I comparitivi

1. I comparitivi Italian 4 – Cap. 13

2. I comparitivi • When you make a comparison you indicate whether one person or thing is equal to, inferior to, or superior to another. To make comparisons in Italian use the following expressions:

3. Comparativo di aguaglianza • When using adjectives to compare people and things that you consider equal, use cosìor tantobefore the adjective and come or quantoafter the adjective. Note that the first part of the comparison – così or tanto– is usually omitted. Ex. Un autobus è (così) velocecomeunamacchina. A bus is as fast as a car Il treno è (tanto) comodoquantol’aereo The train is as comfortable as the plane.

4. When making a comparison of equality with verbs, tanto…quanto. Usually tanto is omitted. Ex. Il treno costa (tanto) quantol’autostrada. The train cost as much as the freeway • When comparing nouns that you consider equal, use tanto. . . quanto. Tanto and quanto are adjectives in this instance and agree with the noun in gender and in number. Tanto cannot be omitted. Ex. In città ci sonotantemacchinequantemotociclette. In the city there are as many cars as there are motorcycles.

5. Comparitivo di maggioranza e di minoranza • To compare two different persons, places, or things, use più . . . di or meno . . . di to express the equivalent of more than or less than. The adjective agrees in gender and number with the first element. Di is placed in front of the second element of the comparison Ex. Gliaerisonopiùvelocidellenavi. Airplanes are faster than ships. Le automobilisonomenorumurosedeimotorini. Cars are less noisy than mopeds.

6. Remember: Di combines with definite articles to form a preposizionearticolata. Ex. Il treno è piùcomododell’aereo. • Più . . . cheand meno. . . cheare used to compare two nouns, two adjectives, two adverbs, or two verbs that refer to the same subject. Ex. L’aereo è piùvelocecheriposante. Airplanes are more fast than restful Cisonopiùtrenicheaerei. There are more trains than airplanes.

7. I comparativiirregolari • In addition to their regular forms, some adjectives also have irregular comparative forms, as shown below. Note that minore and maggiore are most frequently used to indicate younger and older brothers and sisters. Ex. Il vagoneletto è miglioredellacuccetta The sleeping car is better than the sleeping berth. Ho un fratellominore e due sorellemagliori. I have one younger brother and two older sisters

8. The adverbs bene and male have irregular comparative forms, as shown: Ex. In aereoabbiamoviaggiatobene, ma abbiamoviaggiatomeglio in treno. We traveled well by plane. But we traveled better by train. Ho mangiatopeggio in aereoche in treno. I ate worse on the plane than on the train.

9. Come siviaggia? Un amicotifadomande sui mezzi di trasportoneltuoPaese. Rispondiusandotanto…quantoe così…come. Ex. Cisonoaerei? (treni) Cisonotantiaereiquantitreni. • I pullmansonoefficienti? (le automobili) • Cisonoitraghetti? (itreni) • Si viaggia molto sull’autostrada? (in aereo) • La stazionisonoaffollate? (gliaeroporti) • Cisonomoltimotorini? (automobili)

10. Pg. 407/ 13.10 In vacanza. Due amichesonoappenatornate da unavacanza e paragonano le loroesperienze. Ascolta e indicaqualiaffermazionisireferiscono a Marina e quali a Silvana