"My sister is smaller than you."

Translation: Minha irmã é menor que você.

[MarcoPerez1]

I thought it was referring to size and I put minha irmã é mais pequena do que você

[Paulenrique]

But it's about size! menor is a type of size

[MarcoPerez1]

So my answer would have been correct. And I though menor was more about age.

[Paulenrique]

I see.... I think you usually use Spanish, don't you? So you need to be careful!

• smaller/shorter = MENOR (we don't have "mais pequeno/a")
• bigger = MAIOR (we don't have "mais grande").

So it differs to Spanish and doesn't mean age, but size.

And, if you want to say "older" ("mayor" in Spanish), you say "mais velho/a", and for "younger" ("menor" in Spanish) you say "mais novo/a" or "mais jovem".

[JohnGrunewald]

I just hit this section again on a review and missed it for the same reason. Thanks for the great explanation Paulo. But we have to keep in mind that if all the languages were the same we wouldn't be having all this fun.

[Paulenrique]

yes, indeed!! =)

[OKCole]

I'm confused here. A Portuguese grammar text I use indicates that "maior" and "menor" are used with age whereas "mais" forms are "heavily preferred" when making comparisons about physical attributes. Is this a difference between usage in Portugal and Brazil?

[Paulenrique]

Even though "maior" and "menor" might be used for ages, this usage is not so common.

[Marbeto1]

Whed do we use quanto and when que ?

[SnackaJack]

En tenho uma pergunta! In a different exercise 'better than you' was translated as 'melhor do que você' and here 'smaller than you' is translated as 'menor que você'

What is the difference between 'do que' and just 'que' using compassions?

Thanks in advance

[Paulenrique]

They are the same.

Than = que/do que

[SnackaJack]

Obrigado! And is there a rule/preference when to use which one?

[Paulenrique]

In my opinion, "do que" is more commonly used.

[jtsousa16]

why wouldn't "minha irmã é menor que ti" be accepted?

[jajalovack]

Why can't está be used in this case?