| Variations
of the -er -st endings and the stem of adjectives: |
||
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
| mild laut hübsch heiß |
milder lauter hübscher heißer |
mildest- lautest- hübschest- heißest- |
For the sake of pronounciation, -est is added to adjectives ending in stressed syllables ending in -d, -t, -s, -sch, -ß, -ss, -z. Therefore, only a few polysyllabic adjectives are in this group. Compare: |
||
| interessant dringend praktisch |
interessanter dringender praktischer |
interessantest- dringendst- praktischst- |
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
| alt kalt lang warm groß jung kurz dumm |
älter kälter länger wärmer größer jünger kürzer dümmer |
ältest- kältest- längst- wärmst- größt- jüngst- kürzest- dümmst- |
| Most monosyllabic
adjectives with the stem vowels a, o, or
u require an umlaut in the comparative
and superlative. Note that there are also adjectives like
alt which
add est instead of st
in the superlative because their stressed stem ends in t.
The superlative größt- is irregular. Only -t is
added to the stem. List of all adjectives that add an umlaut in the comparative and superlative! |
||
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
| leise dunkel teuer |
leiser dunkler teurer |
leisest- dunkelst- teuerst- |
| Adjecives ending in -e, -el, and
-er show a slight variation in the
comparative to facilitate pronounciation. They do not add
a second e or omit the e
of the stem. |
||
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
| hoch nahe |
höher näher |
höchst- nächst- |
| Hoch
drops c in the
comparative; nahe adds c in the superlative. |
||
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
| gut viel |
besser mehr |
best- meist- |
| Note that in
contrast to English, the comparative and superlative of schlecht
and wenig are regular. |
||
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
| The following adverbs are irregular: | ||
| bald oft gern(e)  |
eher öfter / häufiger lieber |
am ehesten am öftesten / häufigsten am liebsten |
