Irregular Comparison and Umlaut | Swedish Grammar

Most Swedish adjectives compare with the regular endings -are (comparative) and -ast (superlative), exactly as covered on Regular Comparison: snabb → snabbare → snabbast. This page is about the rebels — a small, closed set of very common adjectives that do not play by that rule. Two things go wrong with them: some replace the whole word with a different root (suppletion, like English good → better → best), and some change the stem vowel and switch to a different pair of endings, -re / -st instead of -are / -ast. Because these are the words you reach for constantly — good, bad, big, small, old, young — getting them right matters far more than their small number suggests.

Suppletion: a different word entirely

A handful of adjectives throw away their base form when compared and substitute a different root. This is the same phenomenon as English good/better/best or bad/worse/worst — and reassuringly, the Swedish set lines up almost one-to-one with the English one. There is no rule to derive these; you memorise them. The good news is there are only six families.

Base	Comparative	Superlative	Meaning
bra / god	bättre	bäst	good → better → best
dålig	sämre / värre	sämst / värst	bad → worse → worst
liten	mindre	minst	small → smaller → smallest
gammal	äldre	äldst	old → older → oldest
många	fler / flera	flest	many → more → most
mycket	mer / mera	mest	much → more → most

A note on bra versus god: in everyday speech bra is the all-purpose "good," while god is reserved for taste, smell, moral goodness, and food (god mat, "good food"). Both, though, share the same comparative and superlative — bättre and bäst serve them both. You never say bråare or godare for "better" in the quality sense.

Den här osten är bra, men den där är ännu bättre — den bästa jag har smakat.

This cheese is good, but that one is even better — the best I've tasted. bra → bättre → bäst, all the same root despite the base word.

Vädret är dåligt idag, och imorgon blir det ännu värre.

The weather is bad today, and tomorrow it'll be even worse. dålig → värre for 'worse in degree/intensity'.

Min lillebror är yngre än jag, men vår äldsta syster är trettio.

My little brother is younger than me, but our oldest sister is thirty. yngre and äldst — two different umlaut/suppletive families in one sentence.

The pair sämre/sämst versus värre/värst is worth pausing on. Sämre is the neutral "worse" — lower in quality or quantity (ett sämre resultat, "a worse result"). Värre is "worse" in the sense of more severe, more unpleasant, more intense (Det gör saken värre, "That makes the matter worse"). English collapses both into "worse," so you have to feel out which one Swedish wants.

Hans betyg blev sämre i år än förra året.

His grades got worse this year than last year. sämre = lower in quality/measure.

Bråket blev bara värre och värre.

The quarrel just got worse and worse. värre = more severe/intense, not 'lower quality'.

The umlaut group: vowel change plus -re / -st

The second irregular type is more systematic, and recognising the pattern is far more useful than memorising eight separate words. These adjectives do two things at once when they compare:

The stem vowel changes (an umlaut): o → ö, å → ä, u → y, o → ö.
The endings are -re and -st, not the regular -are and -ast.

That second point is the real tell. The regular pattern keeps an -a- before the ending (snabb-are). The umlaut group drops it: there is no -a-, the ending is bare -re / -st, and the vowel shifts. So if you see a comparative ending in -re rather than -are, you are almost certainly looking at this group, and the vowel will have changed too.

Base	Comparative	Superlative	Meaning
stor	större	störst	big → bigger → biggest
hög	högre	högst	high → higher → highest
låg	lägre	lägst	low → lower → lowest
lång	längre	längst	long → longer → longest
ung	yngre	yngst	young → younger → youngest
tung	tyngre	tyngst	heavy → heavier → heaviest
trång	trängre	trängst	narrow → narrower → narrowest
grov	grövre	grövst	coarse → coarser → coarsest

💡

The umlaut group is a closed club with one membership card: -re / -st endings (not -are / -ast) plus a changed stem vowel. Once you hear the missing -a- — större, not storare — you know the vowel has shifted too. Naming the pattern beats memorising each word: there are no new members to learn beyond this list.

Stockholm är större än Göteborg, men Göteborg är inte den minsta staden i Sverige.

Stockholm is bigger than Gothenburg, but Gothenburg isn't the smallest city in Sweden. större (umlaut group) and minst (suppletive) side by side.

Det här berget är högt, men det där är högre — faktiskt det högsta i området.

This mountain is high, but that one is higher — in fact the highest in the area. hög → högre → högst, vowel unchanged here but note the bare -re/-st.

Hyran är lägre i en trängre lägenhet, men jag vill ha mer plats.

The rent is lower in a more cramped flat, but I want more space. låg → lägre and trång → trängre both umlaut.

Note that hög and grov keep their stem vowel visible but still belong here because of the -re/-st endings and the loss of the -a- — högre, not högare. The defining feature of the group is the ending, with the vowel change as a bonus signal in most members.

Watch the superlative endings

When these irregular superlatives become attributive (sitting before a noun in a definite phrase), they take the definite ending -a, just like any superlative: den största staden ("the biggest city"), den äldsta boken ("the oldest book"), det bästa förslaget ("the best suggestion"). The bare predicative form stays short — Staden är störst ("The city is biggest"). The split between the bare predicative form and the -a definite form is the same one all superlatives follow; see Using the Superlative for the full story.

Det var det bästa beslutet vi någonsin tog.

It was the best decision we ever made. bäst → bästa with the definite -a after 'det'.

Av alla husen är det röda störst.

Of all the houses, the red one is biggest. predicative störst stays bare — no -a, no 'det'.

Common Mistakes

❌ Den här bilen är storare än din.

Incorrect — *storare doesn't exist; 'stor' is an umlaut adjective.

✅ Den här bilen är större än din.

This car is bigger than yours. stor → större, with vowel change and -re.

❌ Det här är godare än det andra.

Incorrect — *godare is wrong for 'better'; the comparative of bra/god is bättre.

✅ Det här är bättre än det andra.

This is better than the other. Use the suppletive bättre, never *godare.

❌ Min farfar är gammlare än min farmor.

Incorrect — 'gammal' takes umlaut: the comparative is äldre, not *gammlare.

✅ Min farfar är äldre än min farmor.

My grandpa is older than my grandma. gammal → äldre.

❌ Den här lådan är litenare.

Incorrect — 'liten' is suppletive; its comparative is mindre.

✅ Den här lådan är mindre.

This box is smaller. liten → mindre → minst.

❌ Det är den högaste byggnaden i stan.

Incorrect — 'hög' uses -re/-st (högre/högst), so the superlative definite is högsta, not *högaste.

✅ Det är den högsta byggnaden i stan.

It's the tallest building in town. hög → högst → den högsta.

Key Takeaways

A small, closed set of common adjectives compares irregularly — but they are exactly the words you use most, so they repay memorising.
Suppletive families swap in a different root: bra/god → bättre → bäst, dålig → sämre/värre → sämst/värst, liten → mindre → minst, gammal → äldre → äldst, många → fler → flest, mycket → mer → mest.
Sämre is "worse in quality/quantity"; värre is "worse in severity/intensity" — English's single "worse" hides the split.
The umlaut group changes its stem vowel and takes -re / -st (not -are / -ast): stor → större → störst, hög → högre → högst, ung → yngre → yngst, lång → längre → längst, and so on.
The reliable signal for the umlaut group is the missing -a-: a comparative in -re rather than -are tells you the vowel has shifted. Name the pattern instead of memorising each member.

Now practice Swedish

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Swedish→