Irregular Comparatives
Just like in English, some of the most common Croatian adjectives have completely irregular comparative forms. Instead of just adding a suffix, the entire word changes.
The two most important ones to learn are bolji (better, from dobar) and gori (worse, from loš). To express that one thing is better or worse "than" another, use the word nego.
| This laptop is better than my old one. | Ovaj laptop je bolji nego moj stari. |
| The new screen is worse than the old one. | Novi ekran je gori nego stari. |
Bigger and Smaller
Similarly, the adjectives for "big" and "small" also have irregular comparatives: veći (bigger, from velik) and manji (smaller, from mali).
| Your television is much bigger than mine. | Vaš televizor je puno veći nego moj. |
| This is a smaller model for our office. | Ovo je manji model za naš ured. |
Agreement in Gender and Case
Even though their roots are irregular, these comparatives still behave like normal adjectives. They must agree in gender and case with the noun they describe. For example, bolji becomes bolja for a feminine noun in the nominative case, and bolju when used as the direct object in the accusative case.
| Which brand is a better option for us? | Koja marka je bolja opcija za nas? |
| This brand has better quality. | Ova marka ima bolju kvalitetu. |
You will frequently use these adjectives to weigh options, evaluate products, and make choices.
| This camera is better, but the screen is worse. | Ova kamera je bolja, ali ekran je gori. |
| A bigger product does not always have better quality. | Veći proizvod nema uvijek bolju kvalitetu. |