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What's the difference between "mas de" and "mas que"?

What's the difference between "mas de" and "mas que"?

2
votes

Could you include an example please

13234 views
updated Feb 24, 2011
posted by thunder098098

7 Answers

8
votes

Más que = more than

This construction is principally used comparatively to compare one thing/situation with another.

eg ahora más que nunca = now more than ever

It can also be used in negative phrases (con valor limitado)

Por ejemplo:

No fue más que un rasguño = It was no more than a scratch

No tiene más que tres meses = She is only three months.

Sometimes the position of the words más and que are separated but the words carry the same meaning comparing one thing with another:

por ejemplo: me gusta más el vino dulce que seco = I like the sweet wine more than the dry wine. (or, by implication: I prefer the sweet wine)

Más de = more of/about ** (I am not sure this example is a great one but it illustrates the way the phrase can be used)

Me gustaría saber más de ti = I would like to know more about you

Más de doscientas mil personas llegarón para mirar el nuevo espectáculo

= More than two hundred thousand people turned up (lit arrived) to see the new show

I hope this helps grin

Corregid mi español, por favor grin

updated Feb 24, 2011
edited by FELIZ77
posted by FELIZ77
...el vino dulce que**el** seco.Lo demás está perfecto feliz - lukaaxx, Feb 24, 2011
7
votes

Más de denotes an indeterminate excess in an amount and más que is used to compare.

En la fiesta había más de doscientos invitados. At the party, there were over two hundred guests.

Tomé más pastillas de las que me había recetado el médico. I took more pills than the doctor had prescribed me.

No hay nada más enriquecedor que un buen libro There is nothing more rewarding than a good book

No tengo más conocimientos que tú. I have no more knowledge than you.

No hay nada más que hacer. There is nothing more to do.

updated Jul 31, 2015
edited by cogumela
posted by cogumela
Great explanation....Below, I offered a couple of suggestions regarding your English translations if you are interested - Izanoni1, Oct 12, 2010
4
votes

This excerpted passage from the DPD might shed some light on the subject:

Cuando la comparación es expresa, el segundo término va introducido por la conjunción que: «La situación es ahora más grave que en la época del francés»; o por la preposición de, si se trata de una oración de relativo sin antecedente expreso que denota, no una entidad distinta, sino grado o cantidad en relación con la magnitud que se compara: «Cuando se forman más médicos de los que se necesitan, se incurre en deshonestidades profesionales» (Abc [Esp.] 19.4.86); «Mi madurez se va acercando a la senectud mucho más rápidamente de cuanto siempre temí» (Moix Sueño [Esp. 1986]).

?If the comparison is explicit, then the second term is introduced by the conjunction que

  ?«La situación es ahora más grave que en la época del francés»
    The situation is now more serious than (it was) in the French era 

?If it points to a relative clause without an explicit antecedent whose comparison denotes degree or an amount in relation to that which is being compared, then use de

  ?«Cuando se forman más médicos de los que se necesitan, 
   se incurre en deshonestidades profesionales» - When more
   doctors are trained than are needed, professional dishonesties
   are commited.

También se usa la preposición de cuando el término de referencia es un numeral o una expresión cuantitativa, que expresan el límite sobrepasado: En la fiesta había más de doscientos invitados.

?Also, when the referenced idea is a number or quantitative expression which describes some exceeded limit, then use de.

  ?En la fiesta había más de doscientos invitados.
    There were more than 200 guests at the party. 
updated Feb 25, 2011
edited by Izanoni1
posted by Izanoni1
4
votes

Mas de means more than and used with number El deficit de Los Estado Unidos es mas de trece million de millones de dolares

Mas que es used with comprasion of things and people Juan es mas alto que Juana.

updated Feb 24, 2011
posted by BellaMargarita
Great answer, and very succinct :) - Izanoni1, Oct 12, 2010
I agree great answer very concise lol not like mine lol :) - FELIZ77, Oct 14, 2010
3
votes

In the party was over two hundred guests.

In your English translation, your sentence lacks a subject and would be better said in one of the following ways:

?At the party, there were over (or "more than") two hundred guests.
?There were over (or "more than") two hundred guests at the party.

In both sentences, the pronoun "there" acts as the subject of the sentence.

I took more pills than the doctor had prescribed me.

This one was probably just a typo: that ? than

updated Feb 24, 2011
edited by Izanoni1
posted by Izanoni1
Thank you Ian ! I've just seen this one! :) - cogumela, Feb 24, 2011
2
votes

Feliz has the answer but note the accent. Without the accent I believe you have mas=but.

updated Oct 12, 2010
posted by Yeser007
1
vote

This is very easy to differenciate. Both más que and más de mean "more than", however, if the comparative is followed by a number use de rather than que.

Here are two examples:

Hay que más de veinte estudiantes en la clase. Él tiene más de noventa años.

updated Feb 24, 2011
posted by NorbertG