Comparative & Superlative with German Adverbs

Ever needed to know the German word for higher, further, faster or the bestest most awesomest? By the end of this lesson, you will be able to change adjectives and adverbs in German from the original form, called the positive form into the comparative (higher, further, faster) or superlative (best, most often) form and use them in a variety of sentences.

I’ll also help clear up some confusion about these things in English, as some native English speakers seem to have trouble in certain areas. This lesson assumes you already know how to use adjective endings in German.

Comparative & Superlative Basics

Let’s start with the word “schnell”, which means “fast” in English. If you are using the adjective after the verb (we call this part of the sentence the predicate), we call it a predicate adjective. These adjectives, unlike the ones directly before nouns, don’t need adjective endings. We simply use them as they are. For example:

Mein Auto ist schnell. -
My car is fast.

Just as in English, most of the time, we add -er to the end of the adjective to form the comparative in German. So “fast” becomes “faster” and “schnell” becomes “schneller”. For example:

Sein Auto ist schneller. -
His car is faster.

The superlative in German is similar to the English, but with a slight change. Instead of just saying “the fastest”, in German we add “am” in front of the adjective and -sten to create the superlative form.

So all three forms including the positive form (the original adjective), the comparative (the -er version) and the superlative (the English -est and German -sten versions) of “fast” are: fast, faster, the fastest and in German schnell, schneller, am schnellsten. For example:

Mein Auto ist schnell. -
My car is fast.

Sein Auto ist schneller. -
His car is faster.

Ihre Autos sind am schnellsten. -
Their cars are the fastest.

langsam - langsamer - am langsamsten -- slow - slower - the slowest

Ihre Autos sind langsam. -
Their cars are slow.

Sein Auto ist langsamer. -
His car is slower.

Mein Auto ist am langsamsten. -
My car is the slowest.

Adverbs vs Adjectives

In English, we have to remember if a word is being used as an adjective or an adverb, as adverbs generally end with -ly. This shifts the way that we make the comparative form, as we change “slow” and “slower” to “slowly” and “more slowly”.

For once, German grammar is simpler in this aspect. It doesn’t matter if we are using the word as a predicate adjective or an adverb, the comparative and superlative forms are the same. Let’s try those examples of “langsam” again, but this time as adverbs.

langsam - langsamer - am langsamsten -- slowly - more slowly - the slowest

Sie fahren ihre Autos langsam. -
They drive their cars slowly.

Er fährt sein Auto langsamer. -
He drives his car more slowly.

Ich fahre mein Auto am langsamsten. -
I drive my car the slowest.

German is even more easy… easier? Whatever. The point is that unlike in English, we don’t have to worry about whether to use “more” or “most” followed by the original version of certain adjectives or adverbs. In German it is ALWAYS -er and am *whatever*-sten with regular adjectives.

Of course, there are irregular ones, but we will get to that in a bit. For now, here are a few more examples of adjectives that follow the most basic of standard comparative and superlative formation.

eng - enger - am engsten -- tight - tighter - the tightest

dick - dicker - am dicksten -- fat - fatter - the fattest

dünn - dünner - am dünnsten -- thin - thinner - the thinnest

steil - steiler - am steilsten -- steep - steeper - the steepest

The rules for comparative and superlative don’t change if you use them as adjectives before nouns.

The only thing that changes is that you also add the adjective endings based on the case, gender and article with the noun. The focus of this lesson is not adjective endings, so if you are looking for that, click here. Just be aware that if you use the comparative form of something, you add -er and sometimes your adjective ending will also be -er, which means you have -er twice in a row. This is not incorrect, even if it sounds weird.

neu - neuer - am neuesten -- new - newer - the newest

Ich fahre den neuen Sportwagen. -
I am driving the new sports car.

Ein neuerer Sportwagen ist mir lieber. -
I prefer a newer sports car.

Wir fahren die neuesten Sportwagen. -
We drive the newest sports cars.

Quirks of Comparative & Superlative

Occasionally you will need to modify the adjectives or adverbs that you are using to make it easier to pronounce.

Words that have an “E” directly before an “R” or “L” require you to remove the “E” before you add any ending that starts with a vowel. This means most of them, but not the superlative, as it starts with “S”. For example:

teuer - teurer - am teuersten -- expensive - more expensive - most expensive

Dieses Buch ist teuer. -
This book is expensive.

Es ist ein teures Buch. -
It is an expensive book.

Dieses Buch ist teurer. -
This book is more expensive.

Es ist ein teureres Buch. -
It is a more expensive book.

Dieses Buch ist am teuersten. -
This book is the most expensive.

Es ist das teuerste Buch. -
It is the most expensive book.

dunkel - dunkler - am dunkelsten -- dark - darker - the darkest

Dieses Foto ist dunkel. -
This photo is dark.

Ich habe ein dunkles Foto gemacht. -
I took a dark photo.

Welches Foto ist dunkler? Dieses oder dieses? -
Which photo is darker? This one or this one?

Siehst du das dunklere Foto? -
Do you see the darker photo?

Dieses Foto sieht am dunkelsten aus. -
This photo looks the darkest.

Das ist das dunkelste Foto, das ich je gesehen habe. -
That is the darkest photo I have ever seen.

If an adjective or adverb ends with -d, -ß, -sch, -t, -tz, -x oder -z, you need to add -e between the adjective and the -st in the superlative.

For example:

blöd - blöder - am blödesten -- stupid - stupider - the stupidest

süß - süßer - am süßesten -- sweet - sweeter - the sweetest

hübsch - hübscher - am hübschesten -- handsome - more handsome - the most handsome

weit - weiter - am weitesten -- far - farther - the farthest

fix - fixer - am fixesten -- quick - quicker - the quickest

spitz - spitzer - am spitzesten -- sharp - sharper - the sharpest

stolz - stolzer - am stolzesten -- proud - prouder - the proudest

heiß - heißer - am heißesten -- hot - hotter - the hottest

Of course, every rule has an exception, which is why the word “groß” exists.

groß - größer - am größten -- big - bigger - the biggest

When an adjective or adverb has one syllable and a letter, which can take an umlaut, it almost always does in the comparative and superlative forms.

For example:

jung - jünger - am jüngsten -- young - younger - the youngest

Ich bin jung. -
I am young.

Ich bin jünger als du. -
I am younger than you.

Ich bin am jüngsten. -
I am the youngest.

Ich bin ein junger Junge. -
I am a young boy.

Ich bin ein jüngerer Junge. -
I am a younger boy.

Ich bin der jüngste Junge. -
I am the youngest boy.

alt - älter - am ältesten -- old - older - the oldest

Ich bin alt. -
I am old.

Ich bin älter als er. -
I am older than he.

Side Note

Most native English speakers would say “him” instead of “he” in that sentence. Most grammar nerds will tell you that “he” is the correct form, as the pronoun is a predicate nominative.

While this is true, I am a proponent of language usage defining what is grammatically correct. No one I know would say “I am older than he” unless they finished the sentence with “is”. “I am older than he is.”, but “I am older than him.”

In German the nominative pronoun “er” is used, which indicates that the German version would be more closely related to the “correct” English version. I only point this issue out so that you know in German the pronoun here needs to use the nominative. I’ll get to some examples later that don’t use the nominative case so you know when to use nominative and when to vary from that pattern.

Back to the examples of "alt"

Ich bin am ältesten. -
I am the oldest.

Ich bin ein alter Alter. -
I am an old dude.

Ich bin ein älterer Alter. -
I am an older dude.

Ich bin der älteste Alter. -
I am the oldest dude.

Just so you know that these are not isolated instances, here are a few more examples of words that require an umlaut in the comparative and superlative.

hart - härter - am härtesten -- hard - harder - the hardest

kalt - kälter - am kältesten -- cold - colder - the coldest

lang - länger - am längsten -- long - longer - the longest

You don’t always add an umlaut with single syllable adjectives that can take umlauts.

For example:

flach - flacher - am flachsten -- flat - flatter - the flattest

faul - fauler - am faulsten -- lazy - lazier - the laziest

bunt - bunter - am buntesten -- colorful - more colorful - the most colorful

rund - runder - am rundesten -- round - rounder - the roundest

All of these are only one syllable and the vowel in the middle could take an umlaut. They just don’t, because… *shrug*. 

On rare occasions it is acceptable for you to choose if you want to use the umlaut or not.

For example:

nass - nasser/nässer - am nassesten/nässesten -- wet - wetter - the wettest

krumm - krummer/krümmer - am krummsten/krümmsten -- crooked - more crooked - the most crooked

Certain adjectives and adverbs are irregular.

This means they don’t follow any discernible pattern. This happens in English a lot too. Usually a good rule of thumb is “when an adjective or adverb is irregular in English, it is probably irregular in German.”

For example: much, more the most in German is viel, mehr, am meisten.

Meine Mutter nervt mich viel. -
My mother annoys me a lot.

Meine Mutter nervt meinen Bruder mehr als mich. -
My mother annoys my brother more than me.

Meine Mutter nervt meine Schwester am meisten. -
My mother annoys my sister the most.

Notice in the second sentence “Meine Mutter nervt meinen Bruder mehr als mich.” (My mother annoys my brother more than me.) I used the accusative pronoun “mich” instead of “ich”. This is because we aren’t using a predicate nominative this time.

Let’s take a closer look at the previous one. “Ich bin älter als er.” (I am older than he.) As I kind of alluded to in my explanation of why the English makes no sense, if you finish the sentence, you would say “Ich bin älter als er ist.” (I am older than he is.)

If we finish the new example “Meine Mutter nervt meinen Bruder mehr als mich.” (My mother annoys my brother more than me.) you would say “Meine Mutter nervt meinen Bruder mehr, als sie mich nervt.” (My mother annoys my brother more than she annoys me.) This makes it clear that the pronoun in use is the direct object of that part of the sentence. Therefore we use the accusative case.

A Short Story of Grammar Nerds Nerding About Grammar

A: Ich bin größer als dich.

B: Ja, du bist größer als ich, aber offensichtlich nicht klüger. Es sollte heißen: “Ich bin größer als du.”

A: Du bist nicht größer als mich.

B: Ugh. Das Verb “sein” verlangt kein Akkusativobjekt. Wenn du deinen Satz ergänzt, siehst du ganz klar, was ich meine. Ich bin größer als dich bist.” ist offensichtlich nicht richtig.

A: Natürlich nicht. Ich bin größer als du bist.

B: Na endlich hast du es verstanden.

You can’t use “meisten” in front of a noun without having an article, like you can in English.

In English it is possible to say “Most people” or “Most students” without having “the” in front. In German, you need the article. For example:

Die meisten Deutschen wohnen in Deutschland. -
Most Germans live in Germany.

Die meisten US-Amerikaner wohnen in den USA. -
Most US Americans live in the USA.

gern - lieber - am liebsten -- like - like more - like the most

Mein Bruder isst gern Pizza. -
My brother likes eating pizza.

Meine Schwester isst Pizza lieber als diesen Rinderbraten. -
My sister likes to eat pizza more than this roast beef.

Meine Mutter isst am liebsten Knödel. -
My mother likes to eat dumplings the most.

In the second sentence, the word “Rinderbraten” is in the accusative case, as it is used in the same way as “Pizza”. If you complete the sentence, you would say

Meine Schwester isst Pizza lieber als sie diesen Rinderbraten isst. -
My sister likes to eat pizza more than she likes to eat this roast beef.

The point is that you need to pay attention to the way in which you are using the noun at the end and don’t just automatically assume it is in the nominative case.

More irregular adjectives include the following:

hoch - höher - am höchsten -- high - higher - the highest

nahe - näher - am nächsten -- near - nearer - the nearest/next

bald - eher - am ehesten -- soon - sooner - the soonest

You don't have to know how to use “good” and “well” in English.

In German everything is just “gut”. Officially in English, if “good” is being used as an adverb, you have to say “well” instead of “good”. No one really seems to pay attention or care about this rule in English however, so lots of people will just end up saying good in all instances and pretending the word “well” doesn't even exist.

Or worse still, they will use well in sentences where it doesn’t belong. Let’s take a look at a few examples so we can fix your English while we're at it.

gut - besser - am besten -- good/well - better - the best

Wie geht’s dir? Es geht mir gut. -
How’s it going? I’m doing well./I am good/well.

This is the example that everyone claims the other person is wrong. The claim is that if you say “I am well.” it must be in reference to your prior illness. “Well” is supposed to be used either in reference to your health or as an adverb.

This means that it modifies the verb of the sentence and NOT a noun or pronoun. When you are saying “I am good”, the pronoun “I” is being modified by “good”. When you say “I am doing well.” the word “well” is modifying the way in which you are doing. This is an adverb and therefore must be “well”.

Again, the usage should define what is correct and what is not correct. Half of the people I know say “I am well.” The other half say “I am good.” I personally prefer “good” in that sentence, but I accept “well” as well. ;) Enough about the English. You came here for the German. Let's go back to those examples.

Mein Bruder spielt Fußball gut. -
My brother plays soccer well.

Er ist ein guter Fußballer. -
He is a good soccer player.

Meine Schwester spielt besser Fußball als er. -
My sister plays soccer better than him (he).

Sie ist eine bessere Fußballerin. -
She is a better soccer player.

Mein Vater spielt Fußball am besten. -
My father plays soccer the best.

Er ist der beste Fußballer. -
He is the best soccer player.

The Words Around the Comparative & Superlative Forms

Now that we know how to make the comparative and superlative of adjectives and adverbs, we need to know how to use them properly.

If two things are the same amount of something, we confusingly say in English it is “as something as”. For example: as comfortable as. In order to say two things are the same in German, we use the word “so” in front of the adjective and “wie” after it.

For example: so bequem wie - as comfortable as

When you want to compare two things directly, you need the word “als”, which is used like the English word “than”.

For example: bequemer als - more comfortable than

bequem - bequemer - am bequemsten -- comfortable - more comfortable - the most comfortable

Das ist ein bequemes Bett. -
This is a comfortable bed.

Dieses Bett ist so bequem wie mein Bett zu Hause. -
This bed is as comfortable as my bed at home.

Das zweite Bett ist ein bequemeres Bett. -
The second bed it a more comfortable bed.

Das zweite Bett ist bequemer als mein Bett zu Hause. -
The second bed is more comfortable than my bed at home.

Das letzte Bett ist am bequemsten. -
The last bed is the most comfortable.

Das letzte Bett ist das bequemste Bett, in dem ich je geschlafen habe. -
The last bed is the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in.

langsam - langsamer - am langsamsten -- slow - slower - the slowest

Diese Schnecke ist sehr langsam. -
This snail is very slow.

Es gibt keine andere Schnecke, die so langsam wie diese Schnecke ist. -
There is no other snail, that is as slow as this snail is.

Sie ist langsamer als alle anderen Schnecken. -
It is slower than all other snails.

Diese Schnecke ist am langsamsten. -
This snail is the slowest.

Sie ist die langsamste Schnecke der Welt. -
It is the slowest snail in the world.

klein - kleiner - am kleinsten -- small - smaller - the smallest

A: Ich habe eine kleine Möhre. (holds up carrot) -
I have a small carrot.

B: Deine Möhre ist sehr klein. Deine Möhre ist kleiner als meine Möhre. Das ist eine kleinere Möhre. Ich denke, du hast die kleinste Möhre im Garten. -
Your carrot is very small. Your carrot is smaller than my carrot. That is a smaller carrot. I think you have the smallest carrot in the garden.

A: Hast du eine größere Möhre? -
Do you have a bigger carrot?

B: Natürlich ist meine Möhre größer als deine kleine Möhre. Meine Möhre ist die größte Möhre im Garten. Meine Möhre ist nicht nur groß sondern am größten. -
Of course my carrot is bigger than your little carrot. My carrot is the biggest carrot in the garden. My carrot is not only big, but the biggest.

bekannt - bekannter - am bekanntesten -- famous - more famous - the most famous

Franka Potente ist bekannt. -
Franka Potente is famous.

Sie ist bekannter als Hilary Duff. -
She is more famous than Hilary Duff.

Franka Potente ist eine der bekanntesten Schauspielerinnen aus Deutschland. -
Franka Potente is one of the most famous actresses from Germany.

fleißig - fleißiger - am fleißigsten -- hard-working - more hard-working - the most hard-working

Ich bin sehr fleißig. -
I am very hard-working.

Mein Bruder ist so fleißig wie ich. -
My brother is just as hard-working as I (am).

George ist fleißiger als mein Bruder und ich. -
George is more hard-working than my brother and I.

Abraham ist am fleißigsten. -
Abraham is the most hard working.

faul - fauler - am faulsten -- lazy - lazier - the laziest

Dieser Hund ist faul. -
This dog is lazy.

Er ist so faul wie mein Esel. -
He is as lazy as my donkey.

Dieses Pferd ist fauler als der Hund und der Esel. -
This horse is lazier than the dog and the donkey.

Die Katze ist am faulsten. -
The cat is the laziest.

unfreundlich - unfreundlicher - am unfreundlichsten - unfriendly - more unfriendly - the most unfriendly.

Dieser Angestellte ist unfreundlich. -
This employee is unfriendly.

Der andere Angestellte ist unfreundlicher. -
The other employee is more unfriendly.

Der dritte Angestellte ist vielleicht der unfreundlichste Angestellte, den ich je gesehen habe. -
The third employee is perhaps the most unfriendly employee that I have ever seen.

schlecht - schlechter - am schlechtesten -- bad - worse - the worst

Mein Bruder hat schlechte Noten. -
My brother has bad grades.

Meine Schwester hat schlechtere Noten. -
My sister has worse grades.

Mein Cousin hat die schlechtesten Noten. -
My cousin has the worst grades.

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Mehr über Adjektive im Deutschen

German Adjectives Basics 

Comparative & Superlative with Adverbs 

Comparative and Superlative with Adjectives (Completely in German) 

Partizip 1 & 2 as Adjectives