Comparison of Adjectives:
Regular Comparative and Superlative Forms

LatinPraxis Index

    What do comparisons of adjectives (positive / comparative / superlative degrees) look like in English?

    What is the first step to take to form the regular comparative or superlative degrees of an adjective in Latin?

    Then what do you do to go from that first step to the comparative...

      ...or from that first step to the superlative?

    Comparative forms are like third-declensions adjectives, but how are they different from regular third-declension adjectives?

    Show me some examples of the regular comparison of Latin adjectives.

Adjectives can have degrees of comparison:

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
red	redder	reddest
happy	happier	happiest
ingenious	more ingenious	most ingenious
good	better	best

In English, some comparisons are regular, like the ones that add -(i)er and -(i)est, or more and most. And some are irregular, like good-better-best. So too in Latin: there are some adjectives that show predictable changes and some that do not.

The general rules for the regular Latin comparison of adjectives are as follows:

1. First, find the BASE on which all the comparative and superlative forms are made. You do this by removing any genitive singular ending of the adjective.

An adjective like beâtus, a, um gives the genitive forms beâtî (masculine), beâtae (feminine), beâtî (neuter). Remove the genitive endings -î, -âe, or -î and you have as a base:

BEÂT-

An adjective like fidêlis, e gives the genitive forms fidêlis (in all genders) Remove the genitive -is and you have as a base:

FIDÊL-

2. Use the BASE to form BOTH the comparative (2a) AND the superlative (2b) degrees of the adjective.

BASE + -IOR/-IUS = COMPARATIVE FORM

BASE + -ISSIMUS = SUPERLATIVE FORM

2a. After the first step, to get the COMPARATIVE forms, add to the BASE the endings

-IOR (m. /f., genitive -iôris)

-IUS (neuter, genitive -iôris)

CLUE: The -IOR- in a position right before an adjective's case-ending is a good clue to use to recognize comparatives. But remember that -IUS occurs twice: in the neuter nominative and accusative singular forms.

REMEMBER:

The comparative forms are declined like third-declension adjectives, but with

1. -e (not -î) in the ablative singulars:

ab omnî puellâ, by every girl

â beâtiôre puellâ, by a happier girl

NOTE: There are occasional alternate forms, e.g., â fortiôri, â priôri.

2. -a (not -ia) in the neuter nominative and accusative plurals:

in omnia flûmina, into all rivers

in pûriôra flûmina, into purer rivers

3. -um (not -ium) in the genitive plurals:

ferôcium animâlium, of the fierce animals

ferôciôrum animâlium, of the fiercer animals

2b. After the first step, to get the SUPERLATIVE forms, add to the BASE the endings

-ISSIMUS, -A, -UM

and decline the word as you would bonus, a, um.

CLUE: The -ISSIM- in a position right before an adjective's case-ending is a good clue to use to recognize superlatives.

NOTE THESE EXCEPTIONS: See below for words that have the ending -errimus or -illimus instead of -issimus.

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
longus -a -um	longior, longius	longissimus -a -um
brevis, breve	brevior, brevius	brevissimus -a -um
stultus -a -um	stultior, stultius	stultissimus -a -um
iûcundus -a -um	iûcundior, iûcundius	iûcundissimus -a -um
fortis, forte	fortior, fortius	fortissimus -a -um
caecus -a -um	caecior, caecius	caecissimus -a -um
dulcis, dulce	dulcior, dulcius	dulcissimus -a -um
gravis, grave	gravior, gravius	gravissimus -a -um
hûmânus -a -um	hûmânior, hûmânius	hûmânissimus -a -um
potêns	potentior, potentius	potentissimus -a -um
antîquus -a -um	antîquior, antîquius	antîquissimus -a -um

Remember: the genitive singulars for the regular comparatives in all genders will simply look like the first comparative form with -iôris instead of -ior:

longiôris (= longior + -is), breviôris,
stultiôris, iûcundiôris, fortiôris, caeciôris, dulciôris, etc.

Also note two exceptions to the -issimus ending:

1. No matter what declension, all adjectives ending in -er (e.g., pulcher, celer, miser, âcer) will have a superlative in -errimus:

pulcherrimus, celerrimus, miserrimus, âcerrimus.

2. Only a very few words, ending in -ilis, have superlatives is -limus added to the base of the positive form ( facilis, difficilis, gracilis, similis, dissimilis, humilis):

facillimus, difficillimus, gracillimus, simillimus, dissimillimus, humillimus

Go to the summary of points for all adjectival comparisons.

Latin Teaching Materials at Saint Louis University: © Claude Pavur 1997 - 2009.  This material is being made freely available for non-commercial educational use.