Arabic Comparatives: Bigger, Smaller, Better in Levantine

One pattern for most adjectives

Most Arabic adjectives are built on a root of three consonants. كبير (big) comes from ك ب ر, and صغير (small) from ص غ ر. To make the comparative, you put those three consonants into the shape أَ _ _ َ _, often written as the pattern أفعل. So كبير becomes أكبر (akbar, bigger) and صغير becomes أصغر (asghar, smaller).

Notice that the comparative does not change for masculine, feminine or plural. You say البيت أكبر (the house is bigger) and الشقة أكبر (the flat is bigger) with exactly the same word. That is one less thing to worry about.

Two of the words in the table deserve a closer look. أكبر and أصغر are used for age as well as size, so they also mean "older" and "younger" when you talk about people. And أحسن (better) does not come from منيح at all. It is a separate word, from the same root as the adjective حسن (good, fine), and it is one of the most useful words in the language. You will hear أحسن constantly, including on its own as a reply: "better", "that's better", or "even better".

Saying "than" with من

To say what you are comparing with, add من (min, "than") after the comparative. This is the same word that means "from", so it is already familiar.

When you compare yourself or someone else, من joins with the possessive-style endings: مني (than me), منك (than you), منه (than him) and منها (than her). If the thing you are comparing with is obvious, you can leave out the من phrase altogether. If a friend asks which flat you prefer, you can simply answer: الجديد أقرب, "the new one is closer".

• بيتي الجديد أكبر من بيتي القديم.beiti ij-jdeed akbar min beiti il-2adeem.My new house is bigger than my old house.
• الشغل هالفترة أكتر من الأسبوع الماضي.ish-shughl hal-fatra aktar min il-usboo3 il-maadi.There's more work these days than last week.
• القهوة هون أرخص من المول.il-2ahwe hoon ar5as min il-mool.The coffee here is cheaper than at the mall.
• أخوي أصغر مني.a5uy asghar minni.My brother is younger than me.
• هاد المطعم أحسن من هداك.haad il-mat3am a7san min hadaak.This restaurant is better than that one.

Adjectives that end in a vowel

When an adjective ends in a vowel sound, such as غالي (expensive), زاكي (tasty) or حلو (sweet, nice), the comparative ends in ى, pronounced as a long a. So غالي becomes أغلى (aghla), زاكي becomes أزكى (azka) and حلو becomes أحلى (a7la). The workbook also uses أهدى (ahda, quieter), from the word for calm.

These comparatives are especially useful when you are shopping or choosing where to eat. The workbook's unit on comparing cities uses exactly this kind of language: which city is cheaper, where the food is tastier, which streets are quieter. Try a sentence such as الأكل هون أزكى بس أغلى, "the food here is tastier but more expensive".

Adjectives with a doubled letter

If the last two consonants of the root are the same, they join together into a doubled letter. قليل gives أقل (a2all), and حار (hot) gives أحر (a7arr). جديد (new) is an exception in everyday speech: it is usually said in full as أجدد (ajdad, newer). Its opposite, قديم (old), is completely regular: أقدم (a2dam, older).

Tip: كبير and صغير are also used for age. أكبر مني means "older than me" when talking about a person, and أكبر من when talking about a thing means "bigger than".

Long adjectives: use أكتر

Not every adjective fits the أفعل pattern. Longer words, colours and words that come from verbs usually stay as they are, followed by أكتر ("more"). For example مريح (comfortable) becomes مريح أكتر, "more comfortable". The workbook's example sentence uses this: هاد البيت مريح أكتر, "this house is more comfortable". If you are ever unsure, adjective plus أكتر is a safe fallback that people will understand.

You can also use أكتر and أقل with verbs, just like "more" and "less" in English: بحب القهوة أكتر من الشاي means "I like coffee more than tea".

To say that two things are equal, or that one is "not as" something as another, Levantine uses متل (mitil, like). مش بعيد متل قبل means "it isn't as far as before". This is a natural way to soften a comparison: instead of saying something is worse, you can say it is not as good.

The biggest, the cheapest: superlatives

To say "the most", put الـ (the) in front of the comparative: الأرخص (il-ar5as, the cheapest), الأغلى (il-aghla, the most expensive). Another very common way is to put the comparative straight before a noun without الـ: أكبر بيت means "the biggest house", and أحسن مطعم means "the best restaurant".

Both forms are completely natural, and you will hear them all the time when people give recommendations. To ask for a tip yourself, try وين أحسن مطعم هون؟ (ween a7san mat3am hoon?), "where's the best restaurant here?". Expect a strong opinion in reply: everyone in Amman has a favourite falafel place.

• هاد الأرخصhaad il-ar5asThis one is the cheapest
• أحسن مطعم بعمّانa7san mat3am b-3ammaanthe best restaurant in Amman
• مش بعيد متل قبلmish ba3eed mitil 2ablnot as far as before

Practise

Try comparing two cities you know: the prices, the food, the weather. Then check these quick questions.