4.4: I comparativi irregolari

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Irregular comparative forms

As in English, there are a few irregular adjectives and adverbs in the comparative form.

Adjectives		Irregular comparative adjectives
buono	good	migliore	better
cattivo/brutto	bad	peggiore	worse
grande	big	maggiore	bigger / older
piccolo	small	minore	smaller / younger
Adverbs		Irregular comparative adverbs
bene	well	meglio	better
male	badly / poorly	peggio	worse

You can also use the forms più + adjective, as in più buono, più grande, etc. However, there are some nuances:

maggiore and minore are most often used to talk about siblings, as in il mio fratello maggiore, la mia sorella minore.
più grande and più piccolo are used to talk about size, as in questa borsa è più piccola di quella.
più buono and più cattivo usually refer to a moral quality, as in Gianni è più buono di te and food, as in la pizza margherita è più buona della pizza alla diavola.

You cannot say più bene or più male. Only the irregular forms are acceptable.