Comparing in German: -er, als, and am -sten
CEFR A2 · part 2
edumaterial's parts within the level. The European framework does not subdivide them.
weil and dass: the clause where the verb goes to the endJoining two clauses with weil, dass, wenn or ob and sending the conjugated verb to the…in, auf, an…: the nine that take two cases depending on wo or wohinChoosing the case with a single question: if the sentence answers wohin —where to, there…The adjective in front of the noun: when -e and when -enGiving the adjective an ending when it sits in front of the noun, with the short rule…war, hatte, konnte: the past tense people do say out loudUsing in the past the eight verbs a German never puts into the Perfekt when speaking…The imperative and German's three «you»: du, ihr, SieGiving an instruction to the three people German lets you address, and knowing which is…mich or mir, dich or dir: pronouns in the accusative and dativeReplacing anything already mentioned with a pronoun, in both cases, and placing it…The rule, in three lines
Comparing in German comes in three pieces and none of them is a separate word in front. The comparative sticks -er onto the adjective, however long it is: schnell gives schneller, interessant gives interessanter. The second term takes als: schneller ALS ich. And the superlative is am + adjective + -sten: am schnellsten. Three irregulars break the pattern and they are among the commonest: gut/besser/am besten, viel/mehr/am meisten, gern/lieber/am liebsten.
The usual slip. Translating «more» as mehr and putting it in front: mehr interessant. German has no two-word comparative, not even with long adjectives: it is always the attached -er. And the second mistake is using wie instead of als: wie says two things are THE SAME, so groß wie ich, and als says one is more than the other.
Why it catches you out. English is the closest by far: bigger/biggest is exactly größer/am größten, and even the irregulars line up —good/better/best against gut/besser/am besten—. Two things do not carry over. English switches to «more» for long adjectives and German never does. And English says «than», which sounds like dann, not als.