Comparative
When we compare two things in English we often use the comparative form of an adjective
. To do this we add '-er' to the end of the adjective or precede it with 'more'
For example:
| Adjective | Comparative |
|---|---|
| beautiful | more beautiful |
| pretty | prettier |
To form the comparative of most Latin adjectives we use the ending '-ior' for the masculine and feminine forms and the ending '-ius' for the neuter form.
For example:
The comparative for pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum 'beautiful' is pulchrior (masculine), pulchrior (feminine) and pulchrius (neuter) 'more beautiful'.
Apart from the nominative singular ending of '-ior' or '-ius', these forms decline like third declension nouns
.
When we compare more than two things in English we often use the superlative form of an adjective. To do this we add '-est' to the end of the adjective or precede it with 'most'.
| Adjective | Superlative |
|---|---|
| beautiful | the most beautiful |
| pretty | prettiest |
To form the superlative of most Latin adjectives we use the ending '-imus' for the masculine form,
'-ima' for the feminine form, and '-imum' for the neuter form. The formation of the central stem of the superlative depends on the type of adjective.
For example:
The superlative for pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum 'beautiful' is pulcherrimus (masculine), pulcherrima (feminine), pulcherrimum (neuter) 'the most beautiful'. These forms decline like ‘bonus, -a, -um’.
When it comes to translating Latin comparatives and superlatives, be aware that their meanings are more flexible than those in English and can be expressed in a variety of different ways.
For example:
| Adjective | Meaning |
|---|---|
| longus, longa, longum | long |
| miser, misera, miserum | wretched |
| durus, dura, durum | hard |
| Comparative | Meaning |
|---|---|
| longior, longior, longius | longer (rather long, too long, quite long) |
| miserior, miserior, miserius | more wretched (rather wretched, too wretched, quite wretched) |
| durior, durior, durius | harder (rather hard, too hard, quite hard) |
| Superlative | Meaning |
|---|---|
| longissimus, longissima, longissimum | the longest (very long) |
| miserrimus, miserrima, miserrimum | the most wretched (very wretched) |
| durissimus, durissima, durissimum | the hardest (very hard) |
Some adjectives are irregular in the way they form their comparative and superlative forms, for example:
| Adjective | Comparative | Superlative | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| bonus-a-um | melior-ior-ius | optimus-ima-imum | good, better, the best |
| magnus-a-um | maior-ior-ius | maximus-ima-imum | great, greater, the greatest |
| malus-a-um | peior-ior-ius | pessimus-ima-imum | bad, worse, the worst |
| parvus-a-um | minor-us | minimus-ima-imum | small, smaller, the smallest |
| multus-a-um | plus |
plurimus-ima-imum | much, more, the most |
The comparative forms of most adjectives that end in a vowel plus ‘-us’, such as ‘idoneus, a, -um’ ‘suitable’, are made by adding the word ‘magis’ to the adjective in question to form the comparative and the word ‘maxime’ to form the superlative.
For example:
| Adjective | Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|---|
| idoneus suitable | magis idoneus more suitable | maxime idoneus most suitable |
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