komparation

Komparation, or degree of comparison, is a grammatical feature found in many languages for expressing different levels of a property. It primarily concerns adjectives and, in many languages, adverbs. The standard model includes three degrees: the positive (the base form), the comparative (a higher degree), and the superlative (the highest degree).

Formation methods vary. Some languages form comparatives synthetically by suffixing the base form, and the superlative with another suffix or a fixed pattern. Others use analytic forms with separate words such as more and most. Many languages also mix both strategies and have irregular patterns. For example, English uses the short-adjective form with -er/-est for quick adjectives (big, bigger, biggest) and relies on irregular or periphrastic forms for others (good, better, best; more beautiful, most beautiful). German combines suffixes and word order (groß, größer, am größten; gut, besser, am besten). Swedish presents stor, större, störst, with related adjectives following similar patterns.

Usage guidelines: the comparative compares two entities, typically with than (X is bigger than Y). The superlative compares within a group, often with a definite determiner or in a context that defines the set (X is the biggest in the class). For longer adjectives, analytic forms with more/most or periphrastic constructions are common in many languages. Adverbs often mirror the adjective’s degrees, though some languages modify adverbs differently.

Restrictions and variation: some adjectives are non-gradable or near-absolute and resist straightforward comparison; irregular forms require memorization. The precise rules for Komparation vary across languages, reflecting historical and typological differences.