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- Topic: Spanish >
- "Él es más bajo que su padre."
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Yes, the correct answer is "shorter", not "more short". If the adjective has one syllable, the comparative form should be adjective + -er.
If there are more than one syllable, the rules are as follows: - The form is commonly more + adjective. - If the adjective ends in -le, -er, -ow, -y, & -some, the form is adjective + -er.
Generally you would know based on the context. In this example we know that it's "his" father because we've already said "él" at the beginning of the sentence. I suppose there would be situations where it could be either, but if you think about it spanish speakers could ask the same thing of the English word "friend", given that they would use either "amigo" or "amiga". It's just the way the languages work, in some cases English will give you more information about the subject and in other cases Spanish will.
I'm wondering if it doesn't mean both, actually. If I'm going to hand something from where I am on the ground to him or his father, both of whom are standing on ladders, and I can't reach far enough, someone guiding me might tell me, "Hand it to him, he is lower than his father" - "Él es más bajo que su padre."
I tried he's "particularly quieter than his father" and it counted wrong... I forgot that bajo means short... but "mas bajo" translated directly would be more short... that doesn't make sense to me...
"Él es más bajo que su padre." = "He is more short than his father" ?? of course I would chose "particularly quieter" over "more short" instead of converting it to "shorter"