Kilo Lingo

/mas/

Line drawing of más
Coloured illustration of más
#45 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

more, most

Word origin

From Latin magis ('more'), comparative adverb related to magnus ('great'). The unaccented mas ('but') shares the same source.

Origin
Latin
Root
magis
English cognates
magnify, major, magnitude

Examples

.

I need more time to finish the report.

.

It is harder than it looks.

¿ ?

Do you want more coffee?

, .

The more I read, the more new things I learn each week.

, .

I do not want to talk about the subject any more, please.

, .

The more I read, the more new things I discover each day.

Más (with accent) means "more" and is used in comparisons and to intensify. It must not be confused with mas (without accent), which is a literary conjunction synonymous with pero (but). In everyday speech and writing, the unaccented form is virtually never used - always write más for "more."

Más combines with de before numbers ("más de cien personas" - more than a hundred people) and with que in comparisons between two terms ("más alto que yo" - taller than me). Using más... que with numerals is a common error: "más de diez" is correct, not "más que diez."

Used in

Stories

(36)

Grammar articles

(27)

Add to review queue

Track this word in your spaced-repetition queue and be tested on it at the right interval.

Go to my review queue

This word is part of lesson 1.