Lesson 8 – Comparison of adjectives and adverbs

Adjectives

Comparative

When we compare two things in English we often use the comparative form of an adjective. To do this we add ‘-er’ to the end of the adjective or precede it with ‘more’

For example:

Adjective	Comparative
beautiful	more beautiful
pretty	prettier

To form the comparative of most Latin adjectives we use the ending ‘-ior’ for the masculine and feminine forms and the ending ‘-ius’ for the neuter form.

For example:

The comparative for pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum ‘beautiful’ is pulchrior (masculine), pulchrior (feminine) and pulchrius (neuter) ‘more beautiful’.

Superlative

When we compare more than two things in English we often use the superlative form of an adjective. To do this we add ‘-est’ to the end of the adjective or precede it with ‘most’.

Adjective	Superlative
beautiful	the most beautiful
pretty	prettiest

To form the superlative of most Latin adjectives we use the ending ‘-imus’ for the masculine form,
‘-ima’ for the feminine form, and ‘-imum’ for the neuter form. The formation of the central stem of the superlative depends on the type of adjective.

For example:

The superlative for pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum ‘beautiful’ is pulcherrimus (masculine), pulcherrima (feminine), pulcherrimum (neuter) ‘the most beautiful’. These forms decline like ‘bonus, -a, -um’.

When it comes to translating Latin comparatives and superlatives, be aware that their meanings are more flexible than those in English and can be expressed in a variety of different ways.

For example:

Adjective	Meaning
longus, longa, longum	long
miser, misera, miserum	wretched
durus, dura, durum	hard

Comparative	Meaning
longior, longior, longius	longer (rather long, too long, quite long)
miserior, miserior, miserius	more wretched (rather wretched, too wretched, quite wretched)
durior, durior, durius	harder (rather hard, too hard, quite hard)

Superlative	Meaning
longissimus, longissima, longissimum	the longest (very long)
miserrimus, miserrima, miserrimum	the most wretched (very wretched)
durissimus, durissima, durissimum	the hardest (very hard)

Irregular adjectives

Some adjectives are irregular in the way they form their comparative and superlative forms, for example:

Adjective	Comparative	Superlative	Meaning
bonus-a-um	melior-ior-ius	optimus-ima-imum	good, better, the best
magnus-a-um	maior-ior-ius	maximus-ima-imum	great, greater, the greatest
malus-a-um	peior-ior-ius	pessimus-ima-imum	bad, worse, the worst
parvus-a-um	minor-us	minimus-ima-imum	small, smaller, the smallest
multus-a-um	plus	plurimus-ima-imum	much, more, the most

Comparatives

When we compare the way in which two things are carried out in English we often use the comparative form of an adverb. To do this we most commonly precede the adverb with ‘more’.

For example:

Adverb	Comparative
beautifully	more beautifully

To form the comparative of most Latin adverbs, we use the accusative singular neuter of the comparative adjective and so the ending is often ‘-ius’.

For example:

Adjective	Comparative adjective		Adverb	Comparative adverb
pulcher	Masculine/Feminine Nom.pulchrior Acc.pulchriorem	Neuter pulchrius pulchrius	pulchre	pulchrius

Superlatives

When we compare the way in which more than two things are carried out in English we often use the superlative form of an adverb. To do this we precede it with ‘most’.

For example:

Adverb	Superlative
beautifully	most beautifully

To form the superlative of most Latin adverbs we replace the ‘-us’ ending of the superlative adjective with ‘-e’, so that the endings are most commonly ‘-issime’, ‘-errime’, ‘-illime’ .

For example:

Superlative adjective	Superlative adverb
pulcherrimus	pulcherrime

Just as with adjectives, when it comes to translating Latin comparative and superlative adverbs, be aware that they are more flexible than those in English and can be expressed in a variety of different ways.

For example:

Adverb	Meaning
facile	easily
pulchre	beautifully
tuto	safely

Comparative adverb	Meaning
facilius	more easily, rather easily, too easily
pulchrius	more beautifully, rather beautifully, too beautifully
tutius	more safely, rather safely, too safely

Superlative adverb	Meaning
facillime	most easily, very easily, in an extremely easy way
pulcherrime	most beautifully, very beautifully, in an extremely beautiful way
tutissime	most safely, very safely, in an extremely safe way

Irregular adverbs

If an adjective is irregular, then it is often the case that the corresponding adverb will be irregular too. Compare these to the irregular adjectives we have already looked at in this lesson.

for example:

Adverbs	Meaning
paulum	a little
multum	much

Comparative	Meaning
minus	less
plus	more

Superlative	Meaning
minime	least
plurimum	most

Adverbs which are not linked to corresponding adjectives can also be irregular but you are not likely to come across these.