Learn Spanish (Latin America): Ese valle es más seco que la isla.

Ese valle es más seco que la isla.

That valley is drier than the island.

Breakdown of Ese valle es más seco que la isla.

Questions & Answers about Ese valle es más seco que la isla.

In English, we say "drier". Why does Spanish use más seco instead of adding an ending to the word?

In Spanish, there is no "-er" ending for adjectives like we have in English. To say something is "more [adjective]" or "[adjective]-er", you always put más (more) in front of the adjective. So, "drier" becomes más seco (literally "more dry").

Does que always mean "than" when comparing things?

Yes! When you are using más (more) or menos (less) to compare two things, que is the word you use for "than". You will use this exact pattern every time: más + adjective + que.

The sentence ends with la isla (feminine), so why is the adjective seco (masculine) instead of seca?

Adjectives must match the gender of the noun they are actually describing. Here, the adjective seco is describing Ese valle (That valley), which is masculine. The island (la isla) is just the thing it is being compared to, so it does not change the gender of the adjective.

Could I use está instead of es here?