what is it?
Spanish has four closely related structures for expressing extremes and comparisons of degree. The relative superlative (el/la/los/las más/menos + adjective + de) ranks one item above or below all others within a defined group. The elative suffix -ísimo/a expresses an absolute high degree with no reference group. Equality is expressed with igual de + adjective + que. Finally, más/menos de is used before a bare number or quantity to mean «more/fewer than».
when to use it
Relative superlative: use el más/menos + adjective + de when ranking one item against a defined group or set (a city, a class, a country, etc.).
Elative -ísimo: use the suffix when you want to intensify an adjective to the highest degree without comparing it to anything — equivalent to «extremely» or «very, very» in English.
Equality: igual de…que: use this structure when two things share the same degree of a quality. Note that igual de is followed by an adjective, not a noun.
más/menos de + quantity: use de (not que) whenever the second term of the comparison is a number or an explicit quantity.
formation
The table below summarises how each structure is built.
| structure | formula | example |
|---|---|---|
| relative superlative | article + más/menos + adjective + de + group | el más caro de la ciudad |
| elative | adjective stem + -ísimo/a/os/as | rico → riquísimo |
| equality | igual de + adjective + que + second term | igual de alto que su hermano |
| quantity comparison | más/menos de + number/quantity | más de cien libros |
Relative superlative: the article agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies (el, la, los, las). The adjective also agrees. The reference group is always introduced by de.
Elative -ísimo: drop the final vowel of the adjective (if any), then add -ísimo. Adjectives ending in -co change c → qu to preserve the hard /k/ sound before the -í- (e.g. rico → riquísimo). Adjectives ending in -go change g → gu (e.g. largo → larguísimo). The suffix agrees in gender and number: -ísimo, -ísima, -ísimos, -ísimas.
| base adjective | stem after dropping vowel | elative form |
|---|---|---|
| bueno | buen- | buenísimo |
| rico | riqu- | riquísimo |
| largo | largu- | larguísimo |
| fácil | fácil- | facilísimo |
A few common adjectives have irregular elative forms alongside the regular ones: bueno → óptimo (formal) or buenísimo (everyday); malo → pésimo or malísimo. At B1, the regular forms are always acceptable.
examples in context
common pitfalls
«que» after a relative superlative: the reference group after a relative superlative is always introduced by de, never que. ✗ el más caro que la ciudad → ✓ el más caro de la ciudad. The confusion arises because regular comparatives use que (más caro que el otro), but the superlative construction is different.
Spelling change before -ísimo on adjectives in -co: adjectives ending in -co must change c → qu to keep the hard /k/ sound. ✗ ricísimo → ✓ riquísimo. Without the change, the c before -í- would be pronounced /θ/ or /s/, altering the word.
«más/menos que» before a number: when the second term of a comparison is a bare number or quantity, use de, not que. ✗ tiene más que cien libros → ✓ tiene más de cien libros. Reserve más/menos que for comparisons between two nouns, pronouns, or clauses (e.g. trabaja más que yo).
Three sentences, graded here. Nothing is saved and no account is needed.
Esta reunión fue la ___ larga de toda la semana, así que todos salimos agotados. (más/menos)
Fill in the blank with the correct superlative form of the adjective in parentheses.