Comparative

Lesson opening

This is the first part of the lesson. The rest, the exercises and the reviews are in the app.

The comparative: lepši, jači, bolji

Bigger, higher, better: you can’t get through a single day without comparing. In Serbian the comparative is called komparativ, and it is built the way English builds newer or cheaper: a suffix is glued onto the adjective, and nov (new) becomes noviji (newer), one word. Serbian does this with long adjectives too, where English switches to two words (more important, more expensive): važniji is “more important”, skuplji is “more expensive”, a single word each.

This lesson covers the three ways of forming the komparativ, a handful of irregular forms that break in the very places where English breaks too (good, better), the prefix naj- for the superlative, and two ways of saying “than”: od with the genitive, and nego.

Three comparative suffixes

The first and most important is -iji. It is the default: if you are not sure how to form the comparative of an unfamiliar adjective, add -iji and you will usually be right. It goes straight onto the stem:

Look at pametan → pametniji and hrabar → hrabriji: the “fleeting” a of the stem drops out, just as it does in the other forms (pametan, but pametna, pametnog; see the lesson “Fleeting a”). The suffix simply sits on the shortened stem.

The second suffix is -ji. On its own it is almost invisible, because its j (the y sound of yes) immediately fuses with the last consonant of the stem and changes it. This fusion is called iotation (after the Greek letter iota; a later lesson, “Iotation”, covers it in full). Learn to recognise the results:

The same thing happens in brz → brži (faster), dug → duži (longer), visok → viši (taller, higher), blizak → bliži (closer), sladak → slađi (sweeter), dubok → dublji (deeper), tup → tuplji (blunter), živ → življi (livelier). The longer ones first drop their -ok or -ak: visok keeps only vis-, sladak only slad-. That is why slađi has no t, unlike slatka: here d meets j, not k. After p, b and v the j comes out as lj: skuplji, dublji, življi. The pair d + j → đ (mlad → mlađi, sladak → slađi) gives you the letter đ, said like the d of British duty. It is written as one letter, not two.

The third and narrowest suffix is -ši. Only a few adjectives take it, but they are extremely common:

Irregular forms: where English breaks too

Four of the most frequent adjectives do not form their comparative with a suffix at all but from a different root, and English has the very same kind: good → better, bad → worse.

Cheat sheet

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The comparative: lepši, jači, bolji

The comparative (komparativ) is one word with a suffix, even where English says more: nov → noviji. Three suffixes plus four irregular forms; the superlative (superlativ) is the prefix naj-.

Suffix 1: the default -iji

The fleeting a drops, as in pametna, pametnog. Unknown word? Add -iji: that covers most adjectives.

Suffix 2: -ji, the consonant changes

-ok, -ak drop: visok → viši, sladak → slađi (no t as in slatka). d + j gives one letter, đ.

Suffix 3: narrow -ši

lep → lepši (more beautiful), lak → lakši (lighter, easier), mek → mekši (softer).

Four irregular forms: another root

Superlative: naj-

Added to the comparative: noviji → najnoviji, bolji → najbolji, veći → najveći. If the comparative starts with j, write two: najjači, najjednostavniji. No word for “the”: moj najbolji prijatelj, my best friend.

“Than”

• od + genitive, for two nouns or pronouns: Marko je stariji od Ane. (older than Ana); Beograd je veći od Novog Sada. (bigger than Novi Sad); Zdravlje je važnije od novca. (more important than money)
• nego (less often no) + the same case as the first member, for actions, places and times: Marko je stariji nego Ana.; Lakše je reći nego uraditi. (easier said than done); Bolje ikad nego nikad. (better late than never)

It agrees and declines

Gender, number and case as its noun: bolji film, bolja knjiga, bolje mesto (not “Ova knjiga je bolje”). Soft pattern (like letnji): novijeg, novijem, novijoj.

• Živim u većem stanu. (a bigger flat; locative)
• Upoznao sam stariju sestru. (the older sister; feminine accusative)
• Nema boljeg rešenja. (no better solution; neuter genitive)
• Sa mlađim bratom se dobro slažem. (with my younger brother; instrumental)