más que vs. más de

Sherri ..C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

más que vs. más de

In a textbook a sentence was given as:

“ Es muy gordo; come más que dos hombres ordinaries.”

My question is why is it not más de because of the “dos” being a quantitative factor.  Is it a comparison?

Asked 5 years ago
InmaNative Spanish expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hola Sherri,

Yes, exactly. Although there is a number after que, it is expressing a comparison. He is comparing that man's eating to that of two men together. See how this would not work if we change the que for a "de":

"Es muy gordo; come más de dos hombres ordinarios." 

This wouldn't make sense because it'd mean that he eats more than two men. 

This other one would make for sense with "de":

"Es muy gordo; come más de dos kilos de patatas fritas cada semana."

(He is very fat; he eats more than 2 kilos of fries every week.)

I understand though, that finding this kind of sentence you found could be a bit confusing so I will add a note to the lesson.

I hope that helps.

Un saludo 

Inma

Sherri ..C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Thank for your explanation, Inma.

Sherri .. asked:

más que vs. más de

In a textbook a sentence was given as:

“ Es muy gordo; come más que dos hombres ordinaries.”

My question is why is it not más de because of the “dos” being a quantitative factor.  Is it a comparison?

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