Professor Dave here, let’s learn how to compare.
When comparing things in Italian, just like in English, there are three possible results.
Two things could be equal, one could more something than the other, or it could be less
something than the other.
For example, say there are two cars.
You might find that this car is the same price as that one, or that this car is more expensive
than that one, or that this car is less expensive than that one.
Now how might we express these comparisons in Italian?
Before we learn this, let’s just clarify some terminology.
When two subjects are alike, we’ll call this equality.
When one subject has a quality in higher degree than another, we’ll call it majority, and
when this quality is in lesser degree, we’ll call it minority.
Let’s see how these concepts are expressed in Italian.
For the equality, we have two choices, which are equivalent and interchangeable.
Just remember that Italian likes to use articles, so if your word requires it, you must express it.
The first option is così and come.
The second option is tanto and quanto.
Let’s see them in action.
Notice that sometimes, as in this example, the first correlative can be skipped.
Also, make sure to remember that, although the correlatives così/come, and tanto/quanto
are equivalent, they can’t be mixed.
Once you start with così, you can’t switch over to quanto, or vice versa.
Now let’s try the majority.
In this case, we need più and di, and sometimes instead of di, we will use the preposizioni
articolate, del, dello, della, dei, and so forth.
Lastly, let’s go over the minority.
This will be very similar to the majority, just instead of più we will use meno.
Now one thing we have to keep in mind is that comparisons are subjective ideas.
In addition, we typically have options as to whether to describe one thing as bigger
than the second, or the second as being smaller than the first.
Here are some additional examples for more clarification.
Let’s go over one special case.
There are situations where the preposition “di” must be replaced by “che”.
This can be confusing at first, but with practice it will get easier.
This will occur when two words of the same grammatical category are directly compared
in relation to the same person.
This last example is tough to identify, but here’s a trick.
If the sentence can be reversed while still making sense, it’s a sign that you probably
need che.
In this case we must use di, because the two terms of comparison are in the subject position.
Last but not least, we have the expression “di quel che”, or “di quanto… non”.
These two phrases are used only when followed by a verbal form.
And that’s all we need to know about comparatives, so let’s check comprehension.