This is the page where you start using comparisons in real sentences — talking about who is taller, which café is cheaper, whether today is as warm as yesterday. The three building blocks are simple: -er for "more" (groter = bigger), -ste for "most" (de grootste = the biggest), and even … als for "just as … as" (even groot = just as big). The one thing you must get right from day one is the little word after a comparison: it is dan after a comparative and als in an equality. Drill that split now, with concrete examples, and you will never pick up the stigmatised groter als.
"Bigger": the comparative with -er + dan
To say one thing has more of a quality than another, add -er to the adjective, and join the two things with dan ("than").
Mijn broer is langer dan ik.
My brother is taller than me. lang → langer, joined by 'dan'.
Deze koffie is sterker dan die van gisteren.
This coffee is stronger than yesterday's. sterk → sterker.
Het is vandaag kouder dan gisteren.
It's colder today than yesterday. koud → kouder.
The pattern is rock-solid: adjective + -er, then dan, then the thing you are comparing against. English uses two different strategies ("taller" vs "more expensive"); Dutch uses -er for almost everything, long words included.
Een huis in de stad is duurder dan een huis op het platteland.
A house in the city is more expensive than a house in the countryside. duur → duurder — Dutch says 'duurder', not 'meer duur'.
"The biggest": the superlative with de/het ...-ste
To say something has the most of a quality, add -ste and put de or het in front (matching the noun, just like any adjective).
Dit is het lekkerste gerecht op de kaart.
This is the tastiest dish on the menu. lekker → lekkerste, with 'het' because 'gerecht' is a het-word.
Zij is de snelste van de klas.
She's the fastest in the class. snel → snelste, with 'de'.
When you use the superlative on its own as a verdict — pointing at the cake and saying "this is the best one" — Dutch reaches for het plus the bare superlative, no matter what the noun is:
Dit is het lekkerste.
This is the tastiest (one). A standalone verdict uses 'het' + -ste, regardless of the noun's gender.
Welke vind jij het mooiste?
Which one do you find the nicest? 'het mooiste' as a free-standing 'the nicest'.
"Just as big": equality with even ... als
When two things are equal in some quality, wrap the adjective in even … als ("(just) as … as"). A very common spoken alternative is net zo … als, which adds a touch of "exactly as."
Het is net zo duur als gisteren.
It's just as expensive as yesterday. 'net zo ... als' frames the equality.
Mijn fiets is even oud als die van jou.
My bike is just as old as yours. 'even oud als' = just as old as.
Vandaag is het even warm als gisteren.
Today it's just as warm as yesterday.
Here is the cell that catches every English speaker: an equality uses als, and a comparative uses dan. They are not interchangeable, and they correspond to different English words — "as" vs "than" — so the trick is to map the Dutch words onto the English ones and never let them blur.
| Meaning | Dutch frame | Joining word | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| more than (comparative) | adjective + -er | dan | groter dan |
| just as … as (equality) | even / net zo
| als | even groot als |
| the most (superlative) | de/het + adjective + -ste | — (use van for the group) | de grootste van |
"In the group": superlative + van
To say "the biggest of the group," Dutch uses van where English uses "of" or "in":
Hij is de jongste van de drie.
He's the youngest of the three. 'van de drie' — Dutch 'van', not 'in'.
Dit is de goedkoopste van allemaal.
This is the cheapest of all. goedkoop → goedkoopste.
Spelling: what -er and -st do to the word
Adding -er or -st triggers the same spelling adjustments you already know from adding -e to adjectives (see The -e Rule). Quick reminders:
- Long vowel: the comparative opens the syllable and drops a letter (groot → groter, laat → later), but the superlative -st closes it again and the double vowel comes back (groot → grootste, laat → laatst). So you get the seeming flip groter (one o) but grootste (two) — check each form on its own.
- Short vowel doubles the consonant before -er: dik → dikker, dom → dommer.
- Adjectives ending in -r insert a -d- before -er: duur → duurder, lekker → lekkerder, ver → verder. This little -d- is easy to forget.
De winkel is verder dan ik dacht — en duurder ook.
The shop is farther than I thought — and pricier too. ver → verder, duur → duurder, both with the inserted -d-.
A handful of everyday adjectives are irregular and just have to be memorised:
| Adjective | Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|---|
| goed (good) | beter | best |
| veel (much/many) | meer | meest |
| weinig (little/few) | minder | minst |
| graag (gladly) | liever | liefst |
Ik drink liever thee dan koffie.
I'd rather drink tea than coffee. liever ... dan — the irregular comparative of 'graag', still joined by 'dan'.
Common Mistakes
These four are the errors English speakers actually make. The first one — als after a comparative — is so common among native learners too that it carries social stigma; getting it right marks careful Dutch.
❌ Mijn broer is langer als ik.
Incorrect — a comparative (-er) must take 'dan', not 'als'. 'groter als' is stigmatised even among native speakers.
✅ Mijn broer is langer dan ik.
My brother is taller than me.
❌ Het is net zo duur dan gisteren.
Incorrect — an equality (net zo / even) takes 'als', not 'dan'.
✅ Het is net zo duur als gisteren.
It's just as expensive as yesterday.
❌ Dit gerecht is meer lekker dan dat.
Incorrect — Dutch adds -er even to longer adjectives; it doesn't use 'meer ___'. Say 'lekkerder'.
✅ Dit gerecht is lekkerder dan dat.
This dish is tastier than that one.
❌ Zij is de snelste in de klas... bedoel ik 'de snelste van de klas'.
Use 'van' for the group with a superlative, not 'in': 'de snelste van de klas'.
✅ Zij is de snelste van de klas.
She's the fastest in the class.
❌ Mijn fiets is ouder als die van jou.
Incorrect twice over if you also meant 'just as old' — but as a comparative it still needs 'dan': 'ouder dan'. For equality say 'even oud als'.
✅ Mijn fiets is ouder dan die van jou. / Mijn fiets is even oud als die van jou.
My bike is older than yours. / My bike is just as old as yours.
Key Takeaways
- Comparative: adjective + -er, joined by dan — langer dan. Dutch uses -er even for long words (duurder, not meer duur).
- Equality: even or net zo
- adjective, joined by als — even groot als, net zo duur als.
- Superlative: de/het
- adjective + -ste — de grootste; use van for the group (de snelste van de klas).
- The split to drill: -er → dan, even/net zo → als. Groter als is wrong in standard Dutch.
- Memorise four irregulars: goed/beter/best, veel/meer/meest, weinig/minder/minst, graag/liever/liefst.
Now practice Dutch
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Start learning Dutch→Related Topics
- The Comparative (-er)A2 — How Dutch forms the comparative with -er, why -r adjectives insert -d- (duurder), and why 'than' must be dan, not als, after a comparative.
- The Superlative (-st)A2 — Forming the Dutch superlative with -st, its attributive het/de …-ste form, the puzzling double-het predicate (het …-st), and when to fall back on meest.
- Comparisons of Equality: Even ... als, Net zo ... alsB1 — How Dutch says two things are equal (even groot als, net zo duur als), how it denies equality (niet zo ... als), and the proportional 'the more ... the more' construction (hoe ... hoe, hoe ... des te) that sends both clauses to verb-final order.
- Als vs Dan in ComparisonsA2 — After a comparative, Dutch uses dan (groter dan ik, meer dan tien); for equality, it uses zo + adjective + als (net zo groot als). English speakers don't have this problem from their own language, but they hear native speakers say the substandard 'groter als' everywhere. This page gives the clean written rule, head-to-head pairs, and the reason 'groter als' is a shibboleth.
- The -e Rule and Its One Big ExceptionA1 — Before a noun, a Dutch adjective takes -e — always — with exactly one exception: a singular het-word introduced by een or no article keeps the adjective bare (een mooi huis). Master that one cell and the whole rule is yours.