The Comparative Pattern (أفعل)
To compare two things and say that one is "bigger," "faster," or "heavier," Arabic applies a specific pattern to descriptive adjectives: أفعل. You create the comparative by taking the root letters of a standard adjective and fitting them into this pattern.
| Adjective | Comparative | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| سريع | أسرع | Faster |
| كبير | أكبر | Bigger |
| طويل | أطول | Longer / Taller |
Using من (Than)
To say "than" in a comparison, use the preposition من. The basic sentence structure is: [Noun 1] + [Comparative] + من + [Noun 2].
There is one crucial rule to remember: When used with من, the comparative adjective never changes for gender or number. Even if you are comparing feminine or plural nouns, the comparative adjective remains firmly in its base form (أفعل).
| The horse is faster than the cow. | الحصان أسرع من البقرة.al-hisânu asra'u mina al-baqarati |
Notice in the following example that "bicycle" (دراجة) is feminine and takes a feminine adjective (زرقاء), but the comparative "slower" (أبطأ) stays in the fixed أفعل form.
| The blue bicycle is slower than the car. | الدراجة الزرقاء أبطأ من السيارة.ad-darrâjatu az-zarqâ'u abta'u mina as-sayyârati |
| The yellow truck is bigger than the red car. | الشاحنة الصفراء أكبر من السيارة الحمراء.ash-shâhinatu as-safrâ'u akbaru mina as-sayyârati al-hamrâ'i |
| The elephant is bigger than the lion. | الفيل أكبر من الأسد.al-fîlu akbaru mina al-asadi. |
Comparatives Without "Than"
You do not always need to include من and the second noun if the comparison is already obvious from the context.
| The cat is smaller than the dog, but the dog is heavier. | القط أصغر من الكلب، لكن الكلب أثقل.al-qittu asgharu min al-kalbi, lakinna al-kalba athqalu. |
| The dog is behind the tree, and it is bigger than the cat. | الكلب وراء الشجرة، وهو أكبر من القط.al-kalbu warâ'a ash-shajarati, wa huwa akbaru mina al-qitti. |
