Breakdown of Mis abuelos son muy conservadores, mientras que mis padres son más liberales que ellos.
ser
to be
el abuelo
the grandfather
ellos
they
el padre
father / parents
mi
my
muy
very
que
that / than
más
more
mientras
while / the more/less (in proportional comparisons) / as long as
conservador
conservative
liberal
liberal
Questions & Answers about Mis abuelos son muy conservadores, mientras que mis padres son más liberales que ellos.
Why is mientras que followed by the indicative verb son here instead of the subjunctive?
In this sentence, mientras que means "whereas" or "while" to contrast two established facts. When used for contrastive coordination like this, it takes the indicative. You would only use the subjunctive after mientras if it meant "as long as" referring to a future or hypothetical situation.
Can I just say mientras instead of mientras que for "while" in this sentence?
Why do we use son (from ser) for being conservative or liberal? Aren't these opinions that can change?
Even though political or social views might evolve, Spanish treats them as defining characteristics or core traits of a person's identity. Therefore, you always use ser rather than estar with adjectives like conservadores and liberales.
At the end of the sentence, why do we use que ellos instead of de ellos to say "than them"?
When making comparisons of inequality (more or less than) with adjectives, the correct structure is más + adjective + que. You use que to link the two things being compared (the parents and the grandparents). You would typically only use de before numbers or quantities, like saying "more than five".
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