One of the most important Italian grammar lessons is that about comparatives. When you talk or write in Italian you often need to express a comparison between things, people, activities and places. To do this you can use Italian comparatives, which are the topic of this guide.
Italian comparatives: inequality and equality
When you compare two or more things, people, activities and places these can be similar or different. According to this you have to choose the correct comparative to compose your sentence in Italian.
If the elements you are comparing are the same you have to use the comparativo di uguaglianza (comparative of equality), instead if they are different you have to use the comparativo di disuguaglianza (comparative of inequality).
Let’s see some examples to understand how to use Italian comparatives in your Italian sentences without making grammar mistakes.
Comparativo di uguaglianza
We can start with the comparativo di uguaglianza that you can use when you want to compare similar elements. In Italian there are two kinds of comparative of equality: the first one is tanto… quanto, the second instead is così… come.
The sentence I am as strong as my father can be translated in Italian with Io sono (così) forte come mio padre. The word così can be omitted, because it is not necessary for the meaning of the sentence in this case.
The sentence She feels as good as clever can be translated with Lei si sente tanto brava quanto intelligente. In this case the word tanto cannot be omitted, because it is necessary for the meaning of the sentence and for the construction of this comparative of equality.
Comparativo di disuguaglianza
As for the comparativo di disuguaglianza, it can be used when you need to compare different elements. You can express more or less using the two different forms of this comparative, which are più di and meno di.
The sentence I am less strong than my father can be translated with Sono meno forte di mio padre. The sentence I study more than my cousin can be translated with Io studio più di mia cugina.
Learning comparatives and Italian grammar with Clidante
If you want to learn Italian comparatives and if you want to improve your Italian skills, you can choose Clidante Italian school. You can join Clidante filling the enrollment form to become a student of this school and to start learning a new language.