German Superlatives, Comparatives, and Adjective Comparison

Discover how to compare adjectives in German: positive form, comparative, and superlative. With examples, rules, and exercises! Sign up for more tips on my free email list!

Here you will find the table of contents with links to individual sections, in case you don’t want to read everything about the forms of comparison.

Why is it Important to Compare Adjectives? – Purpose and Reason

When learning German, you will often use adjectives.

Adjectives describe how something is.

For example: Das Motorrad ist schnell. (The motorcycle is fast)

But what if we want to say that one motorcycle is faster than another?

Or that a motorcycle is the fastest? For this, we need the comparison of adjectives.

It is important to be able to compare adjectives to make accurate comparisons between things and describe the qualities of objects or people more precisely.

The Three Forms of Comparison

Every adjective has three forms of comparison:

1. the German positive form
2. the German comparative form
3. the German superlative form

German Positive: The Basic Form of the Adjective

The positive is the basic form of the adjective. It simply describes a quality without making a comparison.

• schön (beautiful)
• leicht (light)
• wenig (few)
• schnell (fast)
• voll (full)
• groß (big)

German Comparative: First Form of Comparison

The comparative is used to compare two things.

The comparative is formed by adding -er to the basic form of the adjective.

• leicht → leichter (light → lighter)
• wenig → weniger (few → fewer)

Meine Katze ist größer geworden. (My cat has grown bigger.)

To make the comparison clear, we often use als (than).

Dieser Keks ist leckerer als der andere. (This cookie is tastier than the other one)

German Superlative: The Highest Degree

The superlative shows the highest degree of a quality and compares more than two things or states a quality as the best.

The superlative is normally formed by adding -ste or -sten to the adjective, depending on whether we use it with am or a definite article (der, die, das).

There are two basic patterns:

1. am + adjective + -sten
2. der, die, das + adjective + -ste

Example:

tief (deep)

• der/die/das tiefste (the deepest)
• am tiefsten (the deepest)

freundlich (friendly)

• der/die/das freundlichste (the friendliest)
• am freundlichsten (the friendliest)

Comparison Forms with Umlaut

Some adjectives change their stem vowel to an umlaut in the comparison forms.

• alt → älter → am ältesten (old → older → oldest)
• dumm → dümmer → am dümmsten (dumb → dumber → dumbest)
• kalt → kälter → am kältesten (cold → colder → coldest)
• arm → ärmer → am ärmsten (poor → poorer → poorest)
• jung → jünger → am jüngsten (young → younger → youngest)
• klug → klüger → am klügsten (smart → smarter → smartest)
• groß → größer → am größten (big → bigger → biggest)
• stark → stärker → am stärksten (strong → stronger → strongest)

Irregular Comparison of Adjectives

Some adjectives have irregular forms of comparison that you simply have to memorize.

• gut → besser → am besten (good → better → best)
• gern → lieber → am liebsten (like → like more / prefer → like the most)
• viel → mehr → am meisten (much → more → most)

Exceptions in Adjective Comparison

The comparison of adjectives in German has many exceptions.
For example:

Adjectives ending in -el lose the e in the comparative:

dunkel → dunk()ler → am dunkelsten (dark → darker → darkest)

Adjectives ending in -er and having a vowel before -er also lose the e in the comparative:

teuer → teu()rer → am teuersten (expensive → more expensive → most expensive)

These are just two examples.

Summary

The comparison of adjectives is important when you want to compare things.

Every adjective has a positive form, a comparative form (first comparison), and a superlative form (second comparison).

• Positive form: The normal form of the adjective, such as schnell (fast) or groß (big).
• Comparative: The first form of comparison, formed by adding -er.
  Example: schneller (faster) (mein Auto ist schneller) (my car is faster).
• Superlative: The highest form of comparison, formed by adding -ste.
  Example: am schnellsten (the fastest) (mein Auto ist am schnellsten) (my car is the fastest).

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FAQ on Adjective Comparison

What are the three forms of comparison?

Almost all adjectives have three forms of comparison (positive, comparative, superlative).

What are the comparison forms of krank, gut, viel, and rot?

• krank → kränker → am kränksten (sick → sicker → sickest)
• gut → besser → am besten (good → better → best)
• viel → mehr → am meisten (much → more → most)
• rot → röter → am rötesten (red → redder → reddest)

Which adjectives cannot be compared?

An absolute adjective is an adjective that cannot be compared.

This means that the quality it describes can only be present or absent, but not in different degrees.

• schwanger – A person is either pregnant or not, there is no intermediate stage. 😀
• mündlich – An exam is either oral or not, there is no comparison.
• universal – This means that it applies to everything or everyone, so there is no comparison.
• fertig – Something is either finished or not, there is no comparison.
• unendlich – Something cannot be more or less infinite.
• gleich – Two things are either equal or not, there are no degrees of equality.
• dreieckig – An object is either triangular or not, there is no comparison.

These adjectives describe states that cannot be graded, and therefore cannot be compared.