More Than It Seems
To express that something is "more [adjective] than you thought" or "less [adjective] than it seems," Spanish uses a specific comparative structure. Instead of just que, you will use de lo que followed by a conjugated verb.
The formula is: más (or menos) + adjective/noun + de lo que + conjugated verb.
| The trapeze artist's jump is more dangerous than it seems. | El salto de la trapecista es más peligroso de lo que parece. |
| Are the new acrobatics less complicated than we thought? | ¿Las nuevas acrobacias son menos complicadas de lo que pensábamos? |
Daring Stunts
This structure is perfect for describing spectacular performances that defy expectations. You can use it to talk about how amazing (asombroso) or daring (audaz) a fire breather (el tragafuegos) or an illusionist (el ilusionista) really is.
| I think that the fire breather is more amazing than you said. | Creo que el tragafuegos es más asombroso de lo que decías. |
| The illusionist is much more daring than you imagine. | La ilusionista es mucho más audaz de lo que imaginas. |
| Is riding a unicycle less difficult than it seems? | ¿Montar en monociclo es menos difícil de lo que parece? |
High-Flying Adjectives
When using this structure to describe stunts on the high wire (el alambre) or the trapeze (el trapecio), remember that the adjective must still agree in gender and number with the person or thing you are describing.
The comparative phrase de lo que, however, remains fixed and never changes.
| The woman on the trapeze is more agile than I imagined. | La mujer en el trapecio es más ágil de lo que imaginaba. |
| The fire breather's performance on the wire is more dangerous than people think. | La actuación del tragafuegos sobre el alambre es más peligrosa de lo que la gente piensa. |