Learn Italian: Le matite sono più corte delle penne. - The pencils are shorter than the pens.

Le matite sono più corte delle penne.

The pencils are shorter than the pens.

Breakdown of Le matite sono più corte delle penne.

more / anymore (with 'non')

Questions & Answers about Le matite sono più corte delle penne.

Why do we use delle instead of just di for "than"?

In Italian comparisons, the base word for "than" is di. However, when the noun you are comparing to uses a "the" word like le (the pens), di must combine with it. Here, di + le merges into the single word delle.

Wait, doesn't delle mean "some"?

It can! Words like delle, del, and dei mean "some" when used on their own before a noun (for example: Ho delle penne, "I have some pens"). But in a comparison sentence using più or meno, it simply acts as "than the" (di + le).

Why doesn't Italian have a single word for "shorter"?

Unlike English, which often adds "-er" to the end of a word (short becomes shorter), Italian creates these comparisons by using più (more) followed by the adjective. To say "shorter", you literally have to say "more short" (più corte).

Why does the word for short end in an "e" (corte)?