In German, comparatives (e.g. “bigger” or “better”) are formed by adding -er, while superlatives (e.g. “biggest” or “best”) are formed by adding -st or -sten. We use these words to form comparisons
Mein Garten ist schöner als der Garten meiner Nachbarn.
My backyard is more beautiful than the backyard of my neighbors.
Aber der Garten meiner Eltern ist am schönsten.
But my parents’ backyard is the most beautiful one.
In English, you’ll sometimes form comparatives and superlatives by using a word like “more” or “most,” but in German, they’re all formed using endings, though some are still .
In this article, we’ll discuss the rules for forming German comparatives and superlatives and discuss how to use them to form simple comparisons. We’ll also look at irregular forms of comparatives and superlatives. Ready? Let’s do it!
In German, comparative adjectives and adverbs are used to make a comparison between two , , , or , when one of them has more of some quality than the other. We call these comparisons of inequality because the two things we’re comparing are not “equal.”
Comparative adjectives are used to describe nouns or pronouns, while comparative adverbs are used to describe other parts of speech:
Viele sagen, Nürnberg ist schöner als Düsseldorf.
Many say, Nuremberg is nicer than Düsseldorf.
Mit dem Auto kommt Tim schneller zur Arbeit als mit dem Fahrrad.
Tim gets to work more quickly by car than by bicycle.
The comparatives of German adjectives and adverbs are generally formed by adding -er to an adjective or adverb . If you’re forming a comparative adjective, you will still need to add the adjective endings after the -er.
stem
-er
agreement ending
(adjectives only)
die schönere Stadt
the nicer city
Das Auto fährt schneller.
The car drives faster.
The agreement endings for comparative adjectives are the same ones you’ll use for all German adjectives. The ones you use will depend on the , , and of the modified noun, as well as on whether or not the adjective is used after an like der(the) or ein(an). Check out our post on German adjective endings to learn more!
A couple small exceptions to the “add -er” rule:
If the stem ends in -e, only add -r:
liese
quiet
lieser
quieter
If the stem ends in -el or -er drop the -e from the stem ending before adding -er:
flexibel
flexible
flexibler
more flexible
teuer
expensive
teurer
more expensive
Some adjectives and adverbs have irregular comparative forms. We’ll go through these further down.
In German, we use comparatives to form comparisons of inequality. Follow the sentence pattern below:
comparative form
(adjective or adverb)
als
than
Viele sagen, Nürnberg ist schöner als Fürth.
Many say Nuremberg is nicer than Fürth.
Ein Elefant ist größer als ein Löwe.
An elephant is bigger than a lion.
Ein Ferrari fährt schneller als ein Fiat.
A Ferrari drives faster than a Fiat.
Ein Faultier läuft langsamer als ein Affe.
A sloth walks slower than a monkey.
In German, you’ll use a comparison of equality when you want to say that two things have equal amounts of some quality. In English, you would express these using a construction like “as tall as” or “as quickly as,” and in German the construction is similar.
To say that two things do have the same amount of a quality, use: so… wie(as... as)
Manche sagen, Fürth ist so schön wie Nürnberg.
Some say, Fürth is as nice as Nuremberg.
Ein Ferrari fährt so schnell wie ein Porsche.
A Ferrari drives as fast as a Porsche.
To say that two things do not have the same amount of a quality, use: nicht so… wie(not as... as)
Viele sagen jedoch, Fürth ist nicht so schön wie Nürnberg.
However, some say Fürth is not as nice as Nuremberg.
Superlative adjectives and adverbs are used to pull out something with the most of a quality, out of a group.
Superlative adjectives describe nouns or pronouns, while superlative adverbs describe other sorts of phrases:
Viele sagen, Nürnberg ist die schönste Stadt Frankens.
Many say, Nuremberg is the nicest city of Franconia.
Ein Ferrari fährt am schnellsten.
A Ferrari drives the fastest.
Let’s take a closer look at how to form superlatives in German.
In German, superlative adjectives and adverbs are mostly formed by adding -steor -sten to the stem. The one you add will depend on the sentence structure you use.
definite article + superlative adjective + noun → -ste / -sten
If you use a superlative adjective in a context like “the biggest house,” where the adjective shows up between a and a , add -st and then the appropriate agreement endings for an adjective that follows an article. The rules are given in the box below.
adjective stem
-st
-e or -en
(adjective endings after article)
Die Etruskerspitzmaus ist das kleinste Säugetier.
The common dwarf shrew is the smallest mammal.
Der Junge hat den schönsten Luftballon bekommen.
The boy got the nicest balloon.
You may recall that the regular (or “weak”) endings for adjectives that follow an in German follow these rules:
Use -e with nominative singular nouns
Use -e with accusative singular, feminine or neuter nouns
Use -en everywhere else
Check out our post on adjective endings in German to learn more!
definite article + superlative adjective → -ste
When you use the superlative adjective after a definite article but without a following noun, as you might after sein(to be), the adjective will end in -ste:
definite article
adjective
-ste
Schokoladenkekse sind lecker, aber dieser Schokoladenkuchen ist der leckerste.
Chocolate cookies are delicious, but this chocolate cake is the most delicious.
To say that something is “the most… of all…” use this structure:
definite article
superlative with -ste
von allen
genitive noun
optional
Nürnberg ist die schönste von allen (Städten).
Nuremberg is the most beautiful of all cities.
am + superlative → -sten
We use this pattern for superlative adverbs or for superlative adjectives that don’t come directly before a noun. For example:
am
stem
-sten
Schnecken sind langsam, aber Faultiere sind am langsamsten.
Snails are slow, but sloths are the slowest.
Schnecken kriechen langsam, aber Faultiere laufen am langsamsten.
Snails crawl slowly, but sloths walk the slowest.
Der Schokoladenkuchen meiner Mama schmecken am besten.
My mom’s chocolate cake tastes the best.
If the adjective or adverb stem is one syllable and ends in -d, -t, -s, -ß, -z or -sch you’ll usually need to add an -e before the -st in the superlative form. This makes the words easier to pronounce:
Stem | Superlative | English |
|---|---|---|
blöd | am blödesten | stupid → the stupidest |
laut | am lautesten | loud → the loudest |
fies | am fiesesten | mean → the meanest |
stolz | am stolzesten | proud → the proudest |
rasch | am raschesten | quick → the quickest |
There are a few exceptions, though, as with groß(big, tall), which just becomes am größten(the biggest) without the extra -e.
Also, remember that multi-syllable stems with these endings usually don’t require the extra -e either.
Stem | Superlative | English |
|---|---|---|
spannend | am spannendsten | suspenseful → the most suspenseful |
komisch | am komischsten | strange → the strangest |
Just like in English, there are some words in German that have irregular comparative and superlative forms that you have to learn by heart.
gut
good
besser
better
(am) besten
best
viel
much/many
mehr
more
(am) meisten
most
The words bald(soon), hoch(high), and nahe(near) also have irregular forms. Check out this table of irregular comparatives and superlatives to see them.
There are also a number of words with a vowel (a, o, u) that acquires an umlaut (ä, ö, ü) in the comparative and superlative. Those are mostly one-syllable words, for example:
a → ä | alt old → älter better → am ältesten oldest |
|---|---|
o → ö | oft often → öfter more often → am öftesten most often |
u → ü | klug smart → klüger smarter → am klügsten smartest |
See more examples for words that change their vowel to an umlaut in our table of irregular comparative and superlatives.
Here are the most important takeaways from this article on German comparatives and superlatives:
Comparatives are used to describe something with “more” of a quantity and are formed by adding -er to the stem. Use als in your comparison sentences, as you would use “than.”
To make a comparison of equality (“as… as”) use so… wie(as... as).
Superlatives are formed by adding -ste or -sten to the stem:
am + superlative → use -sten
definite article + superlative + noun → use -st + regular adjective ending (-e or -en)
definite article + superlative → use -ste
Are you ready to practice now? Head on over to our German comparatives and superlatives activity sheet to test your knowledge!
