German comparatives and superlatives: größer als, so groß wie, am größten
Three German peaks · pick an adjective and a step
Der Watzmannthe Watzmannistishöherhigh-eralsthander Brocken.the Brocken
dair VATS-man ist HÖ-er als dair BRO-ken · “The Watzmann is higher than the Brocken.”Why:Comparative: irregular: hoch loses its c in the comparative. “Than” is always als, never dann.
Short answer: German adds -er for the comparative and am …-sten for the superlative, even for long words: schnell, schneller, am schnellsten. There is no “more” or “most”. Many short adjectives add an umlaut: alt, älter, am ältesten. “Than” is als; “as … as” is so … wie. Before a noun, the comparative takes normal adjective endings: ein größeres Haus.
Forming them
-er, am -sten, and the umlaut
Regular adjectives just add the endings. Most one-syllable adjectives with a, o or u also take an umlaut. Adjectives ending in -t, -d, -s, -ß or -z add an e in the superlative to make it sayable: am kältesten.
Adjective
Comparative
Superlative
Pattern
kleinsmall
kleiner
am kleinsten
regular
schnellfast
schneller
am schnellsten
regular
interessantinteresting
interessanter
am interessantesten
long word, -esten after -t
altold
älter
am ältesten
umlaut + -esten
jungyoung
jünger
am jüngsten
umlaut
warmwarm
wärmer
am wärmsten
umlaut
kurzshort
kürzer
am kürzesten
umlaut + -esten after z
dunkeldark
dunkler
am dunkelsten
-el drops its e in the comparative
teuerexpensive
teurer
am teuersten
-er drops its e in the comparative
The irregulars
Gut, besser, am besten
A handful of very common words change completely. Learn them as a set of three.
Comparing in a sentence
Als, so … wie, immer, je … desto
Four patterns cover almost every comparison. Als after a comparative, so … wie for equality, immer + comparative for “more and more”, and je … desto for “the more … the more”.
ber-LEEN ist GRÖ-ser als MÜN-khen · “Berlin is bigger than Munich.”Comparative + als.
so … wie
IchIbinamsoasgroßtallwieasmein Bruder.my brother
ikh bin zoh GROHS vee main BROO-der · “I’m as tall as my brother.”Equal: so + plain adjective + wie.
immer + comparative
Esitwirdbecomesimmereverwärmer.warmer
es VIRT I-mer VER-mer · “It’s getting warmer and warmer.”Immer + comparative for steady change.
je … desto
Jethemehrmoreich übe,I practisedestothebesserbetterspreche ich.speak I
yay MAIR ikh Ü-be, DES-toh BE-ser SHPRE-khe ikh · “The more I practise, the better I speak.”Je sends its verb to the end; desto brings the verb straight after the comparative.
Before a noun
Ein größeres Haus, der schnellste Zug
In front of a noun, comparatives and superlatives take the usual adjective endings on top: größer + -es = ein größeres Haus. The superlative before a noun drops am and uses the article: der schnellste Zug. More in adjective endings.
WirwebrauchenneedeinagrößeresbiggerAuto.car
veer BRAU-khen ain GRÖ-se-res AU-toh
“We need a bigger car.”Größer + neuter ending -es after ein.
Das istthat isdertheschnellstefastestZug.train
das ist dair SHNEL-ste TSOOK
“That’s the fastest train.”No am before a noun: der schnellste Zug.