Comparison of Adjectives in Danish

In Brief

Danish usually forms the comparative with -ere and the superlative with -est or -st: kold → koldere → koldest (“cold → colder → coldest”). Longer adjectives often use mere and mest, as in mere interessant and mest interessant. Several very common adjectives are irregular, including god → bedre → bedst and stor → større → størst.

Overview

Comparison lets you describe differences in degree: one room can be stort (“big”), another can be større (“bigger”), and one can be størst (“biggest”). The three forms are called the positive (the basic form), comparative (a higher or lower degree compared with something else), and superlative (the highest or lowest degree in a group).

This is an A2 topic, but it builds directly on Danish adjective agreement. You first need to recognize forms such as stor, stort, and store. Comparison then adds a second system: større does not change for gender or number, while a superlative before a definite noun normally has an -e form, as in den største by (“the biggest city”).

English speakers will recognize much of the basic logic: Danish -ere/-est often corresponds to English -er/-est, and mere/mest corresponds to “more/most.” The exact choice is not always the same in the two languages, however, so it is better to learn a Danish adjective together with its comparison forms than to translate an English pattern automatically.

How It Works

The three degrees

Degree	Main function	Danish example	English meaning
Positive	Describes without comparing	en kold dag	a cold day
Comparative	Compares two people, things, or situations	en koldere dag	a colder day
Superlative	Selects the highest degree within a group	den koldeste dag	the coldest day

The positive shown in a dictionary is normally the adjective’s basic form. It still follows ordinary agreement rules: en hurtig bil, et hurtigt tog, hurtige tog. The comparative is simpler because it is invariable—it keeps one form:

• en hurtigere bil — a faster car
• et hurtigere tog — a faster train
• hurtigere tog — faster trains
• den hurtigere bil — the faster car

Regular comparison with endings

Many short and common adjectives add an ending. The most useful beginner pattern is:

Positive	Comparative	Superlative	Meaning
kold	koldere	koldest	cold
glad	gladere	gladest	happy
smuk	smukkere	smukkest	beautiful
hurtig	hurtigere	hurtigst	fast
billig	billigere	billigst	cheap

The comparative ending is commonly -ere. The superlative may appear as -est or -st, depending on the adjective. There can also be a spelling adjustment: smuk doubles the final consonant in smukkere and smukkest. Adjectives in -ig, such as hurtig and billig, commonly have -igst in the superlative rather than -igest.

These patterns are useful, but an adjective’s sound and spelling can affect its forms. When you learn a new high-frequency adjective, check and record all three forms.

Comparison with mere and mest

Many longer adjectives, loanwords, participle-like adjectives, and adjectives for which an ending would sound awkward are compared with mere (“more”) and mest (“most”):

Positive	Comparative	Superlative	Meaning
interessant	mere interessant	mest interessant	interesting
moderne	mere moderne	mest moderne	modern
kompliceret	mere kompliceret	mest kompliceret	complicated
praktisk	mere praktisk	mest praktisk	practical

For A2, “short adjective: ending; long adjective: mere/mest” is a good first guide, not an absolute law. Some adjectives allow more than one form, and established usage matters more than syllable count. Notice that the adjective itself does not receive a comparative ending after mere or mest: say mere interessant, not mere interessantere.

Important irregular forms

The most frequent irregular comparisons should be learned as complete sets:

Positive	Comparative	Superlative	Meaning
god	bedre	bedst	good
dårlig / slem	værre	værst	bad
stor	større	størst	big
lille	mindre	mindst	small
gammel	ældre	ældst	old
ung	yngre	yngst	young
lang	længere	længst	long
mange	flere	flest	many, with countable things
meget	mere	mest	much; very

Several of these change their stem vowel, and others use a completely different stem. Do not try to build bedre by adding an ending to god; treat god–bedre–bedst as one vocabulary unit.

The neat beginner set dårlig → værre → værst gives you the everyday equivalents of “bad → worse → worst.” Danish also has the regular forms dårligere and dårligst, especially when directly judging quality or performance. At first, learn værre/værst because they are extremely common, then notice which form native speakers choose in a particular context.

Comparing with end

Use end after a comparative to introduce the second part of the comparison. It corresponds to English “than”:

• Hun er ældre end mig. — She is older than me.
• Toget er hurtigere end bussen. — The train is faster than the bus.
• Det var mere kompliceret end forventet. — It was more complicated than expected.

In everyday Danish, an object-form pronoun after end is natural: end mig, end ham, end hende, end os. If you include a complete clause, use the form required by that clause: Hun er ældre, end jeg er (“She is older than I am”). A comma before end is used when what follows is a full clause, not normally before a simple noun or pronoun comparison.

For equality, use lige så + adjective + som:

• Anna er lige så høj som Sara. — Anna is as tall as Sara.
• Denne løsning er ikke lige så dyr som den anden. — This solution is not as expensive as the other one.

Do not use end in this pattern: comparative takes end; lige så takes som.

Superlatives with and without a noun

A superlative used by itself after a verb often has the short form:

• Emil er yngst. — Emil is the youngest.
• Dette værelse er størst. — This room is the biggest.
• Hvilken løsning er bedst? — Which solution is best?

Before a definite noun, an ending-based superlative normally adds -e. Danish uses a separate definite word (den, det, or de) and the noun appears in its basic, indefinite form:

• den største by — the biggest city
• det billigste hotel — the cheapest hotel
• de yngste deltagere — the youngest participants

The same -e form appears when the adjective stands for an understood definite thing: det bedste (“the best [thing]”) and den billigste (“the cheapest [one]”). With analytical comparison, mest remains separate: den mest interessante bog (“the most interesting book”).

Possessives and genitives already make the noun phrase definite, so no den/det/de is added:

• min bedste ven — my best friend
• Danmarks største by — Denmark’s biggest city

Examples in Context

Danish	English	Note
Min lejlighed er mindre end din.	My apartment is smaller than yours.	Irregular lille → mindre
Hun er ældre end mig.	She is older than me.	Everyday pronoun after end
Hun er ældre, end jeg er.	She is older than I am.	Full clause after end
I dag er det koldere end i går.	Today it is colder than yesterday.	Regular comparative
Cyklen er billigere, men toget er hurtigere.	The bicycle is cheaper, but the train is faster.	Two ending-based comparatives
Den blå jakke er mere praktisk.	The blue jacket is more practical.	Comparison with mere
Bogen var mere interessant end filmen.	The book was more interesting than the film.	mere … end
Det er det bedste svar.	That is the best answer.	Definite superlative before a noun
København er Danmarks største by.	Copenhagen is Denmark’s biggest city.	Genitive makes the phrase definite
Hvem løber hurtigst?	Who runs fastest?	Short superlative used adverbially
Det er den mest moderne bygning i området.	It is the most modern building in the area.	Superlative with mest
Maja er lige så høj som sin søster.	Maja is as tall as her sister.	Equality uses lige så … som
Situationen er værre nu.	The situation is worse now.	Irregular comparative
Han er den yngste i familien.	He is the youngest in the family.	Definite superlative without a repeated noun
Denne opgave bliver sværere og sværere.	This task is getting harder and harder.	Repeated comparative shows gradual change

Common Mistakes

Adding both mere and -ere

• Wrong: Filmen er mere interessantere.
• Right: Filmen er mere interessant.
• Why: Danish uses either an ending or mere, not both. Interessant normally uses the mere/mest pattern.

Using som after a comparative

• Wrong: Han er yngre som mig.
• Right: Han er yngre end mig.
• Why: A higher or lower comparison takes end (“than”). Reserve som for equality: lige så ung som mig.

Making a comparative agree with the noun

• Wrong: et størret hus or størrere huse
• Right: et større hus and større huse
• Why: A comparative has one form regardless of gender, number, or definiteness. The irregular form is større, not størrere.

Forgetting -e in a definite superlative

• Wrong: den størst by
• Right: den største by
• Why: An ending-based superlative before a definite noun normally takes -e. Compare the short predicative form in Byen er størst (“The city is biggest”).

Adding an English-style article after a possessive or genitive

• Wrong: den min bedste ven; den Danmarks største by
• Right: min bedste ven; Danmarks største by
• Why: A possessive or genitive already marks the phrase as definite, so Danish does not also add den, det, or de.

Regularizing a common irregular adjective

• Wrong: godere or mest god
• Right: bedre and bedst
• Why: The common adjective god has a fully irregular comparison. Memorize god–bedre–bedst as a set.

Usage Notes

In conversation, a comparative does not always state the other item explicitly. Kan jeg få en mindre? means “Can I have a smaller one?” when the context makes the object clear. Likewise, Det er bedre nu means “It is better now,” with an understood comparison to an earlier situation.

Use mere with care because it has two related jobs. In mere interessant, it marks the comparative degree, “more interesting.” With a noun, it can express quantity: mere kaffe (“more coffee”). Flere is used for a greater number of countable items: flere bøger (“more books”). Their superlatives follow the same contrast: mest kaffe but flest bøger.

Danish often uses a short superlative after verbs and in adverb-like descriptions: Hun synger bedst (“She sings best”) and Hvem kom først? (“Who came first?”). Before a definite noun, the -e form is the important signal: den bedste sanger (“the best singer”).

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following patterns at A2, but they are common enough to recognize.

A repeated comparative describes steady change:

• Det bliver mørkere og mørkere. — It is getting darker and darker.
• Priserne bliver højere og højere. — Prices are getting higher and higher.

To connect two changing scales, Danish can use jo … desto or jo … jo (“the …, the …”):

• Jo mere du øver dig, desto lettere bliver det. — The more you practise, the easier it becomes.
• Jo før, jo bedre. — The sooner, the better.

A superlative is often followed by a phrase identifying the group: den højeste i klassen (“the tallest in the class”), den bedste af de tre (“the best of the three”), or det billigste hotel i byen (“the cheapest hotel in town”). The expression en af de + superlative in -e + plural noun is especially useful: en af de bedste restauranter (“one of the best restaurants”).

Comparison can be about a lower degree as well as a higher one. Danish uses mindre and mindst before an adjective: mindre dyr (“less expensive”) and den mindst komplicerede løsning (“the least complicated solution”). Here dyr means “expensive”; context and word order distinguish mindre dyr from a phrase about smaller animals.

Finally, not every meaning of an adjective is compared in exactly the same way. Ældre normally compares age, while gammel has other uses where wording may vary. Længere can refer to greater physical or temporal length, and it also appears in ikke længere (“no longer”). Dictionaries and real examples are valuable when a familiar comparison form develops an idiomatic meaning.

Practice Tips

1. Learn adjectives in threes. Make cards such as stor–større–størst and god–bedre–bedst, then say one short sentence with each form.
2. Sort new adjectives by pattern. Keep three small lists: endings (billig–billigere–billigst), mere/mest (interessant), and irregular forms (gammel–ældre–ældst). This is more reliable than guessing from English.
3. Compare things around you. Describe two cafés, routes, products, or rooms using end, then choose a winner with a superlative: Denne café er billigere end den anden, men den anden er hyggeligst.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Adjective Agreement — review the base, neuter, plural, and definite forms that comparison builds on.