Spanish 3 Semester 2 Unit 3 Lesson 5 Independent Study: Focus on the Language Study Sheet

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1 Page 1 of 6 Figure It Out! Félix es inteligente. Jorge es más inteligente. Marcos es el más inteligente de todos. María no es muy amigable. Elena es menos amigable que María. Susana es la menos amigable de todas. El Sr. Ruiz tiene poco dinero. El Sr. León tiene menos dinero que el Sr. Ruiz. El Sr. Méndez es el que menos dinero tiene. Yo estudio mucho. Yo gano más conocimiento. Cuanto más estudio, más conocimiento gano. Carefully read the sequences of sentences above. Each sequence shows a natural progression through the three statements. What pattern do you see in the development of these sequences of statements? How is the fourth sequence different from the other three? Introduction We usually think of "superlatives" in terms of qualities: the "best," the "brightest," the "oldest." And so, most discussions of superlatives in basic Spanish courses stop right there, with learning how to express the superlatives of adjectives. Here you'll review not only the superlative forms of adjectives, but also how to form superlatives in other contexts where you might form a comparative. Also, you'll learn how to properly form statements of the type: "the more x... the more y". Simple Superlatives To form a basic superlative phrase for an adjective, just use the comparative form (with más, menos and the adjective, or a one-word form like mejor or peor), preceded by a definite article and followed by de. The de is optional and is only used when you want to specify the group of items that the superlative one stands out from. el/la/los/las + más/menos + [adjective] + de OR el/la/los/las + mejor/peor + de Remember that a "superlative" can represent the extreme in either direction, good or bad. Here are some examples: José es el más listo de todos. Me diste los peores de todos. José is the smartest of them all. You gave me the worst ones of them all.

2 Page 2 of 6 Marta es la menos trabajadora de la familia. Ofrézcale las mejores; está bien conmigo. Marta is the least hard-working of the family. Offer him the best ones; it's fine with me. This type of superlative can also be formed when the adjective directly modifies a noun: Este país tiene el más alto nivel de inflación del continente. This country has the highest inflation level on the continent. La mejor razón que te puedo dar es que simplemente es lo correcto. The best reason I can give you is that it's just the right thing. Ella tiene el cabello más largo de todas sus hermanas. She has the longest hair of all of her sisters. Superlatives of Quantities and Adverbs The definite article (el, la, los, las) is not used to form the superlative of a quantity or of an adverb. Instead, it is simply omitted or it appears outside of the clause where the superlative is expressed. Here are some examples. Roberto es el que más problemas tiene. Roberto is the one who has the most problems. Eso es lo que más me aflige. That's what troubles me the most. De las dos, la que sabe más es Anita. Of the two of them, the one that knows the most is Anita. La persona que lo termine más rápido ganará. The person who finishes it the fastest will win. Lo que más te conviene es hacerlo ya. The best thing is for you to do it now. Superlatives with lo + adjective You can form an abbreviated superlative by using the word lo followed by más and an adjective, or a one-word comparative such as mejor or peor. For example: Lo mejor de todo esto es que no pagamos nada. The best part of this is that we didn't pay anything. Lo más sorprendente es que vino del Presidente mismo. The most surprising thing is that it came from the President himself. Structures of the type "The more... the more..." Even fairly advanced Spanish students often don't know how to express the idea of the extent or intensity of one thing depending on the extent or intensity of something else. There are at least two ways to express comparisons of this type in Spanish. Of the two that you'll learn here, the first is more formal and the second is more common and familiar, especially in Latin America.

3 Page 3 of 6 Cuanto más... más... This is the standard formal and literary way to express this idea. After the first más (or menos) you indicate the basis of the comparison and after the second más (or menos) you indicate the result. You can also use the common one-word comparatives (mejor, peor, mayor, menor). You can also combine más and menos to express concepts such as "the more... the less..." Here are a few examples: Cuanto más leo, más aprendo. The more I study, the more I know. Cuanto menos pienses en eso, mejor te vas a sentir. The less you think about that, the better you will feel. Cuanto mayor sea el esfuerzo, mayor será la recompensa. The greater the effort, the greater the reward. Cuanto más lo conozco, menos lo aprecio. The more I get to know him, the less I appreciate him. Mientras más... más... This type of comparative can also be formed with mientras rather than cuanto. While cuanto más can be used in any context, mientras más is really limited to informal or conversational situations, and is much more common in Latin America than in Spain. An even less formal usage is entre más, which is common in conversation in some regions but sounds substandard in others and is always inappropriate in formal writing. Here are a few examples of comparatives of this type: Mientras más duermo, más sueño tengo. The more I sleep, the more tired I am. Mientras más temprano comamos, más tiempo vamos a tener para jugar. The earlier we eat, the more time we're going to have to play. Entre menos usted tema esos síntomas, menos ocurrirán. (highly informal) The less you fear those symptoms, the less they will occur. Summary Ordinary superlative adjectives are created by putting a definite article in front of a comparative (formed with más, menos, or a one-word irregular comparative), and optional de after the adjective. Superlatives of other parts of speech, such as quantities of nouns, verbs, and adverbs, do not use the definite article directly before the word that is made into a superlative. Often the definite article is omitted entirely.

4 Page 4 of 6 An abbreviated superlative can be formed with lo followed by a comparative más, menos, or one-word irregular comparative. In order to express the idea that we convey in English with "the more..., the more..." use cuanto más... más... Other, less formal alternatives are mientras más and entre más.

5 Page 5 of 6 Practice Questions A. Translation: Irregular Comparatives and Superlatives Translate the English phrase in paréntesis into Spanish. Remember the rules governing the uses of comparisons and superlatives. 1. En nuestro barrio, señor Aguayo es (the best) florista. 2. Entre todos los restaurantes en el centro, Los Hermanos siempre ha sido (the worst) en cuanto al servicio. 3. El hotel Fiesta Americana sirve a (the best) clientes del país. 4. Dónde está (the youngest) hermana de la familia? 5. Quién es (the oldest) en su familia? 6. Juan sacó 54% en el examen y Pedro 34%. Pedro sacó (the worst) calificación. 7. Este poncho que acaba de comprar es (the best) compra que he hecho en la vida. 8. No me gusta la ropa hecha de lana. Es (the worst) tela que conozco. 9. Mi mamá tiene 40 años y mi papá 43. Es obvio que él es (older than) ella. 10. Tus amigos son (better than) los míos. 11. Mi primo Enrique es (younger than) mi hermano Pepe. 12. Los dulces son (bad) para la salud. 13. El mercado San Felipe es (worse than) el mercado San Ignacio. 14. La inversión en la Bolsa es (the worst) cosa que se puede hacer en este momento. 15. (the best) es no tener que pagar impuestos altos al gobierno. B. Translation: Comparatives and Superlatives Translate the following sentences from English to Spanish paying close attention to the differences between the superlatives and the comparatives. 1. Paco is my best friend in the whole world. 2. The worst thing that could happen would be an earthquake during the game. 3. I hope you (Ud.) receive the best of everything. 4. The best soccer team is Real Madrid. 5. My grade in science is better than yours. 6. My sister Elena is the youngest in her class.

6 Page 6 of 6 7. The pharmacy García has the worst service in the city. 8. The oldest in our family is my grandfather. C. Writing Exercises: Comparatives and Superlatives Write 8 original sentences using the irregular comparative and superlative adjectives