Language/Dutch/Grammar/Comaratives-and-Superlatives

Comparatives and Superlatives in Dutch

Hello everybody,

In today's lesson you will learn the "COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES" in Dutch.

Feel free to edit this page by adding new words and expressions!

Happy learning! :)

Once you've mastered this lesson, take a look at these related pages: Future Tense, Conditional Mood in Dutch, Give your Opinion & Questions.

ENGLISH	DUTCH	BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE
MORE BEAUTIFUL (MASC)	MOOIER DAN ...	MAIS BONITO DO QUE
MORE BEAUTIFUL (FEMIN)	MOOIER DAN ...	MAIS BONITA DO QUE
BIGGER (MASC)	GROTER DAN ...	MAIOR (MASC) DO QUE
BIGGER (FEMIN)	GROTER DAN ...	MAIOR (FEMIN) DO QUE
LONGER (MASC)	LANGER DAN ...	MAIS LONGO DO QUE
LONGER (FEMIN)	LANGER DAN ...	MAIS LONGA DO QUE
STRONGER (MASC)	STERKER DAN ...	MAIS FORTE (MASC) DO QUE
STRONGER (FEMIN)	STERKER DAN ...	MAIS FORTE (FEMIN) DO QUE
EASIER (MASC)	MAKKELIJKER DAN ...	MAIS FÁCIL (MASC) DO QUE
EASIER (FEMIN)	MAKKELIJKER DAN ...	MAIS FÁCIL (FEMIN) DO QUE
SWITZERLAND IS MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN GERMANY	ZWITSERLAND IS MOOIER  DAN DUITSLAND	SUÍÇA É MAIS BONITA DO QUE A ALEMANHA
THIS CITY IS BIGGER THAN THIS COUNTRY	DEZE STAD IS GROTER DAN DIT LAND	ESSA CIDADE É MAIOR DO QUE ESSE PAÍS

ENGLISH	DUTCH	BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE
MOST BEAUTIFUL OF THEM ALL (MASC)	MOOISTE VAN HEN ALLEN	MAIS BONITO DE TODOS
MOST BEAUTIFUL OF THEM ALL (FEMIN)	MOOISTE VAN HEN ALLEN	MAIS BONITA DE TODAS
BIGGEST OF THEM ALL (MASC)	GROOTSTE VAN HEN ALLEN	MAIOR DE TODOS (MASC)
BIGGEST OF THEM ALL (FEMIN)	GROOTSTE VAN HEN ALLEN	MAIOR DE TODAS (FEMIN)
LONGEST OF THEM ALL (MASC)	LANGSTE VAN HET ALLEN	MAIS LONGO DE TODOS
LONGEST OF THEM ALL (FEMIN)	LANGSTE VAN HET ALLEN	MAIS LONGA DE TODAS
STRONGEST OF THEM ALL (MASC)	STERKSTE VAN HET ALLEN	MAIS FORTE DE TODOS (MASC)
STRONGEST OF THEM ALL (FEMIN)	STERKSTE VAN HET ALLEN	MAIS FORTE DE TODAS (FEMIN)
EASIEST OF THEM ALL (MASC)	MAKKELIJKSTE VAN HET ALLEN	MAIS FÁCIL DE TODOS (MASC)
EASIEST OF THEM ALL (FEMIN)	MAKKELIJKSTE VAN HET ALLEN	MAIS FÁCIL DE TODAS (FEMIN)
HE IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MEN OF THEM ALL	HIJ IS DE MOOISTE MAN VAN HEN ALLEN	ELE É O HOMEM MAIS BONITO DE TODOS
RUSSIA IS THE BIGGEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD	RUSLAND IS HET GROOTSTE LAND IN DE WERELD	RÚSSIA É O MAIOR PAÍS DO MUNDO
THESE LANGUAGES ARE THE EASIEST	DEZE TALEN ZIJN DE MAKKELIJKSTE VAN HET ALLEN	ESSES IDIOMAS SÃO OS MAIS FÁCEIS

Comparatives

To form a Comparative in Dutch you usually add -er

For example:

English	Dutch	Comparative	Comparatief
Fun	Leuk	More fun	Leuker
Green	Groen	Greener	Groener
Tall	Lang	Taller	Langer

If however an adjective ends with "r", one forms the comparative by adding -der

For example:

English	Dutch	Comparative	Comparatief
Dark	Donker	Darker	Donkerder
Expensive	Duur	More expensive	Duurder
Weird	Raar	Weirder	Raarder

If the last syllable of an adjective contains two the same vowels in a row, followed by one consonant (that is not "r") forming a comparative will take one of these vowels away

For example:

English	Dutch	Comparative	Comparatief
Big	Groot	Bigger	Groter
Yellow	Geel	More yellow	Geler
Common	Gewoon	More common	Gewoner

When a comparative is used to compare two things that are named in the sentence, the word "dan" is used

For example:

English	Dutch
An apple is rounder than a pear	Een appel is ronder dan een peer
A tablet is bigger than a phone	Een tablet is groter dan een telefoon
My index finger is longer than my thumb	Mijn wijsvinger is langer dan mijn duim

When a comparative is used to compare people, using pronouns, the pronouns used are usually personal pronouns. When in doubt, repeat the verb

For example:

English	Dutch
He is bigger than I	Hij is groter dan ik (ben)
She is prettier dan he	Zij is mooier dan hij (is)
You walk faster than we	Jullie lopen sneller dan wij (lopen)

Except:

Dutch	English
Ik zie jou vaker dan hij (jou ziet)	I see you more othen than he sees you
Ik zie jou vaker dan (ik) hem (zie)	I see you more often than I see him

(When the things that are being compared are equally (adjective), instead of "dan" "als" is used: My dog is as big as yours = Mijn hond is even groot als die van jou; I am as big as you = ik ben even groot als jij (bent))

When a comparative is used as an adjective, sometimes an extra "e" is added at the end of the comparative:

This happens in the following cases

	noun = neutral	noun = male/female
Article = a/an (een)	no e	+e
Article = the (de/het)	+e	+e

English	Dutch
A bigger house	Een groter huis
A bigger boy	Een grotere jongen
The bigger house	Het grotere huis
The bigger boy	De grotere jongen

Superlatives

To form a Superlative in Dutch you usually add -st

For example:

English	Dutch	Superlative	Superlatief
Big	Groot	Biggest	Grootst
Pretty	Mooi	Prettiest	Mooist
Dark	Donker	Darkest	Donkerst

If however an adjective ends with...

• "e"
• "isch"
• "sk"

The superlative is formed by putting "meest" (most) in front of it

English	Dutch	Superlative	Superlatief
Orange	Oranje	Most orange	Meest oranje
Practical	Praktisch	Most practical	Meest praktisch
Firm	Vast	Firmest	Meest vast

Adjectives ending on "s" can be turned into superlatives by either adding -t at the end (instead of -st) or adding "meest" in front of it.

Using superlatives as adjectives workst the same as comparatives.

EXCEPTIONS

English	Dutch	Comparative	Subjective
Good	Goed	Beter	Best
Gladly	Graag	Liever	Liefst
Much/many	Veel	Meer	Meest
Little/few	Weinig	Minder	Minst

Other Lessons

• Conditional Mood
• Cardinal Numbers in Dutch
• The Instrumental Case in Dutch
• Nouns
• Ablative Case in Dutch
• Prepositions
• Questions
• Future Tense
• Genitive Case in Dutch
• How to use “there to be” in Dutch