Comparison: 'mas', 'kaysa', and 'pinaka-'

01

More: 'mas'

Place mas directly before the adjective. That is the whole rule — every adjective works the same way, with no irregular forms to learn.

• Mas malaki ang bahay ko.

  My house is bigger.

• Mas mabilis siya.

  He is faster.

• Mas mahal ang kotse kaysa sa bisikleta.

  The car is more expensive than the bicycle.

One or two adjectives already carry the comparison inside the word — masahol on its own means "worse" — and even those normally take mas in front all the same.

02

Than: 'kaysa'

To name what you are comparing against, use kaysa, usually followed by sa. With a pronoun, the sa-set is used.

• Mas matangkad siya kaysa sa akin.

  He is taller than me.

• Mas masarap ang kape kaysa sa tsaa.

  Coffee is more delicious than tea.

• Mas maganda ang bahay mo kaysa sa bahay ko.

  Your house is nicer than mine.

Both kaysa sa and plain kaysa are heard; kaysa sa is the safer choice.

03

Most: 'pinaka-'

The superlative is a prefix attached to the whole adjective, including its ma-.

• maganda → pinakamaganda (most beautiful)
• malaki → pinakamalaki (biggest)
• mahal → pinakamahal (most expensive)

• Ito ang pinakamalaking bahay sa bayan.

  This is the biggest house in town.

• Siya ang pinakamabait sa klase.

  She is the kindest in the class.

Note the difference from napaka-, which attaches to the bare root: napakaganda but pinakamaganda.

04

Never Combine Them

Mas marks comparatives and pinaka- marks superlatives, and the two never appear together. Mas pinakamaganda is not Tagalog, just as "more most beautiful" is not English.

05

Equality: 'kasing-'

To say two things are the same in some quality, prefix kasing- to the root.

• Kasingtangkad ko siya.

  He is as tall as me.

• Magkasing-edad kami.

  We are the same age.

The magka- form is used when both parties are mentioned together as the subject.

When no particular quality is being measured and you just mean "the same" or "both", the everyday word is pareho, which takes no prefix at all.

06

Less

There is no dedicated word for "less". Tagalog turns the sentence around and uses mas with the opposite adjective, or negates.

• Mas mura ang bisikleta.

  The bicycle is cheaper. (rather than "less expensive")

• Hindi kasingganda ng bahay mo.

  It is not as nice as your house.