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Comparatives and Superlatives

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Kingfisher
August 20, 2012, 12:11 PM
Hey guys

So I've reached this stage in my Spanish, well, why not call it a journey. For a comparisons of inequality, I think I have the basics tied down but I'm still having a little trouble

So to confirm:

(Él) corre más rápido que tú - He runs faster than you?

If I wanted to say, 'He runs better than you do', would that be:

(Él) corre mejor que tú?
Or do you rephrase it to be 'he is better at running?'

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For the superlative, if I wanted to say: Alfonso eats the most apples in the Gomez family

Alfonso come la más manzanas de la familia Gomez?

Thanks for reading

JPablo
August 20, 2012, 12:51 PM
(Él) corre más rápido que tú - He runs faster than you? :good:

(Él) corre mejor que tú? :good:
Or do you rephrase it to be 'he is better at running?' Not necessarily.

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Alfonso eats the most apples in the Gomez family

Alfonso come la más manzanas de la familia Gomez? :bad:


Alfonso come el mayor número de manzanas de la familia Gómez.
I'd probably said like this, but not very natural...
Mmm...
Probably better,
Alfonso es el que más manzanas come de los de la familia Gómez.

Kingfisher
August 20, 2012, 02:51 PM
Cheers for the feedback.

Is there any chance you could break that last one down a little bit for me, I'm having a bit of hard time following it I'm afraid.

Thanks

JPablo
August 20, 2012, 03:09 PM
Let's see...

Alfonso eats the most apples in the Gomez family

Alfonso = Alfonso
eats = come
the = la
most = mayor cantidad [greater amount]
apples = de manzanas [of apples]
in = en
the = la
Gomez family = familia Gómez

That would be the 'literal' way to say it.
"La mayor cantidad de manzanas" = "The greater amount of apples"
"El mayor número de manzanas" = "The greater number of apples".

In "Alfonso es el que más manzanas come de los de la familia Gómez." which is probably more natural in Spanish, I am literally saying: "Alfonso is the one of the Gómez family who eats more apples [than anyone else in that family]"

Is that helping at all?

Kingfisher
August 23, 2012, 01:42 PM
Yeah it is, thanks a lot for the help.

We haven't really looked at syntax within my classes yet, so the last one is a little tricky to look at but I'm sure it'll come with time.

JPablo
August 23, 2012, 03:40 PM
You're welcome! :)