Comparative & Superlative Forms Of Adjectives In German

The comparative and superlative forms of German adjectives show a higher degree of their simple forms (positive and negative) with the superlative being the maximum degree. While the comparative form is used for the dissimilar comparison of nouns and/or pronouns i.e to show between two objects which one is of more value than the other, the superlative does not. It can however become substantive neuter nouns.

How To Form Comparative Adjectives In German

In English, the comparative forms of regular adjectives are formed by adding “-er” at the tail-end or by using “more” together with their simple forms in the same manner.

Remember that the usage of this comparative suffix is dependent on the last letter of the simple forms which determines whether “more” should be used instead.

In German on the other hand, the comparative form of regular adjectives e.g schöner from schön is formed by adding “-er” to their basic forms without any alteration. Some irregular adjectives e.g dunkler from dunkel on the other hand take on the ending “-er” with a slight modification of the basic form while others are completely different. However, they make use of the same adjective declension pattern when necessary.

How To Form Superlative Adjectives In German

Just like the comparative of all regular and some irregular adjectives, their superlative forms could either be with or without modification but nevertheless take on the suffix –sten which could sometimes be preceded by an “e” and rather becomes –esten depending on the end letter such as t, d, s, z and ß on the tail-end of the basic form with an exemption of groß. This can be likened to the Addition of “est” or the use of “most” with the basic form in English.

The superlative form of adjectives in German regular and irregular adjectives always go with the preposition “am” in the unused or un-declined form which is not literally translated in English even when used to complement a verb. This preposition usually remains when it shows preferences but omitted when the adjective is supposedly used as a noun or to describe a personality.

The Comparative & Superlative Form of Regular Adjectives

The comparative and superlative forms of regular and irregular adjectives do not undergo any change in vowels or form at all. They remain the same as their basics in addition to their comparative and superlative suffixes of er and (e)sten respectively. Some examples can be seen in the list below.

The Comparative & Superlative Form of Irregular Adjectives

Irregular adjectives sometimes follow the pattern of regular adjectives with regards to the end suffixes in the comparative and superlative forms except that they either change stem vowels or their entire form to a complete variant. These changes in vowels only occur within one-syllabic adjectives with “a, o and u” which changes to the umlaut variant “ä, ö and ü” respectively.

In addition to the changed vowels of one-syllabic adjective, those with “h” and “ch” directly after their vowels either gain a “c” or lose a “c” in their superlative and comparative forms respectively. For example “nah” becomes am nächsten in the superlative while “hoch” becomes höher in the comparative form. See the lists of comparative and superlative irregular adjectives below.

How To Use Comparative Adjectives

Comparative adjectives could be used to describe nouns as well as verb complements. They equally combine with the factor of dissimilar comparison als. For example;

How To Use Superlative Adjectives

Superlative adjectives could be used to describe nouns and also be converted to Substantive nouns of the neuter gender. See examples below.