Learn Italian: Devi essere più forte di lui. - You must be stronger than him.

Devi essere più forte di lui.

You must be stronger than him.

Breakdown of Devi essere più forte di lui.

more / anymore (with 'non')

Questions & Answers about Devi essere più forte di lui.

Why does the sentence use più forte instead of a single word for "stronger"?

In Italian, there are no special "-er" endings for adjectives like we have in English (strong -> stronger). Instead, you always use più (more) before the adjective. So, "stronger" is literally formed by saying più forte (more strong).

Does di mean "than" here?

Yes! You probably already know di as "of", but when making basic comparisons with più (more) or meno (less), di is used to mean "than". So, più forte di lui means "stronger than him".

Is lui the normal word for "he" or "him"?

Yes, lui usually means "he", but after di in a comparison, it translates to "him". For most people, you just use the standard pronoun (lui, lei, noi, loro). However, if you want to say "than me" or "than you", you must switch to the special stressed pronouns me and te (for example, più forte di me).

Why is essere left in its dictionary (infinitive) form?