Learn Icelandic: Flugvélin er hraðari en strætóinn. - The airplane is faster than the bus.

The basic dictionary form is hraður. To make it comparative (meaning 'faster' instead of 'fast'), we drop the regular ending -ur and add the comparative ending -ari, giving us hraðari.

Does hraðari need to match the feminine gender of flugvélin?

Comparative adjectives ending in -ari are very easy to use because they do not change for gender. Whether you are talking about a feminine airplane (flugvélin) or a masculine bus (strætóinn), the adjective stays exactly the same: hraðari.

Is en always the word for 'than' in comparisons?

Yes! When you are comparing two things directly using a comparative adjective (like faster, bigger, or better), you use en. Be careful not to confuse it with the English word 'and', which is og in Icelandic.

Why do flugvélin and strætóinn have slightly different 'the' endings at the end of the word?

This is because of their grammatical genders, which is a good thing to review! Flugvél (airplane) is a feminine noun, so it takes the feminine definite article -in. Strætó (bus) is a masculine noun, so it takes the masculine definite article -inn.