Unit 7: Perfect Tenses and Participles
7. Irregularities in the Comparative and Superlative
Word Formation
These sections of the textbook help improve your speed during the skimming phase of reading and help you gradually build vocabulary.
Like English, German has some irregular forms of the comparative and superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs. Consider the irregular forms “good,” “better,” “best,” compared to the regular forms “red,” “redder,” “reddest.” (See Unit 6.)
The most common of the adjectives and adverbs with irregular forms are:
| Root | Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|---|
| gern (gladly) | lieber (preferably) | am liebsten (to like most of all) |
| gut (good) | besser | best-, am besten |
| hoch or hoh– (high) | höher | höchst-, am höchsten |
| nah (near) | näher | nächst-, am nächsten (next, nearest) |
| oft (often) | öfter | häufigst-, am häufigsten |
| viel (much) | mehr | meist-, am meisten |
