8.4.1.1: Komparativ und Superlativ Adjectives

Last updated
Save as PDF

Page ID: 108490

Zsuzsanna Abrams and co-workers
University of California Santa Cruz via Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning

\( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

Expressing similarities and differences

Similarities

When comparing two or more people, things, places, etc., you can express that they are the same by using the expressions so ... wie ..., genauso ... wie..., or nicht so ... wie ... and the basic forms of adjectives.

Die Hexe ist genauso böse wie die Königin.	The witch is just as evil as the queen.
Und sogar der Frosch ist nicht so hässlich wie sie!	And even the frog is not as ugly as she is!
Und sie ist so alt wie ein Stein!	And she is as old as the rocks!

Differences between two entities

When comparing two people, things, places, etc., you can say that one is bigger ..., smaller ..., more ..., less ... than the other with the comparative forms of the adjectives (for regular adjectives the ending is -er) and expressions such as als ... or immer ...

Thilo ist viel niedlicher als der Froschkönig.	Thilo is much cuter than the frog prince.
Gerdi wird immer gieriger!	Gerdi is getting more and more greedy!

Differences among three or more entities

When comparing more than two people, things, places, etc., you can express that something is the best, the hippest, the bee's knees by using the superlative forms of adjectives (for regular adjectives, the ending is -est) and expressions such as in der ganzen Welt (in the whole world) or unter allen anderen ... (among all others)

Die Königin will wissen, wer die schönste Frau im Lande ist.	The queen wants to know who the most beautiful woman in the country is.
Die Königin sollte mehr lesen! JEDER weiß, dass Schneewittchen am schönsten ist.	The queen should read more! EVERYONE knows that Snow White is most beautiful (of all).

Regular adjectives

Regular comparative and superlative adjectives merely put an -er and an -est ending on the basic adjective, even if they are very long (in contrast to English, which uses 'more' or 'most' if the adjective is more than two syllables long, such as diligent or intelligent). In the column 'superlative' the first version (e.g., 'die böste') is the attributive adjective, while the second version (e.g., 'am bösesten) is the predicate adjective. Remember: 'the most evil queen' is an attributive adjective and 'this queen was the most evil' is a predicate adjective.

basic	comparative	superlative	english
böse	böser	die böseste/am bösesten	evil/more evil/most evil
faul	fauler	die faulste/am faulsten	lazy/lazier/laziest
fleißig	fleißiger	die fleißigste/am fleißigsten	diligent/more diligent/most diligent
klein	kleiner	die kleinste/am kleinsten	small/smaller/smallest
traurig	trauriger	die traurigste/am traurigsten	sad/sadder/saddest

Irregular adjectives

Irregular comparative and superlative adjectives put an -er and an -est ending on the basic adjective, in addition to changes to the word stem. For example, syllables that are one syllable long and have -a-, -o-, -u-.

basic	comparative	superlative	english
alt	älter	die älteste/am ältesten	old/older/oldest
arm	ärmer	die ärmste/am ärmsten	poor/poorer/poorest
dumm	dümmer	die dümmste/am dümmsten	dumb/dumber/dumbest
jung	jünger	die jüngste/am jüngsten	young/younger/youngest
kalt	kälter	die kälteste/am kältesten	cold/colder/coldest
klug	klüger	die klügste/am klügsten	smart/smarter/smartest
lang	länger	die längste/am längsten	long/longer/longest
scharf	schärfer	die schärfste/am schärfsten	sharp/sharper/sharpest
schwach	schwächer	die schwächste/am schwächsten	weak/weaker/weakest
stark	stärker	die stärkste/am stärksten	strong/stronger/strongest
warm	wärmer	die wärmste/am wärmsten	warm/warmer/warmest

Adjectives that end in -el, -en or -er drop the -e- before the comparative endings (but keep it in the superlative form!):

basic	comparative	superlative	english
bitter	bittrer	die bitterste/am bittersten	bitter/more bitter/most bitter
dunkel	dunkler	die dunkelste/am dunkelsten	dark/darker/darkest
teuer	teurer	die teuerste/am teuersten	expensive/more expensive/most expensive

Adjectives that end in -s, -ß, -z, -d, -t or a vowel ... add an -e before the superlative -st suffix or drop the -s from the -st (adding the Umlaut in the one-syllable -a, -o, -u adjectives):

basic	comparative	superlative	english
boshaft	boshafter	die boshafteste/am boshaftesten	malicious/more malicious/most malicious
groß	größer	die größte/am größten	big/bigger/biggest
hart	härter	die härteste/am härtesten	hard/harder/hardest
intelligent	intelligenter	die intelligenteste/am intelligentesten	intelligent/more intelligent/most intelligent
nett	netter	die netteste/am nettesten	nice/nicer/nicest
schlau	schlauer	die schlaueste/am schlauesten	smart/smarter/smartest
schwarz	schwärzer	die schwärzeste/am schwärzesten	black/blacker/blackest
süß	süßer	die süßeste/am süßesten	sweet/sweeter/sweetest

And of course, some adjectives are utterly irregular! You simply need to memorize these:

basic	comparative	superlative	english
gut	besser	die beste/am besten	good/better/best
hoch	höher	die höchste/am höchsten	tall(high)/taller/tallest
nah	näher	die nächste/am nächsten	near/nearer/nearest
viel	mehr	die meiste/am meisten	many/more/most

Adjective endings

Attributive adjectives

Attributive adjectives (in contrast with predicate adjectives) are placed before the noun and take endings in both the basic and comparative/superlative forms depending on the gender, number and case of the noun they describe.

Comparative or superlative adjectives that precede nouns take the same adjective endings as basic (i.e., non-comparative/superlative) attributive adjectives, in addition to the comparative and superlative endings. They can be preceded by der-words, by ein-words or by other determiners.

Schneewittchen arbeitet auf einen höheren Lebensstandard für Märchenfiguren hin.	Snow White is working for a higher standard of living for fairy tale characters.
Aschenputtels Vater würde seinen Stieftöchtern nicht mehr die teuersten Geschenke vom Markt kaufen.	Cinderella's father would no longer buy his stepdaughters the most expensive gifts from the market.

Predicate adjectives: comparative

Comparative adjectives that follow nouns (separated by a verb such as sein, werden, heißen) take only the comparative endings, but no other adjective endings.

Wolfgang ist viel moderner als Wolfdietrich.	Wolfgang is much more modern than Wolfdietrich.
Tja, er ist auch viel hochnäsiger!	Yes, well, he is also much snootier!

Predicate adjectives: superlative

Superlative adjectives that follow nouns take another kind of superlative ending -sten and are preceded by am.

Welches Märchen ist am interessantesten?	Which fairy tale is the most interesting?
Das weiß ich nicht, aber ohne Frage ist Aschenputtel am rachsüchtigsten! Weißt du, was mit den Stiefschwestern geschehen ist?!?	That I don't know, but without question Cinderella is the most vengeful! Do you know what happened to the stepsisters?!?