Words to compare things

To compare things, you will often use “más” (more) and “menos” (less) followed by “que” (than). For example, “Juan es más alto que María” (Juan is taller than Maria).
The word “tan” (as) is used to make comparisons of equality. For example, “Ella es tan inteligente como él” (She is as intelligent as him).
To express a superlative (the most, the least), you use “el/la/los/las más” or “el/la/los/las menos” followed by the adjective. For example, “Ella es la más alta” (She is the tallest).
When comparing adjectives and adverbs, put ‘más’ or ‘menos’ before the word, and ‘que’ after. This equates to the English ‘more or less than’. Example: “Mi coche es más rápido que tu coche” (My car is faster than yours).
When comparing quantities, use ‘más’ or ‘menos’ before ‘de’. This equates to the English ‘more or less than’. Example: “Hay más de veinte personas aquí” (There are more than twenty people here).
The words “mejor” (better) and “peor” (worse) are irregular comparative forms. For example, “Mi hermano es mejor en deportes que yo” (My brother is better at sports than me).
Note that “mayor” can mean both “older” and “bigger”, and “menor” can mean both “younger” and “smaller”, depending on context.
Beware of false friends, for example “actualmente” does not mean “actually”, it translates to “currently” or “at present” in English.
Practise forming comparisons in sentences and remember to agree the adjective with the noun it describes where necessary, as Spanish adjectives change form to match the gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) of the nouns they describe.