lesser |
All four work the same way: they're followed by que to introduce what you're comparing against.
La situación es peor que ayer.
The situation is worse than yesterday.
Sofía es menor que Andrés.
Sofía is younger than Andrés.
Don't Add Más or Menos
Because these forms already mean "more good" or "less good," adding más or menos would be redundant — and wrong.
- wrong: más mejor
right: mejor
- wrong: más peor
- right: peor
The only time you use más with them is in set expressions like mucho mejor ("much better") or mucho peor ("much worse"), where mucho is emphasizing, not comparing.
Este café es mucho mejor.
This coffee is much better.
Plural Forms
Since these are two-form adjectives, they only have singular and plural:
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| mejor | mejores |
| peor | peores |
| mayor | mayores |
| menor | menores |
They don't change for gender — mejor works for both masculine and feminine.
Mis notas son mejores este semestre.
My grades are better this semester.
Las condiciones son peores en invierno.
Conditions are worse in winter.
Mayor and Menor: Mostly About Age
Mayor and menor are used mainly when comparing age. For physical size, Spanish often prefers más grande and más pequeño.
Mi hermano mayor vive en Chile.
My older brother lives in Chile.
Soy la menor de la familia.
I'm the youngest in the family.
For size (not age), use the regular comparative:
Su casa es más grande que la mía.
His house is bigger than mine.
Esta porción es más pequeña.
This portion is smaller.
That said, mayor and menor can also mean "greater" and "lesser" in more abstract contexts:
El problema es de mayor importancia.
The problem is of greater importance.
Es un asunto menor.
It's a minor matter.
Bueno/Malo Are Sometimes Used with Más
In some contexts, particularly when talking about people's moral character, you might see más bueno instead of mejor — it shifts the meaning toward "kinder" rather than "better quality."
Ella es más buena que su hermana.
She is kinder than her sister.
Ella es mejor que su hermana would suggest she's better in some sort of competition or quality comparison, not necessarily kinder. In most other contexts, though, stick with mejor.
With Superlatives
The same irregular forms are used in superlatives: el/la mejor, el/la peor, el/la mayor, el/la menor. See Superlatives for the full pattern.
Es el mejor libro del año.
It's the best book of the year.
Es la menor de cinco hermanas.
She's the youngest of five sisters.
Quick Summary
| Adjective | Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|---|
| bueno | mejor | el/la mejor |
| malo | peor | el/la peor |
| grande (age) | mayor | el/la mayor |
| pequeño (age) | menor | el/la menor |
| grande (size) | más grande | el/la más grande |
| pequeño (size) | más pequeño | el/la más pequeño/a |
Related Topics
- Comparatives (Más...que, Menos...que)A2 — Comparing two things using más (more) or menos (less) with que (than)
- Superlatives (El más..., El menos...)A2 — Expressing 'the most' or 'the least' with the definite article