By A2 you can already say más alto que Juan. The complications start when the second term of the comparison is not a simple noun but a relative clause, a number, an embedded sentence, or a measured quantity. This page collects the structures that trip up intermediate learners and explains the rules underlying the que vs de split — a distinction English does not make and that learners regularly get wrong even at B2.
The core skeleton
Spanish builds comparatives with three patterns:
- Inequality: más / menos + adj/adv/noun + que + second term
- Equality: tan + adj/adv + como + second term (or tanto/a/os/as + noun + como)
- Superlative: el / la / los / las + (noun) + más/menos + adj + de + group
The trouble starts at the second term. If it is a noun, you use que: más alto que mi hermano. But once the second term becomes a clause, a number, or an embedded thought, peninsular Spanish makes finer choices.
Más/menos … que with a relative clause as the second term
When the second term of the comparison is itself a relative clause — more X than the one we saw — Spanish uses the relative pronouns el que / la que / los que / las que, agreeing in gender and number with the noun being compared.
Este piso es más luminoso que el que vimos ayer.
This flat is brighter than the one we saw yesterday.
Esta tarta está más rica que la que hizo tu madre.
This cake tastes better than the one your mother made.
Estos zapatos son más cómodos que los que llevabas antes.
These shoes are more comfortable than the ones you were wearing before.
The pronoun agrees with the first noun in the comparison, not with the verb that follows. Piso is masculine singular, so el que; tarta is feminine singular, so la que; zapatos is masculine plural, so los que.
Numbers and quantities: más de / menos de, not que
When the second term is a number or a quantified amount, Spanish switches from que to de. This trips up English speakers because English uses than in both cases.
Había más de cincuenta personas en la sala.
There were more than fifty people in the room.
Lleva menos de dos años trabajando aquí.
He's been working here for less than two years.
Cuesta más de mil euros.
It costs more than a thousand euros.
The rule: de before a measured quantity (number, percentage, length of time, weight), que before a compared element (noun, pronoun, clause).
There is one famous wrinkle. In negative contexts, no … más que means "only" rather than "more than":
No tengo más que diez euros.
I only have ten euros.
No tengo más de diez euros.
I have no more than ten euros (i.e., at most ten).
The two sentences look almost identical but mean different things. No tengo más que diez = exactly ten and nothing else (the más que construction works as a restrictor, equivalent to solo). No tengo más de diez = some amount up to ten. Native speakers feel this distinction sharply; learners must memorize it.
De lo que / de los que / de las que: comparing with a clause
A second case where Spanish uses de instead of que: when the second term of the comparison is a full clause that contains an implicit reference back to the quantity being compared. This is the construction English handles with than I thought, than they expected, than is reasonable.
If what is being compared is an adjective, adverb, or verb, Spanish uses de lo que:
Es mucho más complicado de lo que parece.
It's much more complicated than it seems.
Vino antes de lo que esperaba.
He came earlier than I expected.
Tardamos más de lo que pensábamos.
We took longer than we thought.
If what is being compared is a noun, Spanish uses de + article + que, agreeing with the noun:
Compró más libros de los que va a leer en un año.
He bought more books than he'll read in a year.
Hay más gente de la que cabe en el local.
There are more people than fit in the venue.
Tiene más problemas de los que admite.
He has more problems than he admits.
The logic: in más libros de los que…, the relative pronoun los que (the ones that, namely "the books that") sits inside the comparison, and de (rather than que) signals that we are measuring quantity rather than identity. English collapses both into a single than.
Comparing two adjectives applied to the same subject
When two adjectives describe the same thing, Spanish uses más … que with both adjectives in the comparison:
Es más astuto que inteligente.
He's more cunning than intelligent.
Está más cansada que enferma.
She's more tired than sick.
The construction is symmetric: both qualities apply to the subject, but one applies more than the other. English mirrors this pattern exactly.
Equality with tan…como and tanto…como
The equality side has two skeletons. Tan combines with adjectives and adverbs; tanto/a/os/as combines with nouns and agrees in gender and number:
Madrid es tan grande como Barcelona en superficie.
Madrid is as big as Barcelona in surface area.
No corre tan rápido como antes.
He doesn't run as fast as he used to.
Tiene tantos libros como tú.
He has as many books as you do.
Hay tanta paciencia en él como en una piedra.
There's as much patience in him as in a rock (i.e., none).
The adverbial tanto (without ending) appears after a verb without a noun: trabaja tanto como yo (he works as much as I do).
Superlatives: el más / la más / los más / las más
The Spanish superlative is built from the comparative by adding the definite article. The "than" of comparison becomes a "than/of" set frame with de:
Es el restaurante más caro de la ciudad.
It's the most expensive restaurant in the city.
Es la persona más generosa que conozco.
She's the most generous person I know.
Son los días más cortos del año.
They're the shortest days of the year.
Two structural points English speakers stumble over:
- The superlative phrase does not repeat the article. Spanish says el restaurante más caro, not el restaurante el más caro. (French does the latter — le restaurant le plus cher — and Spanish learners coming from French get this wrong constantly.)
- The "set" in which the superlative ranks is introduced by de, not en. English "the best in Spain" is el mejor de España, not el mejor en España (which would mean "the best while in Spain," a different idea).
Es el mejor jugador del equipo.
He's the best player on the team.
Es la mejor decisión que he tomado en mi vida.
It's the best decision I've made in my life.
Irregular comparatives
Four adjectives have irregular comparative/superlative forms that do not take más:
| Adjective | Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|---|
| bueno (good) | mejor | el/la mejor |
| malo (bad) | peor | el/la peor |
| grande (big/old) | mayor | el/la mayor |
| pequeño (small/young) | menor | el/la menor |
Mi hermano mayor vive en Sevilla.
My older brother lives in Seville.
Este vino es peor que el del año pasado.
This wine is worse than last year's.
Mayor and menor refer to age (hermano mayor = older brother) or to abstract quantity (menor impacto = lesser impact). For physical size, Spanish prefers más grande / más pequeño: una casa más grande, not una casa mayor (the latter is possible but sounds archaic for physical size).
The absolute superlative: -ísimo
A separate construction — the absolute superlative — does not compare to anything; it just intensifies. It is formed by attaching -ísimo/a/os/as to the adjective:
La paella estaba buenísima.
The paella was absolutely amazing.
Es un libro interesantísimo.
It's a really fascinating book.
Estoy cansadísimo.
I'm completely exhausted.
This is everyday spoken Spanish (informal-to-neutral), not formal. Some adjectives have spelling adjustments: rico → riquísimo, largo → larguísimo, feliz → felicísimo.
How this differs from English
English uses than for every kind of second term: more than five, more than the one we saw, more than I thought. Spanish makes three cuts: que (general comparison), de (quantity), de lo que / de los que (clause with implicit reference). English speakers must build the habit of checking what kind of second term is coming and choosing accordingly.
English also uses a single article for superlatives (the most expensive); Spanish does not repeat the article inside the noun phrase. And the set is introduced by de in Spanish, not in — a tiny preposition difference that learners get wrong for years before it sticks.
Common Mistakes
❌ Hay más que cincuenta personas.
Incorrect — with numbers, use de, not que.
✅ Hay más de cincuenta personas.
There are more than fifty people.
❌ Es más difícil que parece.
Incorrect — when the second term is a clause comparing an adjective/quality, you need de lo que.
✅ Es más difícil de lo que parece.
It's harder than it seems.
❌ Compré más libros que los que voy a leer.
Incorrect — when comparing a quantity against a clause, use de los que, not que los que.
✅ Compré más libros de los que voy a leer.
I bought more books than I'm going to read.
❌ Es el mejor restaurante en Madrid.
Incorrect — the set of a superlative takes de, not en.
✅ Es el mejor restaurante de Madrid.
It's the best restaurant in Madrid.
❌ Esta casa es más grande que la casa que vimos ayer.
Awkward — repeating casa is unnecessary; use la que.
✅ Esta casa es más grande que la que vimos ayer.
This house is bigger than the one we saw yesterday.
❌ Es el más caro restaurante de Madrid.
Incorrect — más caro goes after the noun, not before it, in superlatives.
✅ Es el restaurante más caro de Madrid.
It's the most expensive restaurant in Madrid.
Key Takeaways
- Que for general comparison; de for quantities; de lo que / de + article + que when the second term is a clause with an implicit reference.
- No … más que means "only"; no … más de means "no more than" (at most).
- Comparatives with relative clauses use el que / la que / los que / las que, agreeing with the first noun.
- Superlatives use the article once (el restaurante más caro) and set the comparison group with de.
- Mejor, peor, mayor, menor are irregular and replace más + bueno/malo/grande/pequeño.
- -ísimo/a/os/as gives an absolute superlative — no comparison, just intensification.
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Start learning Spanish→Related Topics
- Comparativos: más, menos, tan… que / comoA1 — How Spanish builds comparisons of inequality (más/menos … que) and equality (tan … como). The de-vs-que split before numbers, comparing nouns and verbs, and the natural everyday templates.
- Superlativos relativos: el más alto de la claseA2 — How Spanish builds the relative superlative — el/la/los/las + más + adjective + de + group — and the small set of irregular forms (mejor, peor, mayor, menor) that override the regular pattern.
- Pronombres relativos: el que, el cualB1 — The compound relative pronouns el que / la que / los que / las que and the formal el cual / la cual / los cuales / las cuales — when Spanish requires more than plain que and how the two series differ in register.
- Correlativas: cuanto más X, más YB2 — Spanish's correlative comparative construction — cuanto más X, más Y — is the equivalent of English 'the more X, the more Y', but with its own agreement rules, mood patterns, and idiomatic variants.
- Taller de oraciones complejasC1 — A workshop in building native-like Spanish compound-complex sentences — twelve sentences broken down clause by clause, showing how subordination, mood, and tense interact.