Sommer M. answered • 02/28/20
BA in Spanish Edu with 2.5 years teaching and 5+ years of tutoring Spa
Más/menos...que is used to make unequal comparisons.
Example: David is taller than Sara. David es más alto que Sara.
Because David and Sara are not equal heights (they are different) we use más...que. It would be an equally true statement if we flipped the sentence around and used menos...que. Sara es menos alta que David.
*Note: Be careful with pronouns, because Sara is now the main subject of the sentence, the adjective now must be made feminine.
You can also make a superlative with this structure by using the correct definite article (el, la, los, las) in the construction.
Example: David is the tallest of the group. David es el más alto del groupo.
Example 2: Sara is the least tallest of the group. Sara es la menos alta del groupo.
Tan...como is used to state when qualities are (or are not) equal/identical.
David is as tall as Lara. David es tan alto que Lara.
Rosa is not as tall as David. Lara no es tan alta que David.
Tanto...como is used to state when quantities are (or are not) equal/identical.
*Tanto must agree with the noun that is after it (tanto, tanta, Santos, tantas).
David has as much money as Sara. David tiene tanto dinero que Sara.
Lara's house has as many rooms as David's house. La casa de Lara tiene tantos cuartos que la casa de David.
