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¿Es esta cueva más caliente que el desierto?

¿Es esta cueva más caliente que el desierto?
Is this cave hotter than the desert?
From Lesson 77:Relative superlatives (el más... de)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about ¿Es esta cueva más caliente que el desierto?

The lesson is about superlatives (like "the hottest"), but this sentence means "hotter than". How would we change it to a superlative?
This sentence is a comparative because it compares exactly two things using más ... que (more ... than). To make it a relative superlative like the ones in this lesson (for example, saying it's "the hottest cave in the desert"), you would use the article instead of the verb first: la cueva más caliente del desierto.
Why does the sentence use es? Don't we use hace or está for hot things?
We use hace calor for the general weather and está caliente for a temporary state (like a hot cup of coffee). But here, we are talking about a permanent, defining characteristic of a place. Because being a hot environment is an inherent trait of both this cave and the desert, we use the verb ser (es).
Why does Spanish use two words (más caliente) for "hotter"?
In English, we often add "-er" to the end of short adjectives (hot becomes hotter). Spanish doesn't have an "-er" ending. To make a comparison, you always say "more [adjective]", which is why "hotter" translates to más caliente.
Why is it esta cueva instead of esto cueva?
Cueva is a feminine noun, so the word for "this" must be feminine too (esta). You only use esto for abstract concepts or unknown objects when there is no specific noun attached, like when asking "¿Qué es esto?" (What is this?).

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