Irregular Comparison and Comparing Adverbs | Croatian Grammar

This page ties off the comparison system. First, the suppletive comparatives — the good/better type, where the comparative comes from a different root and must simply be learned. Then the part most courses skimp on: adverbs compare too, and they do it with a form you already know. The comparative adverb is identical to the neuter comparative adjective — brzo → brže, dobro → bolje, mnogo → više. Finally, two everyday constructions built on comparatives: "more and more" (sve + comparative) and "the more… the more…" (što… to…).

Suppletive comparison: a different root

A small group of the most common adjectives forms its comparative from an unrelated root, exactly as English does with good → better and bad → worse. There is no rule to derive these; you memorise them. They are worth real effort because they are among the highest-frequency words in the language.

Adjective	Comparative	Superlative	Meaning
dobar	bolji	najbolji	good / better / best
loš (zao)	gori	najgori	bad / worse / worst
velik	veći	najveći	big / bigger / biggest
malen (mali)	manji	najmanji	small / smaller / smallest

Situacija je iz dana u dan sve gora.

The situation is getting worse from day to day. — suppletive 'loš → gori', feminine 'gora'.

Manji stan je u ovom slučaju bolji izbor.

A smaller flat is the better choice in this case. — 'mali → manji' and 'dobar → bolji' in one sentence.

The adverb twins

Here is a connection most resources leave the learner to discover the hard way. These same suppletive roots also serve as the comparatives of the matching adverbs — and the adverb forms are the ones you hear constantly:

Adverb (positive)	Comparative adverb	Meaning
dobro (well)	bolje	better
loše (badly)	gore	worse
mnogo / puno (much, many)	više	more
malo (little, few)	manje	less, fewer
rado (gladly)	radije	rather, preferably

Two of these earn special attention. više ("more") and manje ("less/fewer") are the all-purpose words for comparing quantities and amounts — and, unlike adjectives, više genuinely is the way to say "more" of an amount: više vremena ("more time"), manje novca ("less money"). And radije ("rather") is the comparative of rado and the standard way to express preference: Radije bih ostao ("I'd rather stay").

Sada se osjećam puno bolje, hvala.

I feel much better now, thanks. — adverb 'dobro → bolje'.

Trebam više vremena i manje pritiska.

I need more time and less pressure. — 'mnogo → više', 'malo → manje' for quantities.

Radije bih pješke nego autobusom.

I'd rather walk than take the bus. — 'rado → radije' expressing preference.

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Don't confuse the adjective and adverb twins: bolji (adjective, "better X": bolji plan) versus bolje (adverb, "X better": radi bolje). The neuter adjective and the adverb happen to look identical (bolje), which is exactly the bridge to the next rule.

Regular adverbs compare like the neuter adjective

Most adverbs in Croatian are simply the neuter singular form of an adjective (brz "fast" → adverb brzo; lijep → lijepo). It follows naturally, then, that the comparative adverb is the neuter comparative adjective. Whatever the adjective's comparative is, take its neuter (-e) form and you have the adverb.

Adverb	Comparative adverb	= neuter of
brzo (quickly)	brže	brži → brže
lako (easily)	lakše	lakši → lakše
lijepo (nicely)	ljepše	ljepši → ljepše
često (often)	češće	češći → češće
jako (strongly)	jače	jači → jače
tiho (quietly)	tiše	tiši → tiše

The same jotation you learned for comparative adjectives carries straight over: često → češće (st→šć), brzo → brže, jako → jače. And the superlative adverb is, predictably, naj- on the comparative adverb: brže → najbrže ("fastest"), bolje → najbolje ("best").

Možeš li voziti malo brže?

Can you drive a bit faster? — comparative adverb 'brzo → brže'.

Sada idemo na posao češće biciklom.

We now go to work by bike more often. — 'često → češće'.

Tko najbrže riješi zadatak, pobjeđuje.

Whoever solves the task fastest wins. — superlative adverb 'najbrže'.

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The whole adverb comparison reduces to one move: take the comparative adjective, put it in the neuter, and you have the comparative adverb. brži → brže, bolji → bolje, jači → jače. No separate paradigm to learn — see adverb formation.

"More and more": sve + comparative

To say something is increasing ("more and more tired", "getting better and better"), Croatian puts the particle sve in front of the comparative. Literally "all + comparative," it conveys a continuing rise along the scale.

Dani su sve kraći.

The days are getting shorter and shorter. — 'sve' + comparative 'kraći'.

Govori sve bolje hrvatski.

She speaks Croatian better and better. — 'sve' + comparative adverb 'bolje'.

Postaje sve teže pronaći stan.

It's getting harder and harder to find a flat. — 'sve' + 'teže'.

"The more… the more…": što… to…

For the correlative "the X-er…, the Y-er…" (English the more you study, the more you know), Croatian uses the pair što… to…, each followed by a comparative. The što is not the relative pronoun here — it is a correlative particle, and it pairs with to (sometimes tim) in the main clause.

Što više učiš, to više znaš.

The more you study, the more you know. — correlative 'što… to…' with comparatives.

Što smo bliže moru, to je zrak svježiji.

The closer we get to the sea, the fresher the air. — 'što bliže… to svježiji'.

Što duže čekaš, to će biti teže.

The longer you wait, the harder it'll be. — future in the main clause, 'što… to…' frame intact.

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This što looks like the question word "what" but here it is purely correlative — pair it with to: što + comparative …, to + comparative. Mixing in a relative koji or dropping the to breaks the construction. The deeper syntax is at comparative correlatives.

Equality: "as… as" with kao / jednako… kao

For comparison of equality ("as tall as"), Croatian does not use a comparative at all — it keeps the positive adjective and joins the standard with kao ("as/like"), often reinforced by jednako or isto tako ("equally / just as").

Visok je kao njegov otac.

He's as tall as his father. — equality with the positive form + 'kao'.

Ova torba je jednako skupa kao ona.

This bag is just as expensive as that one. — 'jednako… kao' for equality.

A note on po- attenuation

A productive prefix po- attenuates a comparative to mean "a bit / -ish" — poveći ("biggish, rather large"), poviši ("rather tall"), podulji ("rather long"). It is colloquial-to-neutral and attaches to the comparative form. Use it where English would say "somewhat bigger" or "a touch taller." (Note the separate, positive-based povelik "largish", built on velik rather than on the comparative — same flavour, different base.)

Soba je poveća za jednu osobu.

The room is on the biggish side for one person. — 'po-' + comparative 'veći' → attenuated 'poveći'.

Common Mistakes

❌ Vozi brži, molim te.

Incorrect — you need the ADVERB (neuter comparative) to modify the verb: 'brže'.

✅ Vozi brže, molim te.

Drive faster, please. — comparative adverb 'brže'.

❌ Osjećam se dobrije.

Incorrect — 'dobro' has a suppletive comparative adverb: 'bolje', not '*dobrije'.

✅ Osjećam se bolje.

I feel better. — suppletive adverb 'bolje'.

❌ Trebam mnogo vremena nego prije.

Incorrect — for 'more' of an amount use the comparative 'više', not the positive 'mnogo'.

✅ Trebam više vremena nego prije.

I need more time than before. — 'mnogo → više'.

❌ Koliko više učiš, koliko više znaš.

Incorrect — the correlative is 'što… to…', not a doubled 'koliko'.

✅ Što više učiš, to više znaš.

The more you study, the more you know. — correct 'što… to…' frame.

❌ Visok je više od oca.

Incorrect for equality — 'as tall as' uses the positive + 'kao', not a comparative: 'visok kao'.

✅ Visok je kao otac.

He's as tall as his father. — equality with 'kao'.

Key Takeaways

Suppletives (dobar → bolji, loš → gori, velik → veći, mali → manji) are memorised; their adverb twins (bolje, gore, više, manje, radije) are everyday words.
The comparative adverb is the neuter comparative adjective (brži → brže, bolji → bolje); the superlative adverb adds naj- (najbrže, najbolje).
sve + comparative = "more and more"; što… to… + comparatives = "the more…, the more…" (the što is correlative, not relative).
Equality ("as… as") drops the comparative entirely: positive form + kao (optionally jednako… kao).
The prefix po- attenuates a comparative to "-ish / somewhat" (poveći, poviši).

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