La alfombra limpia es más acogedora que el suelo frío.

The clean rug is cozier than the cold floor.

Breakdown of La alfombra limpia es más acogedora que el suelo frío.

• ser: to be
• limpio: clean
• más: more
• frío: cold
• acogedor: cozy
• que: than
• el suelo: the floor
• la alfombra: the rug

Questions & Answers about La alfombra limpia es más acogedora que el suelo frío.

Why is the adjective limpia placed after la alfombra rather than before it?

In Spanish, most descriptive adjectives follow the noun they modify. Saying la alfombra limpia (literally “the carpet clean”) emphasizes the descriptive quality in the usual neutral way. Placing limpia before (la limpia alfombra) would sound poetic, emphatic or stylistically marked.

Why isn’t there a verb like estar between alfombra and limpia (e.g. la alfombra está limpia)?

Spanish allows an attributive adjective to attach directly to a noun.

• La alfombra limpia is a single noun phrase meaning “the clean carpet.”
• La alfombra está limpia makes a full clause and states “the carpet is clean (right now).”
  The original sentence describes “the clean carpet” as an entity, not the carpet’s temporary state.

How is the comparative structure más acogedora que formed?

Comparatives of superiority use the pattern:
más + adjective + que
Here:
más + acogedora + que
= “more cozy than.”
Always use más … que (not de que).

Why does acogedora end in -a?

Adjectives in Spanish agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.

• Alfombra is feminine singular.
• Therefore the adjective acogedor takes the feminine singular ending -a, becoming acogedora.

Why is there a definite article el before suelo frío?

When comparing nouns in Spanish, you normally include the definite article:
que + el + [noun + adjective]
Hence que el suelo frío means “than the cold floor.”

Why does más have an accent here?

Más (with an accent) means “more” and is stressed on the “a.”
Without an accent, mas is an old-fashioned conjunction meaning “but.”
In comparatives, you always write más with an accent.

Could you omit el and say just suelo frío?

In everyday speech you might hear que suelo frío, but prescriptive Spanish requires the article in this kind of comparison:
más … que el suelo frío.
Leaving out el sounds informal or dialectal.

What if I wanted to say “the carpet is cozier than the cold floor” using a full clause?

You could recast it using a verb:
La alfombra limpia es más acogedora que el suelo frío.
is already a full clause (with es).
Alternatively, focusing on state:
La alfombra está más acogedora que el suelo frío.
But that shifts emphasis to a temporary state rather than a general fact.