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### Irregular Comparatives and Superlatives

Just like in English (where "good" becomes "better" and "best"), a few of the most common German adjectives have irregular forms. You will use these constantly, so they are worth memorizing!

| Adjective | Comparative | Superlative | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **gut** | **besser** | **am besten** | good / better / best |
| **viel** | **mehr** | **am meisten** | a lot / more / most |
| **hoch** | **höher** | **am höchsten** | high / higher / highest |
| **nah** | **näher** | **am nächsten** | close / closer / closest |

Pay special attention to the spelling changes for **hoch** and **nah**:
- **hoch** drops its **c** in the comparative (**höher**).
- **nah** adds a **c** in the superlative (**am nächsten**).

### Comparing Distances

Here is how **nah** and its forms look in action when navigating around town:

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{{item:869889}}

### Destinations and Rankings

When talking about a travel destination (**das Reiseziel**), you can use the forms of **gut** to rank what you like:

{{item:869893}}

### Talking About Amounts

Use the forms of **viel** to compare quantities, such as the number of tourists, or to talk about how much you do something on vacation:

{{item:869895}}

{{item:869896}}

### Sightseeing and Favorites

To explore a new place, you might visit or sightsee (**besichtigen**) a tourist attraction (**die Sehenswürdigkeit**).

{{item:869900}}

If you want to express what activity you like doing *the most*, use the special superlative **am liebsten**.

{{item:869902}}

### Heights and Views

When visiting a famous castle (**die Burg**) or checking out the view (**der Ausblick**), you will often need to use **hoch**:

{{item:869907}}

{{item:869910}}

Irregular comparatives and superlatives

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (der, die, das)

Indefinite articles (ein, eine)

Regular verbs and statement word order (ich -e, er -t)

The second person (du -st, Sie -en)

Yes/No questions

The verb 'to have' (habe, hast, hat)

Plural pronouns and regular verbs (wir, ihr, sie)

Plural 'to be' and 'to have' (sind, haben)

Plural nouns and the plural article (die)

Sentence negation (nicht)

Noun negation (kein, keine)

Question words (wer, was, wo, wie)

Numbers 0 to 12 (null, eins, zwei)

The accusative case (den, die, das)

Indefinite accusative articles (einen, keinen)

Direct object pronouns (mich, dich, ihn)

There is / there are (es gibt)

Vowel changes: e to i/ie (er spricht, sie liest)

Vowel changes: a to ä (er fährt)

Weather and conditions (es regnet)

First- and second-person possessives in the nominative (mein, dein, Ihr)

First- and second-person possessives in the accusative (meinen, deinen, Ihren)

Third-person and plural possessives (sein, ihr, unser, euer)

Possession with names (Annas Auto)

Demonstrative pronouns (dieser, diese, dieses)

Expressing preference (gern, lieber)

Asking about direction and origin (woher, wohin)

Expressing ability (können)

Polite requests (möchten)

Expressing intention (wollen)

Modal verbs of obligation and permission (müssen, dürfen)

Separable prefix verbs

Adverbs of frequency (immer, oft, manchmal, nie)

The Dative case and definite articles (dem, der, den)

Dative indefinite and negative articles (einem, einer, keinem)

Dative personal pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr...)

Dative verbs (helfen, danken, gefallen, schmecken)

Dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach...)

Accusative prepositions (für, ohne, gegen)

Two-way prepositions for location (in, an, auf...)

Informal singular imperative (mach, komm)

Plural and formal imperative (macht, machen Sie)

Coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, denn)

Simple past of sein and haben (war, hatte)

The perfect tense: regular verbs (gemacht, gespielt)

Past tense: irregular verbs (ge-...-en)

The perfect tense: mixed verbs (gebracht, gekannt)

The perfect tense with sein (ist gegangen)

The perfect tense: separable verbs (eingekauft)

The perfect tense: inseparable and -ieren verbs (besucht, studiert)

Informal singular commands (mach, lern)

Numbers 13 to 20 (dreizehn to zwanzig)

Counting by tens to 100 (dreißig, vierzig)

Telling time (Uhr, halb, Viertel, vor, nach)

Numbers 21 to 99 (einundzwanzig, zweiunddreißig)

Greetings and farewells

Thank you, sorry and good wishes

Everyday replies

Numbers 100 to 1,000,000 (hundert, tausend...)

Becoming and getting (werden)

The impersonal pronoun (man)

Indefinite pronouns (jemand, niemand...)

Time sequence prepositions (vor, nach, bei)

Time span prepositions (von... bis, seit, für)

Adverbs of sequence (zuerst, dann, danach)

Two-way prepositions for direction (in, auf, an...)

Directional adverbs (hin, her)

Placement verbs (setzen, stellen, legen)

Months of the year (Januar, Februar)

The four seasons (Frühling, Sommer)

Time prepositions and indefinite pronouns (an, in, um)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 19th (am ersten)

Ordinals 20th and beyond (-ste, -sten)

Placement vs. location verbs (stellen vs. stehen)

Accusative reflexive pronouns (mich, dich, sich)

Accusative reflexive verbs (sich freuen)

Dative reflexive pronouns (mir, dir, sich)

Dative reflexive verbs (sich etwas merken)

Ordinal numbers 11th to 19th (-te)

Temporal prepositions (an, in, um)

Double objects with nouns

Double objects with pronouns

The modal verb for advice (sollen)

Simple past of modal verbs (musste, wollte...)

Simple past of common irregulars (wurde, wusste, es gab)

Adverbial connectors of consequence (deshalb, darum...)

Subordinate clauses for statements (dass)

Question	Answer
near, close	nah
Our hotel is very close.	Unser Hotel ist sehr nah.
The train station is close, but the stop is closer.	Der Bahnhof ist nah, aber die Haltestelle ist näher.
The museum is close, but the castle is closest.	Das Museum ist nah, aber das Schloss ist am nächsten.
popular	beliebt
the travel destination	das Reiseziel
Spain is a popular travel destination.	Spanien ist ein beliebtes Reiseziel.
I like this travel destination best.	Dieses Reiseziel gefällt mir am besten.
the tourist	der Tourist
Italy has many tourists, but France has more.	Italien hat viele Touristen, aber Frankreich hat mehr.
What do you do the most on vacation?	Was machst du im Urlaub am meisten?
the tourist attraction, sight	die Sehenswürdigkeit
The tourists are photographing the tourist attraction.	Die Touristen fotografieren die Sehenswürdigkeit.
to visit (sights), sightsee	besichtigen
Would you like to visit a tourist attraction today?	Möchtest du heute eine Sehenswürdigkeit besichtigen?
the place, location	der Ort
We like visiting historical places best.	Wir besichtigen am liebsten historische Orte.
famous	berühmt
the castle, fortress	die Burg
Are we going into a famous castle today?	Gehen wir heute in eine berühmte Burg?
This castle is famous and very high.	Diese Burg ist berühmt und sehr hoch.
The castle is high, but the mountain is highest.	Die Burg ist hoch, aber der Berg ist am höchsten.
the view (from a place)	der Ausblick
The view is best here.	Der Ausblick ist hier am besten.
The tower is higher and the view is even more beautiful.	Der Turm ist höher und der Ausblick ist noch schöner.
This place is very popular, but the beach is closer.	Dieser Ort ist sehr beliebt, aber der Strand ist näher.
best (of all); it would be best to	am besten
It would be best if you went to the doctor.	Am besten gehst du zum Arzt.
This solution is the best.	Diese Lösung ist am besten.
far too, much too	viel zu
That is far too expensive.	Das ist viel zu teuer.
The coffee is far too hot.	Der Kaffee ist viel zu heiß.
little, few	wenig
I have little time.	Ich habe wenig Zeit.
He eats very little.	Er isst sehr wenig.

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