Comparison of Adjectives in Romanian

In Brief

Romanian normally places mai before an adjective to mean “more” or English -er: mare “big” becomes mai mare “bigger.” The relative superlative uses an agreeing form of cel plus mai: cel mai mare, cea mai mare, cei mai mari, cele mai mari (“the biggest”). Use decât for “than” and la fel de ... ca for “as ... as.”

Overview

Comparison lets you describe how two or more people, things, or situations differ. An adjective (a word that describes a person or thing) can express a greater quality, a smaller quality, equality, or the highest degree: rapid “fast,” mai rapid “faster,” mai puțin rapid “less fast,” and cel mai rapid “the fastest.” These forms are useful whenever you compare prices, journeys, homes, food, work, or people.

This is an A2 topic because the basic pattern is short and regular. Unlike English, Romanian does not choose between an -er/-est ending and more/most. It generally uses separate words before the adjective: mai, mai puțin, and cel mai. Even an English form such as better is built transparently in Romanian: bun → mai bun → cel mai bun.

The important foundation is adjective agreement. Agreement means that the adjective changes to match the gender and number of the noun it describes. The comparison marker mai never changes, but the adjective can: un drum mai lung “a longer road,” o stradă mai lungă “a longer street,” drumuri mai lungi “longer roads,” străzi mai lungi “longer streets.”

How It Works

The four basic degrees

Traditional Romanian grammar calls these forms grade de comparație (“degrees of comparison”). Start with the following practical patterns.

Meaning	Romanian pattern	Example	English
plain quality	adjective	important	important
greater degree	mai + adjective	mai important	more important
smaller degree	mai puțin + adjective	mai puțin important	less important
equal degree	la fel de + adjective	la fel de important	just as important
highest degree in a group	cel/cea/cei/cele mai + adjective	cea mai importantă	the most important

The unmarked form, such as înalt “tall,” is called the positive degree: it states a quality without comparing it. The comparative compares two terms. The relative superlative identifies the highest or lowest member of a group.

Greater and smaller comparisons

Put mai immediately before the adjective for a greater degree:

• Ana este mai înaltă. — “Ana is taller.”
• Apartamentul acesta este mai luminos. — “This apartment is brighter.”
• Exercițiile sunt mai ușoare. — “The exercises are easier.”

For a smaller degree, use mai puțin:

• Filmul este mai puțin interesant. — “The film is less interesting.”
• Camera este mai puțin zgomotoasă. — “The room is less noisy.”

English speakers should not add an ending to the Romanian adjective. Both short and long adjectives use mai: mai mic “smaller,” mai cald “warmer,” mai confortabil “more comfortable.”

Adding the second term: decât

When you state what something is compared with, the normal A2 pattern is:

first term + verb + mai + adjective + decât + second term

• Trenul este mai rapid decât autobuzul. — “The train is faster than the bus.”
• Cartea este mai puțin lungă decât filmul. — “The book is less long than the film.”

Decât is the safest general equivalent of comparative “than.” Before a personal pronoun, use the appropriate stressed pronoun form: decât mine “than me,” decât tine “than you,” decât el/ea “than him/her,” decât noi “than us.”

In affirmative standard Romanian, do not copy the separate restrictive use of decât, meaning “only,” into this rule. In Maria este mai înaltă decât Ana, decât is licensed by the comparative mai and simply means “than.”

Equality: la fel de ... ca

To say that two terms have the same degree of a quality, use:

la fel de + adjective + ca + second term

• Radu este la fel de calm ca Mihai. — “Radu is as calm as Mihai.”
• Casa este la fel de veche ca biserica. — “The house is as old as the church.”

Here de belongs after la fel, while ca introduces the second term. Another standard pattern is tot atât de ... ca: Este tot atât de util ca primul “It is just as useful as the first one.” At A2, la fel de ... ca is the easiest pattern to make active.

For inequality, nu la fel de ... ca often sounds natural:

• Al doilea hotel nu este la fel de scump ca primul. — “The second hotel is not as expensive as the first.”

The relative superlative: cel mai and cel mai puțin

To select one person or thing from a set, use cel mai (“the most”) or cel mai puțin (“the least”). The word cel changes to agree with the noun.

Noun matched	Superlative marker	Example	English
masculine singular	cel mai	băiatul cel mai înalt	the tallest boy
feminine singular	cea mai	fata cea mai înaltă	the tallest girl
masculine plural	cei mai	băieții cei mai înalți	the tallest boys
feminine plural	cele mai	fetele cele mai înalte	the tallest girls

Romanian neuter nouns (nouns that behave like masculine in the singular and feminine in the plural) follow the same visible pattern: hotelul cel mai ieftin “the cheapest hotel,” but hotelurile cele mai ieftine “the cheapest hotels.”

The noun may be understood rather than repeated:

• Care rochie este cea mai elegantă? — “Which dress is the most elegant?”
• Cea albastră este cea mai elegantă. — “The blue one is the most elegant.”

With a linking verb such as a fi “to be,” the same agreeing marker appears: Ioana este cea mai atentă “Ioana is the most attentive.” To name the comparison group, use dintre with a set of members and commonly din with a place or larger setting:

• El este cel mai tânăr dintre frați. — “He is the youngest of the siblings.”
• Ea este cea mai bună din clasă. — “She is the best in the class.”

The least degree follows exactly the same agreement pattern: cel mai puțin scump, cea mai puțin scumpă, cele mai puțin scumpe.

Agreement remains active

Comparison particles do not replace the adjective’s ordinary forms. Compare frumos:

Noun	Plain adjective	Comparative	Relative superlative
un parc (masculine singular)	frumos	mai frumos	cel mai frumos
o grădină (feminine singular)	frumoasă	mai frumoasă	cea mai frumoasă
doi copii (masculine plural)	frumoși	mai frumoși	cei mai frumoși
două case (feminine plural)	frumoase	mai frumoase	cele mai frumoase

Some adjectives have fewer distinct forms, but the principle does not change. For example, mare is singular for both masculine and feminine, while its plurals are mari: un oraș mai mare, o casă mai mare, orașe mai mari, case mai mari.

Examples in Context

Romanian	English	Note
Camera aceasta este mai mare.	This room is bigger.	Greater degree; no second term stated
Trenul este mai rapid decât autobuzul.	The train is faster than the bus.	decât introduces the comparison
Astăzi vremea este mai frumoasă decât ieri.	The weather is nicer today than yesterday.	Comparison with a time expression
Varianta simplă este mai puțin costisitoare.	The simple option is less expensive.	Smaller degree
Lecția aceasta este la fel de utilă ca prima.	This lesson is just as useful as the first.	Equality with la fel de ... ca
Fratele meu este mai înalt decât mine.	My brother is taller than me.	Stressed pronoun after decât
Acesta este cel mai bun restaurant din cartier.	This is the best restaurant in the neighborhood.	Masculine singular superlative
Maria este cea mai atentă dintre studente.	Maria is the most attentive of the female students.	Feminine singular; group with dintre
Ei sunt cei mai tineri membri ai echipei.	They are the youngest members of the team.	Masculine plural agreement
Acestea sunt cele mai liniștite camere.	These are the quietest rooms.	Feminine plural agreement
Hotelurile de aici sunt cele mai puțin scumpe.	The hotels here are the least expensive.	Neuter plural uses the feminine plural pattern
Noul traseu este mult mai scurt.	The new route is much shorter.	mult strengthens the comparison
Situația devine din ce în ce mai dificilă.	The situation is becoming more and more difficult.	Gradual change
Al doilea exercițiu nu este la fel de greu ca primul.	The second exercise is not as difficult as the first.	Unequal degree expressed through negated equality

Common Mistakes

Using an English-style comparative ending

• Wrong: un tren rapid-er
• Right: un tren mai rapid
• Why: Romanian forms the ordinary comparative analytically—that is, with a separate word. It does not add English -er or -est endings.

Forgetting adjective agreement

• Wrong: o casă mai frumos
• Right: o casă mai frumoasă
• Why: Mai does not change, but frumoasă must agree with the feminine singular noun casă.

Keeping cel unchanged

• Wrong: fata cel mai înaltă
• Right: fata cea mai înaltă
• Why: The superlative marker agrees with the noun: cel, cea, cei, or cele. The adjective agrees too.

Mixing the connectors for comparison and equality

• Wrong: Este mai mare ca mine in careful beginner usage; Este la fel de mare decât mine.
• Right: Este mai mare decât mine. / Este la fel de mare ca mine.
• Why: Learn the dependable standard pairings mai ... decât and la fel de ... ca. You may hear ca after a comparative in speech, but decât is the safest neutral choice for “than.”

Omitting de after la fel

• Wrong: la fel bun ca acesta
• Right: la fel de bun ca acesta
• Why: Before an adjective, the equality expression is the complete unit la fel de.

Translating better as a special adjective

• Wrong: searching for a separate Romanian adjective corresponding to English better
• Right: bun → mai bun → cel mai bun
• Why: English has good–better–best, but Romanian keeps bun and adds the regular comparison words. The related adverb is bine → mai bine (“well” → “better”), as in Acum lucrează mai bine.

Usage Notes

Romanian often omits the second term when context makes it obvious. At a shop, Aveți unul mai ieftin? means “Do you have a cheaper one?” The listener does not need to hear “than this one.” Likewise, Acum e mai bine means “It is better now,” with the earlier situation understood.

The form ca is widespread after comparatives in informal speech, as in mai mare ca mine. Usage and style recommendations vary, and certain structures use ca naturally to avoid awkward repetition. For learners, mai ... decât remains the clear, broadly accepted default when one term is simply compared with another. Reserve ca first of all for equality: la fel de mare ca mine.

Word order can vary when an adjective comes before its noun, especially in literary or emphatic style. The neutral learner-friendly order is usually noun plus adjective: cea mai importantă problemă is also common and natural, while problema cea mai importantă makes the noun phrase easy to analyze. In either order, agreement remains visible.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master every form below at A2, but these patterns are frequent enough to recognize.

Strengthening or softening a comparison

Words can show the size of the difference:

• mult mai — much more: mult mai ușor “much easier”
• cu mult mai — by far/much more: cu mult mai eficient “much more efficient”
• puțin mai — a little more: puțin mai cald “a little warmer”
• și mai — even more: și mai interesant “even more interesting”

Do not confuse puțin mai scump (“a little more expensive”) with mai puțin scump (“less expensive”). Position changes the meaning.

An increasing or continuing tendency

Use din ce în ce mai for “more and more”:

• Orașul devine din ce în ce mai aglomerat. — “The city is becoming more and more crowded.”

Use tot mai for a continuing increase, often translated as “increasingly”:

• Zilele sunt tot mai scurte. — “The days are getting shorter and shorter.”

The absolute superlative

A relative superlative selects someone or something from a group: cel mai rapid tren “the fastest train.” An absolute superlative simply intensifies the quality without making that selection. Romanian commonly uses foarte “very,” as well as stronger words such as extrem de “extremely” or deosebit de “particularly”:

• un tren foarte rapid — “a very fast train”
• o problemă extrem de dificilă — “an extremely difficult problem”

Therefore, foarte bun means “very good,” not automatically “the best.” The phrase cel mai bun makes the relative ranking explicit.

Adjectives that resist literal comparison

In careful logic, qualities such as unic “unique,” perfect “perfect,” and complet “complete” do not naturally come in degrees. Nevertheless, forms such as mai complet can be meaningful when speakers compare practical completeness, and intensified forms occur for rhetorical effect. Treat them as context-sensitive rather than assuming every adjective must be compared mechanically.

Practice Tips

1. Build four-part sets. Choose a common adjective and say its plain, greater, smaller, and highest forms: clar, mai clar, mai puțin clar, cel mai clar. Then repeat with a feminine noun so agreement becomes automatic.
2. Compare real choices. Compare two routes, products, rooms, or films using one sentence with decât and one with la fel de ... ca. Real contrasts are easier to remember than isolated phrases.
3. Check both agreement points. In every superlative, underline the noun, circle cel/cea/cei/cele, and check the adjective ending: fetele cele mai înalte. This catches the two most common errors at once.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Basic Adjective Agreement — review how Romanian adjectives match a noun’s gender and number before adding comparison markers.