Hacer o estar for time period?

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by irmamar

Y si el maestro lo dice, será verdad

Originally Posted by AngelicaDeAlquezar

@Perikles: I don't know which one is an exact comparative. I haven't been able to isolate a rule yet, thinking about it, "más de" is often followed by a quantity.

My grammar book says más que is used in what it calls 'comparisons of inequality' by which it means 'X is bigger than Y', where both are measured, with a specific difference. That is what I called an exact comparative.

It then goes on to say that más de is used when

1) comparisons are made with an element in another clause, where it will be followed by a pronoun plus que:

Es más rápida de lo que yo pensaba
Había menos personas de las que habíamos invitado

2) Comparisons involving numerals

Faltan menos de tres semanas para la Navidad

I think this second condition involving numerals would include your example of waiting more than two hours at the doctor's, i.e. the second element is not something which has been measured.

What do you think?

[irmamar]

Originally Posted by Perikles

My grammar book says más que is used in what it calls 'comparisons of inequality' by which it means 'X is bigger than Y', where both are measured, with a specific difference. That is what I called an exact comparative.

It then goes on to say that más de is used when

1) comparisons are made with an element in another clause, where it will be followed by a pronoun plus que:

Es más rápida de lo que yo pensaba
Había menos personas de las que habíamos invitado

2) Comparisons involving numerals

Faltan menos de tres semanas para la Navidad

I think this second condition involving numerals would include your example of waiting more than two hours at the doctor's, i.e. the second element is not something which has been measured.

What do you think?

We make another distinction between comparative sentences: comparativas propias y relativas:

- Comparativas propias: with "QUE":

Juan es mayor que Pedro.
Este libro es mejor que el otro.

- Comparativas relativas: with DE + artículo + QUE:

Estas manzanas son peores de lo que dijiste.
Esta novela es menos interesante de lo que pensaba.

About "más de", traditional grammar has always said that sentences with "más/menos de" are comparatives, but some authors say that they're not comparative, since they can't be included either between the "comparativas propias" or "comparativas relativas". I don't have opinion about it yet. (luckily I didn't have a sentence like this in my last Spanish exam ).

[Perikles]

I think that's what I almost said above under case 1)

[irmamar]

Originally Posted by Perikles

I think that's what I almost said above under case 1)

Yes, you're right, almost