Making Comparisons of Equality using Verbs  

Comparisons of Equality

To make comparisons of equality using verbs we use the formula:

verb + tanto como

Expressions with verbs show no agreement:

Juan trabaja tanto como yo.
Juan Works as much as I do.
Mi hermanita nada tanto como un pez.
My little sister swims as much as a fish.
Ya no juego tanto como antes.
I no longer play as much as I used to.
Cuando yo era joven nadaba tanto como un pez.
When I was young I used to swim as much as a fish.

Cuanto . . . . . (tanto), followed by any comparatives, translate to English as:

    'the more . . . . . the less'
    'the more . . . . . the more'
    'the less . . . . . the less' etc.
Cuanto más gana, (tanto) más gasta.
The more he earns, the more he spends.
Cuanto más le pidan, (tanto) más les dará.
The more you ask of him, the more he will give you.

"Than" is ordinarily expressed by que.

Tengo más dinero que usted.
I have more money than you.
Él anda más aprisa que ella.
He walks faster than she.

Before numerals or numerical expressions, ' than ' is expressed by de in affirmative sentences and by either que or de in negative sentences.

Me dieron más de veinte pesos.
They gave me more than twenty dollars.
No tenía más que (or de) dos libros.
He didn't have more than two books.

When each member of the comparison has a different verb, or the second member of the comparison repeats the verb of the first, de is generally used for 'than ' in preference to que. Furthermore, if an adjective is the point of comparison, de is followed by the relative lo que ('that which'), and if a noun is the point of comparison, by the relatives el que, la que, los que, las que ('the one which,' 'those which ').

Es más bueno de lo que pensaban.
He is better than (that which) they thought.
Trajo menos de lo que prometió.
He brought less than he promised.
Tengo más dinero del que te presté.
I have more money than (that which) I loaned you.
Me compró menos libros de los que creí que me compraría.
He bought me less books than (those which) I thought he would buy me.
Pronunciation guide to the Spanish alphabet





Popular Phrase: conjugate verb ser | Spanish for Health Fields | Conjugated Verb: vedar - to prohibit, to forbid (rarely used) [ click for full conjugation ]