Breakdown of Compararse con otras personas no es útil para la salud mental.
Questions & Answers about Compararse con otras personas no es útil para la salud mental.
Compararse is the reflexive form of comparar.
- comparar = to compare (something with something else)
- e.g. Comparo dos productos. – I compare two products.
- compararse = to compare oneself
- e.g. No debes compararte con otras personas. – You shouldn’t compare yourself with other people.
In your sentence, the idea is specifically comparing yourself with others, so Spanish uses the reflexive form compararse.
Spanish often uses the infinitive as the subject of a sentence, where English would use -ing:
- Compararse con otras personas no es útil...
= Comparing yourself with other people is not useful...
Structurally:
- Compararse = subject (like “comparing yourself”)
- no es útil = verb phrase (“is not useful”)
- para la salud mental = complement (“for mental health”)
So starting with an infinitive is normal and very common in Spanish.
With comparar in the sense of “compare X with Y”, Spanish typically uses con:
- comparar X con Y – to compare X with Y
- compararse con otras personas – to compare oneself with other people
You can sometimes see comparar a X con Y when X is a person and is the direct object, but in the reflexive structure like here (compararse), the natural preposition is con.
Yes, but the meaning shifts slightly:
Compararse con otras personas no es útil...
General statement about people in general: Comparing oneself with others is not useful...Compararte con otras personas no es útil...
Addressing “you” (tú) directly: Comparing yourself with others is not useful...
Other possible forms:
- Compararnos con otras personas... – Comparing ourselves (inclusive “we”).
- Compararse uno con otros... – Very formal, more written style.
So compararse is more impersonal/general; compararte is more directly aimed at “you”.
Both exist, but they feel different:
- otras personas – explicitly “other people”, neutral and clear.
- otros – often understood as “others” (other people), but it’s more elliptical/less explicit.
In a neutral, clear sentence—especially something about mental health—otras personas sounds more natural and complete than just otros.
You could say it, but there’s a nuance:
- otras personas – neutral, a bit more formal, very standard.
- otra gente – a little more informal/colloquial; gente is singular grammatically, even though it refers to a group.
So:
- Compararse con otras personas... – perfect for general advice, writing, and formal or semi-formal contexts.
- Compararse con otra gente... – more casual speech.
Útil is an adjective that has the same form for masculine and feminine in the singular:
- el método útil
- la técnica útil
It does change in the plural:
- los métodos útiles
- las técnicas útiles
In your sentence:
- la salud mental – singular, feminine
- útil – singular (gender-neutral form), so it already agrees correctly.
In Spanish, the basic rule is:
- no goes before the conjugated verb:
- no es útil
- no tengo tiempo
- no puedo ir
Putting no after the verb (es no útil) is ungrammatical in this kind of sentence. Spanish doesn’t mirror English word order here; it has its own fixed pattern: no + verb.
Spanish normally uses the definite article (el, la, los, las) when talking about things in general, including abstract nouns:
- La salud mental es importante. – Mental health is important.
- La educación es cara. – Education is expensive.
So:
- para la salud mental literally = for the mental health, but it’s understood as for mental health (in general).
Dropping the article (para salud mental) sounds incomplete or non-native in this context.
Both are possible, but they differ in focus:
para la salud mental
- general concept, more universal: for mental health (in general)
para tu salud mental
- more personal and direct: for your mental health
In a general, impersonal statement or headline-type sentence, la salud mental is more common. If you’re speaking to someone directly and personally, tu salud mental is a good choice.
Yes, but the nuance changes:
no es útil para la salud mental
= it is not useful for mental health
Focus: it doesn’t help or provide any benefit.no es bueno para la salud mental
= it is not good for mental health
Focus: it may actually be harmful or bad.
In everyday use, many people would say no es bueno para la salud mental, because comparing yourself to others is usually seen as somewhat damaging, not just “not useful.” The original no es útil sounds slightly more neutral or clinical.
La salud mental by itself normally means “mental health” as a general concept.
Depending on context, it can be interpreted as including “your/my/our” mental health, but grammatically it’s just the generic noun phrase. To specify:
- tu salud mental – your mental health (informal “you”)
- su salud mental – his/her/their/your (formal) mental health
- nuestra salud mental – our mental health
In the sentence you gave, it’s best understood as mental health in general.