The comparison of adjectives

We often use adjectives and adverbs to compare.
There are three degrees of comparison, positive (or negative), comparative, and superlative.

💬 Examples

Positive degree (basic form)

masculine Sing.
starý muž ‒ an old man
feminine Sing.
stará žena ‒ an old woman
neuter Sing.
staré auto ‒ an old car

Plural
starí ľudia ‒ old people

Comparative degree

The comparative degree is formed by adding '-er' to the end of the adjective followed by 'than'.
This is the case of monosyllabic adjectives.
On the contrary, in the case of polysyllabic adjectives, the adjectives remain the same and use the word 'more' before the adjective.

This form is used when comparing two things or expressing a higher degree of the adjective.
To form the comparative degree, you usually add the suffix -ší to the adjective base.

💬 Examples:
m Sing.
starší muž ‒ an older man

f Sing.
staršia žena ‒ an older woman

n Sing.
staršie auto ‒ an older car

Pl.
starší ľudia ‒ older people

Superlative degree

This form is used to express the highest degree of an adjective.
To form the superlative degree, you typically add the prefix naj- to the adjective base and change the ending according to the gender and number of the noun.

💬 Examples:
m Sing.
najstarší muž ‒ the oldest man

f Sing.
najstaršia žena ‒ the oldest woman

n Sing.
najstaršie auto ‒ the oldest car

Pl.
najstarší ľudia ‒ the oldest people

Remember that these are the basic patterns for regular adjectives.
Irregular adjectives may have different forms in the comparative and superlative degrees.

Some commonly used but irregular adjectives

Irregular comparison is only used for the following adjectives (and their derived adverbs): dobrý, zlý, malý, veľký, pekný.

dobrý (good) ‒ lepší ‒najlepší
zlý (bad) ‒ horší ‒ najhorší
veľký (big/large)‒ väčší ‒ najväčší
malý (small) ‒ menší ‒ najmenší
mladý (young) ‒ mladší ‒ najmladší
pekný (beautiful) ‒ krajší ‒ najkrajší

➠ Adverbs in Slovak