A question on comparatives

Question

Hay personas que hablan mucho mejor que otros Hay personas que hablan más bien que otros

Is the second sentence basically the same as the first? If so, which is preferable.

Answer 1

The comparative of "bien" is "mejor"; "más bien" as comparative is incorrect.

You can only use "más bien" when it means "tan bien": "¡He comido más bien! = ¡He comido tan bien!", in the phrase "de lo más bien", which is equivalent to "muy bien", and in the adverbial phrase "más bien" (=rather).

Answer 2

I'd go with the first since más bien is often used as "rather", even though I suspect that it should be mas (sin tilde) bien in those contexts.

That may be my English biasing me, however, as we don't say "more well than", but "better than".

online clipiing:

well1
¦ adverb (better, best)

If you remore the tilde, (use "mas bien") you are syaing "rather" as "I prefer A rather than B. This is not the same as I prefer A to B. - samdie, Aug 13, 2009