Comparison of Italian and Spanish

Comparison of Adjectives and Adverbs

• The Italian words for 'more' and 'less' are più and meno. The corresponding Spanish words are más and menos.
• In Italian, one normally uses più/meno ... di to compare adjectives and più/meno ... che to compare adverbs. E.g., Giovanni è più alto di Paolo, Giovanni mangia più velocemente che Paolo. In Spanish, one simply uses más/menos ... que in both cases: Juan es más alto que Pablo, Juan come más rapidamente que Pablo.
• Care must be taken when translating the word 'better'. Italian makes a distinction between the adjective migliore and the adverb meglio, whereas Spanish simply has mejor.
• Similarly, Italian makes a distinction between peggiore and peggio, whereas Spanish simply has peor.
• For comparisons of equality ('as... as'), Italian uses così ... come or tanto ... quanto. E.g., Giovanni è così intelligente come Paolo or Giovanni è tanto intelligente quanto Paolo. Spanish uses mainly tan ... como. E.g., Juan es tan inteligente como Pablo.

Last updated September 2011 by Adam N. Letchford.