Making comparisons in Italian

Learn how to use Making comparisons with examples.
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Making comparisons

This is how we compare adjectives, adverbs and nouns:

  • Comparative of majority (+):

più (more) + adjective / adverb / noun + di (than)

Magda è più gentile di Carlotta. 

Magda is kinder than Carlotta.

Ruggero ha fatto più errori di Betty.

Ruggero has made more mistakes than Betty.

conjugated verb + più di (more than)

Carlotta mangia più di Anna. 

Carlotta eats more than Anna.

conjugated verb + più del (more than) + past participle

Francesca parla più del dovuto.

Francesca talks more than she should.

  • Comparative of inferiority (-):

meno (less) + adjective / adverb / noun + di (than)

Ciro è meno intelligente di Anna.

Ciro is less intelligent than Anna.

conjugated verb + meno di (less than)

Ruggero lavora meno di Magda. 

Ruggero works less than Magda.

conjugated verb + meno del (less than) + past participle

Piove meno del previsto.

It is raining less than expected.

  • Comparison of equality (=):

(tanto) (“as”, optional) + adjective / adverb / noun + quanto (as)

La macchina è (tanto) veloce quanto la moto.

The car is as fast as the motorbike.

verb + tanto quanto (as much as)

Anna legge tanto quanto Magda. 

Anna reads as much as Magda.

Notes: 

  • When comparing things that are the same using a noun, tanto and quanto agree with the noun (in terms of gender and number):

Betty ha tanti anni quanti il suo hotel.

Betty is as old as her hotel (literally, “Betty has as many years as her hotel”).

  • When comparing things that are the same using adjectives and adverbs, we can use come instead of (tanto)… quanto:

Anna è alta come Magda. 

Anna is as tall as Magda.

Questa moto va veloce come la tua auto. 

This motorbike goes as fast as your car.

  • Some comparatives are irregular: we use meglio (better) rather than più bene (more good) and peggio (worse) rather than più male (more bad).

Oggi mi sento meglio di ieri.

Today I feel better than yesterday.

Questo film è peggio del precedente.

This movie is worse than the previous one.


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