Learn how to say "the more..., the less...": comparative sentences in Spanish
In Spanish we use Cuanto más and Cuanto menos to say the more and the less in comparative sentences of this type:
There are different types of comparisons using this structure.
Cuanto más / menos + adjective, más/menos + adjective
Cuanto más / menos + verb, más / menos + adjective /verb
Remember that cuanto is invariable in this type of sentence when it is comparing adjectives.
This would be incorrect:
Cuanto/-a/-os/-as más / menos + noun, más / menos ...
When we use the same comparison structure with nouns, cuanto must agree in gender and number with the noun it is referring to.
Note that the second part of the sentence doesn't always need más or menos. It is also common to find the adjectives mejor and peor, for example:
Extra note:
Notice that we use both the indicative and the subjunctive in the examples in this lesson. This structure takes both. Using one or the other depends on whether we refer to something that actually happens in the present or something that will happen in the future.
Este cuadro, cuanto más lo miro más me gusta. (present indicative: action that happens)
This picture, the more I look at it the more I like it.
Este cuadro, cuanto más lo mires más te gustará. (present subjunctive: action that will happen in the future)
This picture, the more you look at it the more you will like it.
A more colloquial option:
Mientras más / menos...,
This same structure used with mientras is also accepted and very commonly used. It is more colloquial than cuanto.
In this case, mientras is invariable, and can be used in all comparative sentences shown above for cuanto (with adjectives, verbs and nouns)
Bear in mind that you may also hear this structure using either entre or contra colloquially, but entre is not recommended to use and contra is not accepted at all.
Entre más gente mejor.
Contra más gente mejor.
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