Introduction: Making Comparisons

Adjectives describe nouns (people, things, places). Often, we want to compare these nouns. Dutch, like English, uses comparative and superlative forms of adjectives to do this.

• Comparative: Used to compare two things. (e.g., bigger, faster, more interesting). In Dutch, often involves adding -er and using the word dan (than).
• Superlative: Used to compare three or more things, indicating the highest degree. (e.g., biggest, fastest, most interesting). In Dutch, often involves adding -st and using an article (de/het) and sometimes meest (most).

Formation of Regular Comparatives

1. Add -er: For most adjectives, add -er to the base form.

• mooi (beautiful) -> mooier (more beautiful)
• snel (fast) -> sneller (faster) - double consonant for short vowel
• groot (big) -> groter (bigger) - single vowel for long vowel
• nieuw (new) -> nieuwer (newer)
• hoog (high) -> hoger (higher) - spelling change g -> h before -er is less common now, hoog -> hoger is standard.
• duur (expensive) -> duder (more expensive) - spelling change r -> d before -er

1. Use dan (than): When making a direct comparison between two items, use dan.

• Mijn huis is groter dan jouw huis. (My house is bigger than your house.)
• Deze auto is sneller dan die fiets. (This car is faster than that bike.)
• Nederlands is moeilijker dan Engels. (Dutch is more difficult than English.)

1. Adjectives ending in -r: Add -der instead of -er.

• duur (expensive) -> duurder
• ver (far) -> verder
• lekker (tasty) -> lekkerder

Formation of Regular Superlatives

1. Add -st: Add -st to the base form of the adjective.

• mooi -> mooist (most beautiful)
• snel -> snelst (fastest)
• groot -> grootst (biggest)
• nieuw -> nieuwst (newest)
• hoog -> hoogst (highest)
• duur -> duurst (most expensive)

1. Use Article (de/het) + Adjective + -st(e): The superlative usually functions like a regular adjective modifying a noun, requiring the definite article (de or het) and often the -e ending on the adjective form.

• Dit is het mooiste huis. (This is the most beautiful house.) - het huis
• Hij is de snelste loper. (He is the fastest runner.) - de loper
• Dat is de hoogste berg. (That is the highest mountain.) - de berg

1. Using het + Adjective + -st (Adverbially): When the superlative describes the manner of an action or is used predicatively without a noun directly following, use het ... -st.

• Hij rent het snelst. (He runs the fastest.)
• Dit huis is het mooist. (This house is the most beautiful.) - Compare with Dit is het mooiste huis.

Irregular Comparatives and Superlatives

Some common adjectives have irregular forms that must be memorized:

Base Adjective	Comparative (-er)	Superlative (-st)	English
goed	beter	best	good/better/best
veel	meer	meest	much/many/more/most
weinig	minder	minst	little/few/less/least
graag *	liever	liefst	gladly/preferably/most preferred
vaak *	vaker / meer	vaakst / meest	often/more often/most often

(graag is technically an adverb, but its comparative/superlative function like adjectives here. vaak can use regular or irregular forms.)

Examples (Irregular):

• Dit boek is beter dan dat boek. (This book is better than that book.)
• Dit is het beste boek. (This is the best book.)
• Zij heeft meer geld dan ik. (She has more money than I.)
• Wie heeft het meeste geld? (Who has the most money?)
• Ik drink liever thee dan koffie. (I prefer drinking tea to coffee / I drink tea more gladly than coffee.)
• Wat drink je het liefst? (What do you prefer drinking the most?)

Using meer and meest for Long Adjectives (Less Common)

Unlike English, which uses "more" and "most" for longer adjectives (e.g., more interesting, most beautiful), Dutch generally prefers adding -er and -st even to longer adjectives.

• interessant -> interessanter, interessant**st (more/most interesting)
• belangrijk -> belangrijker, belangrijk**st (more/most important)

Using meer and meest (like meer interessant, meest interessant) is sometimes done, especially in spoken language or for emphasis, but the -er/-st forms are generally considered more standard.

Special Case: even ... als (as ... as)

To say two things are equal in some quality, use even + adjective + als.

• Hij is even groot als zijn broer. (He is as tall as his brother.)
• Dit restaurant is even duur als dat restaurant. (This restaurant is as expensive as that restaurant.)

Comparatives (-er dan) and superlatives (de/het ... -ste, het ... -st) are essential for making comparisons. Learn the regular formations (-er, -st) and memorize the key irregular forms (goed, veel, weinig, graag). Remember to use dan for comparative comparisons and the definite article (de/het) with most superlative uses before a noun.