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What are comparative and superlative adverbs in Italian?

By: Claudia Quesito Fri Aug 30 2024
Italian
Adverbs

Most adverbs in Italian can be used in comparative and superlative expressions. While the comparative is used to make comparisons between two actions/descriptions, the superlative expresses the maximum or minimum level of a quality. There are a few subtypes of each, which are illustrated by the examples in the figure below. Can you guess what the differences between the types are?

Comparatives of Adverbs:

comparative of majoritycomparative of minoritycomparative of equality

Di solito corro più velocemente di Roberto ma meno velocemente di Adriano; ieri, però ho corso tanto velocemente quanto Adriano.

I normally run faster than Roberto but slower than Adriano; yesterday, however, I ran as fast as Adriano.

Superlatives of Adverbs:

relative superlativeabsolute superlative

Corro il più velocemente di tutti! Corro velocissimo / velocissimamente!

I run the fastest (faster than everyone else)! I run very fast!

In this post, we’ll teach you how to form and when to use all the types of comparatives and superlatives with adverbs in Italian. As we’ll see, not all these forms are equally common, and there are some twists.

Table of Contents

    Before you begin!

    This post is all about adverbs! If you’re a little unsure about what adverbs are or how to use them in Italian, you might want to start with our post on Italian adverbs !

    How to use adverbs in the comparative and superlative?

    Just like adjectives, most adverbs can be used to make comparisons and can express different levels of a quality. Let’s see what types of elements we can compare using adverbs.

    • Comparative adverbs compare some quality of either:

      • How two different actors perform the same action or fit the same description:

        Consuelo parla più velocemente di Caterina.

        Consuelo speaks faster than Caterina.

      • How one actor performs two different actions or is described by two different terms:

        A volte Consuelo parla più velocemente di quanto pensi.

        At times Consuelo speaks faster than she thinks.

    • The superlative, on the other hand, expresses that an action or description has the maximum or minimum amount a quality, either in relation to a group (a “relative” superlative) or just in general (an “absolute” superlative):

      • relative superlative

        Anna parla spagnolo il più fluentemente di tutti!

        Anna speaks Spanish the most fluently of all.

      • absolute superlative

        È vero: parla spagnolo fluentissimamente!

        It’s true: she speaks Spanish very fluently!

    How to form comparatives of majority, minority, and equality using adverbs?

    There are three types of comparatives: majority, minority, and equality. To form them, using adverbs, use the following structures:

    • comparativo di maggioranza(comparative of majority) (+):

      più

      more

      adverb

      di

      than

      Leone cucina più spesso di Francesca.

      Leone cooks more often than Francesca.

    • comparativo di minoranza(comparative of minority) (-):

      meno

      less

      adverb

      di

      than

      Gianni esce meno frequentemente dei suoi amici.

      Gianni goes out less frequently than his friends.

      Important

      As you probably have noticed, the second term of the comparison is normally introduced by di, alone or combined with a definite article. When comparing two actions carried out by the same subject, che can also be used.

      Maria guida più velocemente che prudentemente.

      Maria drives more fast than carefully.

      You may want to check this super complete article on Italian comparatives and superlatives to know when to use which.

    • comparativo di uguaglianza(comparative of equality) (=):
      There are two options here!

      • (tanto)

        adverb

        quanto

        Sonia studia (tanto) regolarmente quanto Simone.

        Sonia studies as regularly as Simone (does).

      • (così)

        adverb

        come

        Sonia studia (così) regolarmente come Simone.

        Sonia studies as regularly as Simone (does).

      Important

      In the rules above, tanto and così are in parentheses because they are optional, or even more than optional: they are hardly used!

    Irregular comparatives

    And now, the part we all were expecting: the irregular comparatives! Because of course there are adverbs with irregular comparative forms. Just a few, luckily, but they are very common:

    Adverb
    Irregular comparative adverb
    Example

    bene

    well

    meglio

    better

    Lara suona bene il violino, ma sua sorella lo suona persino meglio di lei.

    Lara plays the violin well, but her sister plays it even better than her.

    male

    badly

    peggio

    worse

    Mio marito cucina male, e io pure peggio di lui!

    My husband cooks badly, and I cook even worse than him!

    molto

    much, a lot

    più

    more

    Laura legge molto, non so chi legge più di lei!

    Laura reads a lot, I don’t know who reads more than her!

    poco

    little

    meno

    less

    Oggi ho mangiato poco, e ieri anche meno di oggi.

    Today I ate little, and yesterday even less than today.

    How to form superlatives with adverbs?

    There are two types of superlatives with adverbs: relative and absolute. Let’s see how they are formed.

    • superlativo relativo(relative superlative):

      il più(the most) / il meno(the least)

      adverb

      Ho letto le istruzioni il più rapidamente di tutti.

      Leone cooks more often than Francesca.

      If the second term of comparison is expressed (as in our example, di tutti) the article il is often omitted: Ho letto le istruzioni più rapidamente di tutti.

      Important

      The relative superlative with adverbs is, in general, pretty uncommon in contemporary Italian except in a few cases, like the expression il più… possibile:

      Ho letto le istruzioni il più rapidamente possibile.

      I read the instructions as fast as possible.

    • superlativo assoluto(absolute superlative):

      molto

      very

      adverb

      Cammini molto lentamente!

      You walk very slowly!

      Tip

      Instead of molto, you could use assai (which means “very” and is more commonly used in Southern Italy), davvero(really), tanto(very), proprio(really, properly), or veramente(truly).

      Or, add the suffixes -issimo or -issamente to the stem of the adverb.

      HINT:
      We only use -issamente if the adverb ends in -mente!

      Cammini lentissimamente / lentissimo!

      You walk very slowly!

    Irregular superlatives

    Time for the irregular forms, only concerning absolute superlatives:

    Adverb
    Irregular absolute superlative
    Example

    bene

    well

    ottimamente

    very well

    Lara suona il violino benissimo / ottimamente.

    Lara plays the violin very well.

    male

    badly

    pessimamente

    very badly

    Mio marito cucina malissimo / pessimamente!

    My husband cooks very badly!

    The good news is: there’s just two of them — at least among the ones you would certainly use — and they also have a regular form (benissimo and malissimo), which is the most used in informal Italian.

    Important

    While most adverbs can be used in comparative and superlative expressions, adverbs ending in -oni, like bocconi(face-down) do not have comparative and superlative forms.

    Comparatives and superlatives of adverb clauses

    Some adverbial phrases have a comparative and superlative form, like in fretta(in a hurry), a modo(properly), (essere) a posto(in place, settled, to be OK). Let's see them in context:

    Ho preparato la tavola in frettissima ma è comunque tutto più a modo di prima.

    I set the table in a super hurry but everything is set more properly than before, anyway.

    • Vuoi qualcos’altro? Sei a posto?

      Would you like anything else? Are you OK?

    • (Sono) a postissimo, grazie!

      I’m great, thank you!

    Summary

    Most adverbs can have comparative and superlative forms. Comparatives are used to make comparisons, while superlatives are used to express the minimum/maximum level of a quality. Let’s review the forms:

    • To make comparisons of majority/minority (+/-), add più or meno before the adverb and use di (or in some cases, che) to introduce the second term of comparison.

    • To make comparisons of equality (=), place tanto or così before the adverb — optional — and quanto or come after it.

    • To express a relative superlative, place il più / il meno before the adverb.

    • To express an absolute superlative, place molto — or one of its variations like proprio, davvero, veramente... — before the adverb, or add -issimo / -issamente to the adverb root.

    Ready to practice? Check out our activities on comparative and superlative adverbs in Italian!

    Downloadable Resources

    Elevate your language-learning journey to new heights with the following downloadable resources.

    How to use adverbs in Italian~Comprehensive list of adverbsWhat are comparative and superlative adverbs in Italian~Activities

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