Adjectives: Comparatives

01

Vowel Changes (Umlauts)

Many short, monosyllabic adjectives containing the vowels a, o, or u change these vowels to their umlaut forms (ä, ö, ü) when forming the comparative.

• alt becomes älter (old → older)
• groß becomes größer (big → bigger)
• jung becomes jünger (young → younger)

• Er ist älter als ich.

  He is older than me.

• Der Koffer ist schwerer, aber nicht größer.

  The suitcase is heavier, but not bigger.

02

Irregular Forms

Some of the most frequently used adjectives have irregular comparative forms that do not follow the standard rules. These must be memorized individually.

• gut becomes besser (good → better)
• viel becomes mehr (much → more)
• gern becomes lieber (gladly → rather/preferably)
• hoch becomes höher (high → higher - note the dropped 'c')

• Das Wetter ist heute besser.

  The weather is better today.

• Ich trinke lieber Tee als Kaffee.

  I prefer drinking tea to coffee.

03

Spelling Adjustments

Adjectives that end in -el or -er usually drop the e from the stem before adding the comparative ending to make pronunciation smoother.

• teuer becomes teurer (expensive → more expensive)
• dunkel becomes dunkler (dark → darker)

• Dieses Kleid ist teurer.

  This dress is more expensive.

• Es wird langsam dunkler.

  It is slowly getting darker.

04

Comparatives Before Nouns

If the comparative adjective is placed directly before a noun (attributive usage), it requires a grammatical case ending. This ending is attached after the comparative -er suffix.

• Wir brauchen ein schnelleres Auto.

  We need a faster car.

• Sie wohnt in einer kleineren Wohnung.

  She lives in a smaller apartment.

05

Comparisons of Equality

If you want to say that two things are equal (as ... as), do not use the comparative form. Instead, use the base adjective combined with so ... wie.

• Er ist so groß wie sein Vater.

  He is as tall as his father.

• Ist Deutsch so schwer wie Englisch?

  Is German as difficult as English?