Ohio State nav bar

Comparison with Ablative or quam

Comparative "than" (as in "I am happier than he.") There are two ways to make an explicit comparison between two entities in Latin. 1. You may use the Ablative of Comparison: ego beatior sum illo. 2. You may use quam = "than" with the standard in the same case as the entity compared: ego beatior sum quam ille. The Ablative of Comparison, however, can only be used when the thing-compared is in the Nominative or Accusative case. This limitation no doubt prevented a certain amount of confusion. In any event, quam plus a noun in the same case as the thing-compared was the more flexible and commoner construction.