In German, adjectives can take three forms: the basic form (positiv), the comparative (komparativ), and the superlative (superlativ). The comparative form is used to show that something has a higher degree of a certain quality compared to something else. It is generally formed by adding -er to the adjective, similar to how English adds -er in words like “bigger” or “faster.”
For instance, the adjective schnell (fast) becomes schneller (faster), just like in English. The word stark (strong) turns into stärker (stronger), and laut (loud) becomes lauter (louder). If the adjective has a one-syllable stem and contains a, o, or u, these vowels usually take an umlaut in the comparative form. That is why groß (big) turns into größer (bigger), jung (young) into jünger (younger), and klug (smart) into klüger (smarter).
Unlike English, where the word “than” is used for comparison, German uses als: Er ist schneller als ich (“He is faster than me”), Diese Stadt ist größer als meine Heimatstadt (“This city is bigger than my hometown”). The word wie (“as”) is not used in comparisons but instead appears in equal comparisons, as in so schnell wie (“as fast as”). A common mistake for learners is using wie instead of als in comparatives, leading to incorrect sentences like Diese Stadt ist größer wie meine Heimatstadt instead of Diese Stadt ist größer als meine Heimatstadt.
Some adjectives form their comparatives irregularly. The word gut (good) changes to besser (better), not guter. Viel (much) turns into mehr (more), hoch (high) into höher (higher), and nah (near) into näher (closer). These irregular forms are common in everyday speech, and learners need to memorize them rather than rely on regular patterns.
In colloquial speech and idiomatic expressions, comparatives appear frequently. A phrase like je schneller, desto besser means “The faster, the better,” where je is followed by a comparative and desto introduces another. This construction is used to express proportional increase, just like “The more, the merrier” in English. Another common phrase, Besser spät als nie (“Better late than never”), mirrors the English equivalent almost exactly.
Comparatives also appear in sayings and proverbs. Kleiner Fisch ist auch Fisch (“A small fish is still a fish”) is sometimes adapted with a comparative: Besser ein kleiner Fisch als gar kein Fisch (“Better a small fish than no fish at all”). Another well-known phrase, Lieber arm dran als Arm ab (literally “Better poor than without an arm”), plays on the double meaning of arm (poor/arm).
While most adjectives follow the standard pattern of adding -er, some do not take comparatives in normal usage. Words like tot (dead), voll (full), and leer (empty) rarely appear in comparative forms because their meanings are considered absolute. In casual speech, people may still say toter als tot (“deader than dead”) or voller als voll (“fuller than full”), but these are exaggerations rather than grammatically standard forms.
In advertising, marketing, and everyday informal speech, it is common to see doppelte Vergleiche, or double comparatives, where an already comparative form is intensified. While in standard German one would say größer als vorher (“bigger than before”), in spoken language, you might hear noch größerer als vorher (“even bigger than before”). Though not strictly correct, this structure is often used for emphasis.