01 · The comparison everyone reaches for
Madrid es más grande que Barcelona.
Madrid is bigger than Barcelona.
"Más + adjective + que" is the whole pattern — swap in any two things you want to compare.
andbefluent.com/spanish/bigger-better
Bigger Better
Compare cities, food and people — mejor, peor, el más — smoothly, in real conversation.
Comparing in Spanish runs on three frames: más/menos … que for more and less (Madrid es más grande que Barcelona), tan … como for equality (mi hermana es tan alta como yo; with nouns, tantas sillas como personas), and el/la más … de for superlatives — with de, not en: es el más alto de la clase. Four comparatives are irregular and non-negotiable: mejor, peor, mayor, menor — never más bueno or más malo. Before a number, que becomes de (más de veinte personas), and for pure emphasis Spanish reaches for -ísimo: la comida está riquísima.
Below: each comparison frame lesson by lesson, the mistakes that mark a learner instantly — and how you practise them by talking about things you actually have opinions on, not with flashcards or drills.
The warm-up pack
How to actually say something's bigger, better or the best — in the sentence you'd use to say it, not a table of forms.
01 · The comparison everyone reaches for
Madrid es más grande que Barcelona.
Madrid is bigger than Barcelona.
"Más + adjective + que" is the whole pattern — swap in any two things you want to compare.
02 · The other direction
Hay menos gente hoy que ayer.
There are fewer people today than yesterday.
Same shape as "más...que", just flipped — "menos" for less, "que" stays exactly where it was.
03 · When two things are equal
Mi hermana es tan alta como yo.
My sister is as tall as me.
"Tan...como" says two things match — no "more" or "less" involved, just "the same as".
04 · Equal, but with a verb
No estudio tanto como debería.
I don't study as much as I should.
Same equality idea, just built around an action instead of a description — "tanto como" instead of "tan...como".
05 · The word that replaces 'más bueno'
Este restaurante es mejor que el otro.
This restaurant is better than the other one.
Spanish never says "más bueno" — "mejor" already means "better" on its own.
06 · The word that replaces 'más viejo'
Mi hermano es mayor que yo.
My brother is older than me.
For people's ages, "mayor" does the job "más viejo" would clumsily try to do.
07 · The youngest, without a comparison word
Soy el menor de la familia.
I'm the youngest in the family.
"Menor" already means "younger/youngest" — no "más joven" required, and it doubles as a superlative here.
08 · Naming the best of a group
Es el mejor restaurante de la ciudad.
It's the best restaurant in the city.
The superlative pattern is "el/la más (or an irregular like mejor) + de" — and it's always "de", never "en".
09 · The rule people get backwards
Es el más alto de la clase.
He's the tallest in the class.
Same "de" rule again — it trips up almost everyone at first, because English uses "in the class".
10 · Turning up the volume on an adjective
La comida está riquísima.
The food is incredibly delicious.
Drop the last vowel, add "-ísimo/a", and any adjective gets stronger — this is how Spanish speakers add emphasis without extra words.
11 · Before a number, it's never 'que'
Tengo más de veinte libros.
I have more than twenty books.
The one exception to "más...que" — in front of a number, it switches to "más de".
FLUENT
Finally, someone to talk to in Spanish.
Ten-minute spoken lessons. A teacher who answers back — and gently fixes what you got wrong.
First 10 lessons freeandbefluent.com/spanish/bigger-betterRegional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
Watch out
The part no drill site can do
Carla
Your grammar teacher for this pack
No flashcards, no fill-in-the-blanks — in the Bigger Better lessons you argue your opinions out loud, and Carla keeps asking for one more. Two cities you know: which is bigger, which do you prefer, and why — más grande que, menos interesante que. Then she takes bueno and malo off the table and makes you reach for the real forms: este café es mejor que…, el clima está peor que ayer. By the end you're crowning things from your own life — el mejor café de la ciudad — and stacking on -ísimo when it deserves it.
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 5 lessons and Bigger Better is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
Mejor and peor — never más bueno or más malo: este restaurante es mejor que el otro, el clima hoy está peor que ayer. Age works the same way: mayor (older) and menor (younger) — mi hermano es mayor que yo.
Use de before numbers: tengo más de veinte libros, menos de diez minutos. Use que when comparing two things: tengo más amigos que mi hermano.
Tan + adjective + como: hablas español tan bien como un nativo. With nouns it's tanto/tanta/tantos/tantas … como, agreeing with the noun: tengo tanto dinero como tú, hay tantas sillas como personas.
El/la + más/menos + adjective + de — and it's always de, not en: es la ciudad más bonita de España, es el mejor restaurante de la ciudad.
It's an intensifier meaning extremely, and Spanish speakers use it constantly: la comida está riquísima, te quiero muchísimo, dormí poquísimo anoche.