In English, the comparative and the superlative are formed by adding the endings -er and -est to the adjective. In Spanish, the comparative is formed by placing más (more), or menos (less), before the adjective. The superlative is formed by using the definite article el, los, la, las, or the possessive adjective before the noun, followed by más + adjective: el ... más hermoso, la ... más hermosa.
	Comparative	Superlative
un hombre alto	un hombre más alto	el hombre más alto
a tall man	a taller man	the tallest man
una mujer flaca	una mujer más flaca	la mujer más flaca
a thin woman	a thinner woman	the thinnest woman
los libros caros	unos libros más caros	los libros más caros
the costly books	some more costly books	the costliest books
las tazas nuevas	unas tazas más nuevos	las tazas más nuevos
the new cups	some newer cups	the newest cups
mis tazas nuevas		mis tazas más nuevas
my new cups		my newest cups
Irregular forms
bueno	mejor	el, la mejor; los, las mejores
good	better	the best
malo	peor	el, la peor; los, las peores
bad	worse	the worst
grande	mayor	el, la mayor; los, las mayores
big, great	greater, older	the greatest, oldest
pequeño	menor	el, la menor; los, las menores
small	lesser, younger	the least, youngest

The phrases más ... que, más ... de (more ... than), and menos ... que, menos de (less ... than), are used to compare one adjective to another.
Juan es alto.	John is tall.
Juan es más alto que María.	John is taller than Mary.
Juan es el estudiante más alto de la clase.	John is the tallest student in the class.
Más de, menos de are used with numbers in an affirmative statement. If the statement is negative, however, más que is used.
Tengo más de diez dólares.	I have more than 10 dollars.
No tengo más que diez dólares.	I have no more than 10 dollars.
	I have only 10 dollars.
The subject pronouns are used in the comparative form.
Alicia es menos alta que tú.	Alicia is shorter than you.
Yo estoy más preocupada que él.	I am more worried than he.
In English, as ... as is used to compare two characteristics that are equal. In Spanish, tan ... como is used to express two equal qualities.
Ricardo es tan rico como María.	Ricardo is as rich as María.
Alda es tan alta como José.	Alda is as tall as José.
Las muchachas están tan cansadas como los muchachos.	The girls are as tired as the boys.
In English, as much ... as or as many ... as is used to compare two equal quantities to each other. In Spanish, tanto (-a,-os,-as) ... como, is used to compare one noun of equal quantity to another. Since tanto modifies the noun it procedes, it functions as an adjective and must change its form according to the number and gender of the noun it modifies.
Compro tantos libros como mi hermano.	I buy as many books as my brother.
Yo como tanta ensalada como tú.	I eat as much salad as you.
Los niños duermen tantas horas como las niñas.	The little boys sleep as many hours as the little girls.
¿Cuánta ensalada comes?	How much salad do you eat?
Como tanta como tú.	I eat as much as you.
¿Cuántos libros compras?	How many books do you buy?
Compro tantos como mi hermano.	I buy as many as my brother.

 

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Jaime El Sabio