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Mio fratello è competitivo, ma stasera ha giocato peggio del solito.

Mio fratello è competitivo, ma stasera ha giocato peggio del solito.
My brother is competitive, but tonight he played worse than usual.
From Lesson 218:Irregular comparative adverbs (meglio, peggio)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Mio fratello è competitivo, ma stasera ha giocato peggio del solito.

Why is it peggio and not più male?
Peggio is the irregular comparative form of the adverb male (badly). Just like in English we say 'worse' instead of 'more badly', in Italian you use peggio. It describes the action of how he played (ha giocato).
Could I use peggiore instead of peggio in this sentence?
No, because peggiore is an adjective used to describe nouns (meaning 'a worse thing or person'). In this sentence, we are describing how he played (an action), so we must use the adverb peggio (meaning 'in a worse way').
Why does the sentence use del for 'than' in peggio del solito?
To say 'than' before a noun or a fixed noun-like phrase, Italian uses di. Here, 'usual' is treated as a noun: il solito (the usual). When you combine di (than) with the article il, it contracts into the articulated preposition del.
I remember that possessives usually need an article. Why is it Mio fratello and not Il mio fratello?
This is a great rule to remember: Italian drops the definite article (il, la, etc.) before possessives when talking about singular, unmodified family members. Since fratello is a singular family member, it is just Mio fratello.

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