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--- en:grammar:comparisons [2021-12-30 13:33] – created christian
+++ en:grammar:comparisons [2023-01-08 12:50] (current) – Switch to possessive pronouns; "nuespos" exists now christian
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 ====== Comparisons ======
-To express that something has a certain property to a stronger degree than something else, place the quantifier **mas** 'more' before an adjective or adverb. The compared entity is introduced using the preposition **cem** 'than'.
+===== mas, ol mas =====
+To express that something has a certain property to a higher degree than something else, place the quantifier **mas** 'more' before an adjective or adverb. The compared entity is introduced using the preposition **cem** 'than, as'.
+**Ya (xi) mas kavi cem (yas) makika.** – She is stronger than her brother.\\
+**Bal makika lari mas ku sari cem ya.** – But the brother runs faster than she.
+Determiners such as **mas** are placed before the adverb marker **ku** (just as they are placed before verb markers).
+**Mas** can also be used before nouns:
+**Mas jen li lai cem nas (li) [expect].** – More people came than we had expected.
+To express the superlative – a higher degree than everything else – **ol mas** 'most' is used. This can be considered an abbreviation of **mas ... cem ol otra** 'more than all others'.
+**Ya (xi) ol mas kavi.** – She is the strongest.
+===== men, ol men =====
+The opposite of **mas** is **men** 'less, fewer'.
+**Ya (xi) men daki cem (yas) nuespos.** – He's less intelligent than his wife.\\
+**Men jen li lai cem nas (li) [expect].** – Fewer people came than we had expected.
+**Ol men** 'least' is used in the same way as **ol mas**.
+XXX Add example, including the selection preposition (**de** 'of'?).
+===== tan =====
+For expressions of equality, **tan ... cem** 'as ... as' is used:
+**Ya (xi) tan gau cem (yas) makika.** – She's as tall as her brother.\\
+**Ya lari pia tan ku sari cem makika.** – She also runs as fast as her brother.
+As usual, **tan** can also be used before nouns:
+**Tan jen li lai cem nas (li) [expect].** – As many people came as we had expected.
-**Ya mas silni cem makika (ya).** – He/She is stronger than his/her brother.
+===== mas ... mas, men ... men =====
-XXX more ... than, less ... than, ... as ...
+If you want to express that two things change in correlation to each other, you repeat **mas** before each of them.
-the most ... (of), the least ... (of)
+**Mas garam, mas hau.** – The hotter, the better.\\
+**Mas malo jen ga miru si, mas hau.** – The fewer people will see this, the better.
+Either or both instances of **mas** can be replaced by **men** as appropriate.
+**Men [money], men [problem/trouble].** – Less money, fewer problems.