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language resource center |
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Salem State College | Department of Foreign Languages | Language Resource Center
| Degrees and Comparisons |
By Dr. Jon Aske
Chapter 12 of ¡Claro que sí!
To express a high degree of a certain quality
Notice how in English very precedes adjectives to indicate a high degree of the quality expressed by the adjective.
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This lesson is very difficult |
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Esta lección es muy difícil |
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This lesson is extremely difficult |
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Esta lección es dificilísima |
To indicate an even high degree we could say very, very or extremely (in Spanish muy, muy or extremadamente). But Spanish often uses instead the suffix -ísimo/a(s) attached to the adjective.
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My brother is very tall |
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Mi hermano es muy alto |
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My brother is extremely tall |
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Mi hermano es altísimo |
Comparison of inequality: implicit and explicit
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This lesson is more difficult |
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Esta lección es más difícil |
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This lesson is less difficult |
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Esta lección es menos difícil |
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This is a more difficult lesson |
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Esta es una lección más difícil |
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This lesson is more difficult than lesson 11 |
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Esta lección es más difícil que la lección 11 |
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This lesson is less difficult than lesson 11 |
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Esta lección es menos difícil que la lección 11 |
Relative amounts
Notice that here than translates as de, not as que.
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It costs more than 50 dollars |
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Cuesta más de 50 dólares |
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He weighs more than 200 pounds |
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Pesa más de 200 libras |
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She ran less than 2 miles |
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Corrió menos de 2 millas . |
Highest degree
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This is the most difficult lesson |
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Esta es la lección más difícil |
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This is the most difficult one |
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Esta es la más difícil |
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This is the least convincing argument |
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Este es el argumento menos convincente |
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This is the longest lesson |
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Esta es la lección más larga |
¡Claro que sí! Chapter 13
Surprising amounts
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My brother is so tall |
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Mi hermano es tan alto |
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I have such a tall brother |
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Tengo un hermano tan alto |
Comparison of equality: with adjectives, adverbs, nouns, amounts
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Lesson 13 is as difficult as lesson 12 |
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La lección 13 es tan difícil como la lección 12 |
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My brother is as tall as my sister |
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Mi hermano es tan alto como mi hermana |
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My brother came as late as my sister |
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Mi hermano vino tan tarde como mi hermana |
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My brother has as many books as my sister |
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Mi hermano tiene tantos libros como mi hermana |
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My brother knows as much as my sister |
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Mi hermano sabe tanto como mi hermana |
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My brother has as much fever as my sister |
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Mi hermano tiene tanta fiebre como mi hermana |
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My brother ate as much rice as my sister |
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Mi hermano comió tanto arroz como mi hermana |
