Adjectives: Comparison

01

Regular Forms

• varm → varmere → varmest (warm)
• pen → penere → penest (pretty)
• billig → billigere → billigst (cheap)

Adjectives ending in -ig and -som take only -st in the superlative. The comparative form never changes: en større leilighet, større leiligheter.

• Været er varmere enn hjemme.

  The weather is warmer than at home.

• Folkene her er penere enn hjemme.

  The people here are prettier than at home.

02

than: enn

"Than" is enn. mye (much) in front of the comparative makes the difference bigger.

• Dette landet er mye større enn Belgia.

  This country is much bigger than Belgium.

• Ferien er bedre enn jeg forventet.

  The holiday is better than I expected.

03

Irregular Forms

Several of the most common adjectives change their stem.

• god, bra → bedre → best (good)
• dårlig → dårligere → dårligst (bad)
• gammel → eldre → eldst (old)
• ung → yngre → yngst (young)
• stor → større → størst (big)
• liten → mindre → minst (small)
• lang → lengre → lengst (long)
• tung → tyngre → tyngst (heavy)

• Jeg har tre yngre og tre eldre brødre.

  I have three younger and three older brothers.

• Frankrike er mye mindre enn Russland.

  France is much smaller than Russia.

04

Long Adjectives: mer and mest

Long adjectives, and those ending in -sk or -ende, use mer (more) and mest (most) instead of endings.

• Boken er mer interessant enn filmen.

  The book is more interesting than the film.

• Det var den mest spennende dagen.

  It was the most exciting day.

05

The Superlative with "the"

After den, det or de, the superlative takes -e. After the verb, it usually stays in its plain form.

• Dette er den beste restauranten i verden.

  This is the best restaurant in the world.

• Dette er det billigste dere finner.

  This is the cheapest you will find.

• Den fjerde er yngst.

  The fourth is the youngest.

nest in front of a superlative means "second": det nest beste, "the second best".

• Det er det nest beste hotellet i byen.

  It is the second-best hotel in town.

06

As … As: like … som

To say that two things are equal, Norwegian uses like before the adjective and som after it. så … som mulig means "as … as possible".

• Han er like høy som meg.

  He is as tall as me.

• Foreldrene mine er like gamle.

  My parents are the same age.

• Kom så fort som mulig.

  Come as quickly as possible.

07

more: mer and flere

mye (much) and mange (many) have the irregular forms mer, mest and flere, flest.

• Hvis jeg tjener mer penger, kjøper jeg en bil.

  If I earn more money, I will buy a car.

• Vi trenger flere stoler.

  We need more chairs.