📚 Introduction
📚 Introduction
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).
In German, comparison is more straightforward than English - regardless of how long the adjective is, the rules are consistent!
📊 The Comparative
Formation: Adding -er
Most adjectives simply add -er in the comparative:
| billig (cheap) | billiger | Dieser Laptop ist billiger. |
|---|---|---|
| interessant (interesting) | interessanter | London ist viel interessanter als Paris. |
| klein (small) | kleiner | Das Haus ist kleiner. |
| schnell (fast) | schneller | Das Auto fährt schneller. |
Umlaut + -er (a, o, u stems)
Most monosyllabic adjectives with stem vowels a, o, or u also add an umlaut:
| alt | älter | older |
|---|---|---|
| arm | ärmer | poorer |
| jung | jünger | younger |
| groß | größer | bigger, taller |
| kalt | kälter | colder |
| lang | länger | longer |
| stark | stärker | stronger |
| warm | wärmer | warmer |
🔊 Berlin ist größer als München.
Berlin is bigger than Munich.
Note: Short adjectives which do not take an umlaut include: flach (flat) → flacher and rund (round) → runder .
⚠️ Special Cases
Adjectives ending in -er, -el
To make pronunciation easier, adjectives ending in -er and -el drop the e in the comparative:
| teuer | teurer (not teuerer) | more expensive |
|---|---|---|
| dunkel | dunkler (not dunkeler) | darker |
| hässlich | hässlicher | uglier |
| langweilig | langweiliger | more boring |
Irregular Forms
| gut | besser | better |
|---|---|---|
| viel | mehr | more |
| hoch | höher | higher |
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
Formation: Adding -sten with "am"
The superlative is formed by adding -sten to the adjective. In addition, it is preceded by the word am.
| billig | am billigsten | Dieser Laptop ist am billigsten. |
|---|---|---|
| klein | am kleinsten | Das Haus ist am kleinsten. |
| schnell | am schnellsten | Das Auto fährt am schnellsten. |
Umlaut + -sten (a, o, u stems)
As in the comparative form, most monosyllabic adjectives with stem vowels a, o, u add an umlaut:
| jung | am jüngsten | youngest |
|---|---|---|
| groß | am größten | biggest, tallest |
| lang | am längsten | longest |
| warm | am wärmsten | warmest |
| kalt | am kältesten | coldest |
| kurz | am kürzesten | shortest |
| hoch | am höchsten | highest |
⚠️ Special Cases
Adjectives ending in -er, -el
Adjectives ending in -er and -el which drop the e in the comparative "retake" it in the superlative:
| teuer | teurer | am teuersten | most expensive |
|---|---|---|---|
| dunkel | dunkler | 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 | am kältesten | coldest |
|---|---|---|
| kurz | am kürzesten | shortest |
Irregular Forms
| gut | am besten | best |
|---|---|---|
| viel | am meisten | most |
🎯 Adverbs in German
Adjectives vs. Adverbs
While adjectives provide more information about nouns, adverbs describe activity by giving additional information about verbs:
| Adjective | Er ist schön. | He is beautiful. |
|---|---|---|
| Adverb | Sie tanzt sehr schön. | She dances beautifully. |
In English, adverbs often have a different form from adjectives – in most cases you add "-ly" ("beautiful" → "beautifully"). In German, most adverbs have the same form as adjectives.
Comparative and Superlative of Adverbs
The comparative and superlative of adverbs works in exactly the same way and follows all the rules described above for adjectives:
🔊 Meine Tante fährt langsam.
My aunt drives slowly.
🔊 Mein Onkel fährt langsamer.
My uncle drives more slowly.
🔊 Mein Vater fährt am langsamsten.
My father drives most slowly.
🔊 Karl singt schlecht.
Karl sings badly.
🔊 Thomas singt schlechter.
Thomas sings worse.
🔊 Bernd singt am schlechtesten.
Bernd sings the worst.
Using "gern"
To express what you prefer doing and what you like best of all, it is important to know the comparative and superlative form of the adverb gern, which is quite irregular:
| Basic | Ich trinke gern Wasser. | I like drinking water. |
|---|---|---|
| Comparative | Ich trinke lieber Kaffee. | I prefer drinking coffee. |
| Superlative | Ich trinke am liebsten Bier. | I like drinking beer best of all. |
🔊 Bernd liest viel.
Bernd reads a lot.
🔊 Frauke liest mehr.
Frauke reads more.
🔊 Jörg liest am meisten.
Jörg reads the most.
📋 Quick Reference: All Forms
| klein | kleiner | am kleinsten | small → smaller → smallest |
|---|---|---|---|
| langweilig | langweiliger | am langweiligsten | boring → more boring → most boring |
| alt | älter | am ältesten | old → older → oldest |
| groß | größer | am größten | big → bigger → biggest |
| hoch | höher | am höchsten | high → higher → highest |
| gut | besser | am besten | good → better → best |
| gern | lieber | am liebsten | gladly → prefer → like best |
| viel | mehr | am meisten | much → more → most |
| teuer | teurer | am teuersten | expensive → more expensive → most expensive |
| dunkel | dunkler | am dunkelsten | dark → darker → darkest |
← From Previous (e18)
← From Previous (e18)
Building on: Negatives - You learned how to negate sentences using "nicht" and "kein". Now you can make negative comparisons too, like "nicht größer als" (not bigger than)!
→ Coming Next (e20)
Prepare for: Modal Verbs - Learn how to express ability, permission, obligation and possibility with verbs like können, müssen, dürfen, and sollen.