España tiene menos inmigrantes que Inglaterra.
Spain has fewer immigrants than England.37.1.5 Verb +más que/Verb +menos que
Comparisons may be made between people or things in terms of an action (i.e. a verb),
which is itself quantified with más, ‘more’, or menos, ‘less’.Eduardo habla más que su hermano.
Eduardo speaks more than his brother.España gasta menos que Inglaterra en servicios sociales.
Spain spends less than England in social services.37.1.6 Más/menos+ adjective/adverb/noun +de+ pronoun +que
Comparisons with an element in another clause require this structure with de instead
of que, following the construction with más/menos. This will be followed by a
pronoun plus que: lo, if the pronoun refers to a clause, or el/la/los/las, if it refers back
to a noun.Es más rápida de lo que yo pensaba.
She is faster than I thought.Tiene más aptitudes de lo que uno se imaginaba.
He/she has more talent than was imagined (note that in this example
lo does not refer back to aptitudes but to a clause: uno se imaginaba
que.. .).Tiene más preparación de la que tenía cuando ingresó en la empresa.
He/she has more training than what he/she had when he/she joined
the company (la refers back to la preparación).Requiere más tiempo del que dispongo.
It requires more time than I have (el in del refers back to el tiempo).Había menos personas de las que habíamos invitado.
There were fewer people than we had invited (las refers back to las
personas).37.1.7 Verb +más/menos+de+lo+que
Here is another construction involving a comparison with a verb phrase. Compare this
with 37.1.5 above.Trabajan más de lo que parece.
They work more than it seems.Habla menos de lo que yo creía.
He/she speaks less than I thought.Comparisons of inequality 37.1