schwieriger

Schwieriger is the comparative form of the German adjective schwierig, meaning more difficult or harder. It is used to compare the difficulty of two or more things, actions, or situations. The corresponding superlative is am schwierigsten, or in attributive position schwierigste (depending on gender and definiteness).

Usage and examples:

Schwieriger can appear in predicative structures, as in Es ist schwieriger, ohne Hilfsmittel zu arbeiten, or Dieser Kurs ist schwieriger als der vorige. It can also appear in attributive position with a definite article, as in der schwierigere Weg, die schwierigere Aufgabe, or das schwierigere Problem, to indicate the path or task that is comparatively more difficult. In practice, many native speakers also use the comparative in a clause without a definite article, for example Der zweite Versuch war schwieriger.

Grammatical considerations:

As with other German adjectives, schwieriger inflects for gender, number, and case in attributive use, and remains the base for the comparative form in predicative use. When comparing more than two items, the superlative am schwierigsten is used, or in attributive form der/die/das schwierigste.

Related terms and concepts:

Schwierig is the base adjective; Schwierigkeit means difficulty as a noun. The word appears in everyday language in contexts such as education, problem-solving, work tasks, and planning, where assessments of relative difficulty are common.