Danish Comparatives and Superlatives: større, størst

Most adjectives add -ere for the comparative and -est for the superlative. Adjectives that end in -ig (including -lig) or -som add only -st in the superlative: billigst, hurtigst, morsomst. Words in -som double the m before -ere: morsommere.

A few common adjectives change their vowel as well as taking an ending. stor and ung add only -re in the comparative.

These use a different word, or a changed stem, in the comparative and superlative. Learn them as sets.

Some adjectives don’t take -ere and -est. Put mere (more) or mest (most) in front instead, as English does with “more interesting”.

• Adjectives in -isk, and nationality words

  • mere praktiskmore practical (from praktisk)
  • mere danskmore Danish (from dansk)

• Adjectives ending in -e

  • mere spændendemore exciting (from spændende)

• Participles used as adjectives

  • mere kendtbetter known (from kendt)

• Many long adjectives

  • mere interessantmore interesting (from interessant)

• Filmen er mere spændende end bogen.The film is more exciting than the book.

Use one or the other, never both: billigere or mere praktisk, but not mere billigere.

After a comparative, “than” is end. To say two things are equal, use lige så … som (as … as) with the base form.

• Bussen er billigere end toget.The bus is cheaper than the train.
• Aarhus er mindre end København.Aarhus is smaller than Copenhagen.
• Min søster er ældre end mig.My sister is older than me.
• Odense er ikke lige så stor som Aarhus.Odense isn’t as big as Aarhus.

After end, both ældre end mig and ældre end jeg are correct. mig is what you’ll hear most in speech.

The comparative never changes. It looks the same with en-words, et-words and plurals.

• en større bil · et større hus · større bilera bigger car · a bigger house · bigger cars

The superlative takes -e in the same places as any adjective: after den, det, de and after min, din and the other possessives. It never takes -t. After er it keeps its plain form.

• København er den største by i Danmark.Copenhagen is the biggest city in Denmark.
• Vi tager de billigste billetter.We’ll take the cheapest tickets.
• Det bedste ved sommeren er de lange aftener.The best thing about summer is the long evenings.
• Hun er min bedste ven.She’s my best friend.
• Hvilken bus er hurtigst?Which bus is fastest? (after er: no ending)

As with any adjective, the noun after den has no ending: den hurtigste vej, not den hurtigste vejen. bilen or den store bil? →

• closeWrong:mere stor

  checkRight:større

  stor has its own form. mere is for adjectives like praktisk and spændende.

• closeWrong:godere

  checkRight:bedre

  god is irregular: god, bedre, bedst.

• closeWrong:mere billigere

  checkRight:billigere

  Use the ending or mere, never both.

• closeWrong:billigere som toget

  checkRight:billigere end toget

  After a comparative, “than” is end. som goes with lige så.

• closeWrong:den størst by

  checkRight:den største by

  After den the superlative takes -e.

• closeWrong:den hurtigste vejen

  checkRight:den hurtigste vej

  After den the noun has no ending: vej, not vejen.