Learn Spanish (Latin America): Los búhos construyeron menos nidos de los que necesitaban. - The owls built fewer nests than they needed.

Los búhos construyeron menos nidos de los que necesitaban.

The owls built fewer nests than they needed.

Breakdown of Los búhos construyeron menos nidos de los que necesitaban.

the (masculine plural)

que

that / than

Questions & Answers about Los búhos construyeron menos nidos de los que necesitaban.

Why is "than" translated as de los que instead of just que?

When comparing a noun (like nidos) to a conjugated verb or a whole clause (like necesitaban), we don't use que. Instead, we use a phrase like del que or de los que. You can think of menos nidos de los que as meaning "fewer nests than the ones that" they needed.

How do I know to use los in de los que?

The article inside this phrase has to match the noun you are comparing. Since nidos (nests) is masculine and plural, we use los to match it. If the sentence was about building fewer houses (casas), it would be menos casas de las que necesitaban.

Why does this sentence mix the preterite (construyeron) and the imperfect (necesitaban)?

The preterite is used for construyeron because the building of the nests was a completed action. The imperfect is used for necesitaban because needing the nests was an ongoing state or background situation at that time.

Why is there a "y" in construyeron?