Comparative and superlative
Comparative and superlative will be the title of our lesson of the day.
When you compare things, you can state that some are smaller, bigger, cheaper, more expensive etc. (comparative) or that one is the smallest, the biggest etc. (superlative).
For once German is more straightforward than English. Regardless of how long the adjective is, the comparative is formed by adding -er to the basic form:
billig → Dieser Laptop ist billiger.
interessant → London ist viel interessanter als Paris.
The same principle applies to the superlative. When the adjective comes after the noun you simply add -sten and use the word am.
billig → Dieser Laptop ist am billigsten.
Most adjectives simply add -er in the comparative:
klein small kleiner smaller
schnell fast schneller faster
hässlich ugly hässlicher uglier
langweilig boring langweiliger more boring
Most monosyllabic adjectives with stem vowels a, o or u also add an umlaut. Here are some frequently used words:
alt old → älter older
arm poor ärmer poorer
jung young jünger younger
groß big, tall größer bigger, taller
kalt cold kälter colder
lang long länger longer
stark strong stärker stronger
warm warm wärmer warmer
Short adjectives which do not take an umlaut include: flach ‘flat’ → flacher ‘flatter’ and rund ‘round’ → runder ‘rounder’.
Irregular forms
Most adjectives follow a regular pattern. There are only a few exceptions. The most important are:
gut good → besser better
viel a lot mehr more
Note also the spelling variations for:
hoch ‘high’ → höher ‘higher’
teuer expensive → teurer more expensive
dunkel dark dunkler darker
How to say ‘than’
The German equivalent of than is als:
Berlin ist größer als München.
Berlin is bigger than Munich.
Der Rhein ist länger als die Themse.
The Rhine is longer than the Thames.
The superlative adjective in more detail
The superlative is formed by adding -sten to the adjective. In addition, it is preceded by the word am.
klein small → am kleinsten smallest
schnell fast am schnellsten fastest
hässlich ugly am hässlichsten ugliest
langweilig boring am langweiligsten most boring
As in the comparative form, most monosyllabic adjectives with stem vowels a, o, u add an umlaut. Here are some notable examples:
jung young → am jüngsten youngest
groß big, tall am größten biggest, tallest
lang long am längsten longest
warm warm am wärmsten warmest
Irregular forms
Adjectives which do not follow a regular pattern include:
gut good → am besten best
viel a lot am meisten most
Note that the superlative for hoch ‘high’ is regular:
am höchsten highest
Adjectives ending in -er and -el which drop the e in the comparative ‘retake’ it in the superlative:
teuer expensive → am teuersten most expensive
dunkel dark am dunkelsten darkest
Adjectives ending in -d, -t, -s, -z
To make pronunciation easier, adjectives ending in -d, -t, -s, -z in the basic form of the superlative usually add an extra e before -sten:
kalt cold → am kältesten coldest
kurz short am kürzesten shortest
