Comparison of adjectives
Comparative (-ari) and superlative (-astur) of adjectives, irregulars (stór/stærri/stærstur), 'than' = en.
I can compare things and name the most/least (Dettifoss er stærri en Gullfoss).
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
Vatnajökull er stærri en allir aðrir jöklar á Íslandi.
Vatnajökull is bigger than all other glaciers in Iceland.
Dettifoss er kraftmesti foss í Evrópu.
Dettifoss is the most powerful waterfall in Europe.
Þessi peysa er hlýrri en hin.
This sweater is warmer than the other one.
Í dag er veðrið betra en í gær.
Today the weather is better than yesterday.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
Bigger, Biggest
The main group of adjectives forms the comparative with -ari and the superlative with -astur, with no vowel change:
| base | comparative | superlative |
|---|---|---|
| ríkur (rich) | ríkari | ríkastur |
| kaldur (cold) | kaldari | kaldastur |
A second large group takes -ri in the comparative instead (often with an i-mutation vowel change), and it includes all -legur adjectives: fallegur - fallegri - fallegastur (beautiful), stór - stærri - stærstur (big), ungur - yngri - yngstur (young). A few are fully irregular (the whole word changes): góður - betri - bestur (good), gamall - eldri - elstur (old).
For 'than' use en: Vatnajökull er stærri en aðrir jöklar. With the article the superlative takes the weak ending -i: stærsti jökullinn (the biggest glacier).
Over-applying -ari to the -ri/-legur class (fallegur -> *fallegari instead of fallegri; stór -> *stórari instead of stærri). - Using the wrong word for 'than' - it is en, not og or með. - Forgetting the weak -i superlative with the article (stærsti jökullinn, not *stærstur jökullinn).
Vatnajökull er stærri en allir aðrir jöklar á Íslandi.
Vatnajökull is bigger than all other glaciers in Iceland.
Irregular stór -> stærri; 'than' = en.
Dettifoss er kraftmesti foss í Evrópu.
Dettifoss is the most powerful waterfall in Europe.
Predicative superlative takes the weak -i: kraftmikill -> kraftmesti.
Þessi peysa er hlýrri en hin.
This sweater is warmer than the other one.
-ri-class comparative hlýr -> hlýrri (not *hlýrari); lopapeysa wool sweaters are an Icelandic icon.
Í dag er veðrið betra en í gær.
Today the weather is better than yesterday.
Irregular góður -> betri (good -> better).
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A2 course exercises