Comparative Adjectives in English - Structure and Particularities

When comparatives are used

We use comparatives to compare two or more things or people.

Maggiority comparatives

We use maggiority comparatives for qualities to compare two adjectives. We add -er to one-syllable adjectives.
We put more before adjectives with two or more syllables. We use than to introduce the second term of comparison.

Examples:
I’m smaller than you because I was born three years later than you (io sono più basso di te perchè sono nato più tardi di te di tre anni)

You are more beautiful than her but she should not worry about it since she is more cheerful (tu sei più bello di lei ma lei non dovrebbe preoccuparsi di questo perché è più simpatica)

We use maggiority comparatives for quantities to compare two things. We put more before the noun. We use than to introduce the second term of comparison.

Example:
Harry has eaten more food than me during our Christmas family dinner. It’s incredible that I am no longer the one who eats the most! (Harry ha mangiato più cibo di me durante la nostra cena di famiglia natalizia. È incredibile che io non sono più quello che mangia di più!)

Minority comparatives

We use minority comparatives for qualities to compare two adjectives. We put less before the adjectives.
We use than to introduce the second term of comparison.

Examples:
It is less likely that Sam will arrive home sooner than you because he works on the other side of town (è meno probabile che Sam arrivi a casa prima di te perchè lavora dall’altra parte della città)

You are less tired than her because you stayed at home all day while she decided to go both to the supermarket and the gym. (tu sei meno stanco di lei perchè tu sei stato a casa tutto il giorno mentre lei ha deciso di andare sia al supermercato che in palestra)

We use minority comparatives for quantities to compare two nouns. We put less before singular nouns; we put fewer before plural nouns.
We use than to introduce the second term of comparison.

Examples:
I have fewer friends than you because I only moved one month ago here and I need time to settle in. (ho meno amici di te perchè mi sono trasferito qui un mese fa e ho bisogno di tempo per ambientarmi)

Equality comparatives

We use equality comparatives for qualities to compare two adjectives.
We put as before the adjectives.
We use as to introduce the second term of comparison.

Examples:
You are as nice as me so I think we should hang out more often, we really understand each other! (tu sei gentile come me quindi penso che dovremmo vederci più spesso, ci capiamo davvero!)
You are as smart as her and I am pretty sure that you will work well together for this project (tu sei intelligente come lei e sono abbastanza sicuro che voi lavorerete bene insieme per questo progetto)

We use equality comparatives for quantities to compare two nouns. We put as much before uncountable nouns, we put as many before countable nouns.
We use as to introduce the second term of comparison.

Example:
He has eaten as much food as you during the food competition so it’s a tie (lui ha mangiato tanto cibo quanto te durante la competizione culinario quindi c’è un pareggio)