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El río es más largo que el lago.

El río es más largo que el lago.
The river is longer than the lake.
From Lesson 64:Comparatives of inequality (más / menos ... que)·Spanish (Latin America)

Breakdown of El río es más largo que el lago.

ser
to be
largo
long
que
that / than
el lago
the lake
el río
river
más
more

Questions & Answers about El río es más largo que el lago.

Why is it más largo que instead of a single word like 'longer'?
In Spanish, you don't add endings like '-er' to adjectives to make comparisons. Instead, you always use más (more) or menos (less) before the adjective, followed by que (than). So, más largo que literally translates to 'more long than'.
Wait, doesn't largo mean 'large'?
This is a very common false friend! In Spanish, largo means 'long'. If you want to say 'large' or 'big', you would use the word grande.
Why do we use es instead of está here?
We use es (from the verb ser) for permanent characteristics or inherent qualities. The length of a river is a basic, defining physical trait, not a temporary condition or a location, so es is the right choice.
Why does más have an accent mark?
The accent mark shows the difference in writing between más (meaning 'more') and mas (a less common word meaning 'but'). You will also notice an accent on río to make sure the speaking stress falls on the 'i'.

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