Comparative Superlative
billig → billiger → am billigsten
klein kleiner am kleinsten
Note that most monosyllabic adjectives with the stem vowel a,oorualso
take an umlaut in both forms:
Comparative Superlative
warm → wärmer → am wärmsten
jung jünger am jüngsten
Usage before and after noun
When appearing aftera noun the comparative and superlative form don’t
take any additional endings:
Ist die Tasche billiger?
Is that bag cheaper?
Mein Computer war am billigsten.
My computer was the cheapest.
When both forms appear directly in frontof a noun they take the same
endings as all adjectives. Note that in the superlative ‘am’ is omitted:
Ich habe einen jüngerenBruder.(indef. art., acc., masc.)
I have got a younger brother
Er nahm das kleinste Stück. (def. art., acc.,nom., neuter.)
He took the smallest piece.
Spelling variations and irregular forms
Note the following spelling variations:
- In the comparativeform adjectives ending in -eldrop the -e, while
adjectives ending in -er, drop the -eafter-auand-eu:dunkel–dunkler
- am dunkelsten,teuer–teurer–am teuersten.
- Adjectives ending in -d,-t, -sch,-haft,-s,-ß,-xand-zusually insert an
extra-ein the superlative:gesund–gesünder–am gesündesten, inter-
essant–interessanter–am interessantesten.
- hoch,großandnahchange their forms as follows:hoch–höher–am
höchsten,groß–größer–am größten,nah–näher–am nächsten.
- gutandvielhave quite irregular forms: gut–besser–am besten,viel
112 Unit 15: Adjectives and adverbs
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