Comparative of adjectives (größer, besser als)

To compare two people or things in German, you don't reach for a separate word like English more — you just add -er onto the end of the adjective itself, no matter how long the adjective is.

Quick shortcut: adjective + -er + als = comparative "than". schnell → schneller als (faster than).

The basic pattern

Take the plain adjective, add -er, and follow the comparison with als ("than"):

• schnell → schneller — Er ist schneller als ich. (He is faster than me.)
• klein → kleiner — Diese Wohnung ist kleiner als meine. (This apartment is smaller than mine.)
• interessant → interessanter — Das Buch ist interessanter als der Film. (The book is more interesting than the film.)

Notice that even a long adjective like interessant still just takes -er — ✅ interessanter, never ❌ mehr interessant. English switches to "more" for longer adjectives (more interesting, not interestinger); German never does this for regular adjectives — the -er ending always does the job, however long the word.

Adjectives ending in -el, -er, -en drop or keep a letter

A few spelling adjustments happen when -er lands on certain endings:

• -el drops its own e: dunkel → dunkler (not dunkeler), edel → edler
• With some adjectives already ending in -er, the unstressed e is often dropped too: teuer → teurer (rather than teuerer), sauer → saurer
• -en stays as it is: offen → offener

Umlaut in the comparative

Many common adjectives — especially short ones — with the stem vowel a, o, or u add an umlaut in the comparative, on top of the -er ending:

There's no general rule that predicts which adjectives take the umlaut — it's a matter of learning each one, though this list covers the common ones you'll meet at this level. Most other adjectives with a, o, or u simply add -er with no umlaut, e.g. toll → toller, froh → froher.

Irregular comparatives

A handful of very common adjectives (and one adverb) don't just take a plain -er and must be learned as their own forms. Two are fully irregular, replaced by a completely different word: gut → besser, viel → mehr. The rest keep -er but change the stem: hoch → höher, nah → näher, gern → lieber.

• Dieser Kaffee ist besser als der andere. (This coffee is better than the other.)
• Ich trinke lieber Tee als Kaffee. (I prefer to drink tea rather than coffee.)

als means "than" — don't reach for wie here

After a comparative form, the comparison word is always als, never wie. (Equality comparisons — saying two things are the same — use a completely different pattern, so ... wie, covered in its own lesson: Equality comparisons with "so... wie".)

• ✅ Sie ist größer als ich. — comparative, als
• ❌ Sie ist größer wie ich. — a common colloquial slip, but wie is wrong here

Before a noun, the usual adjective endings still apply

When a comparative adjective sits directly before a noun, it still needs the normal attributive adjective ending on top of its -er — that ending system itself belongs to a separate lesson, but the comparative form slots into it exactly like any other adjective:

• der schnellere Zug (the faster train)
• ein schnelleres Auto (a faster car)

Common mistakes

• ❌ Er ist alter als ich. → ✅ Er ist älter als ich. (missing umlaut — alt needs one in the comparative)
• ❌ Das ist mehr interessant als das andere. → ✅ Das ist interessanter als das andere. (German adjectives always take -er, never a separate "mehr")
• ❌ Sie ist größer wie ich. → ✅ Sie ist größer als ich. (als, not wie, follows a comparative)
• ❌ Das ist guter als das andere. → ✅ Das ist besser als das andere. (gut is irregular — besser, not guter)

Quick check

Give the correct comparative form for each adjective, then complete the sentence.

1. alt → Mein Bruder ist ____ als ich.
2. gut → Dieser Film ist ____ als der letzte.
3. interessant → Diese Geschichte ist ____ als die andere.
4. hoch → Der Berg ist ____ als der Turm.

Key takeaways

• Build the comparative by adding -er to the adjective, however long it is — German never switches to a separate "more" word.
• Adjectives ending in -el drop the e (dunkel → dunkler); those already ending in -er just add the ending (teuer → teurer).
• Many short a/o/u-stem adjectives add an umlaut too: alt → älter, groß → größer, jung → jünger.
• A few common forms are irregular: gut → besser, viel → mehr, gern → lieber (an adverb), hoch → höher, nah → näher.
• After a comparative, "than" is always als, never wie — wie belongs to equality comparisons (so ... wie) instead.