Comparatives & Superlatives
तुलनात्मक और सर्वोत्तम रूप (Comparatives & Superlatives)
English builds comparisons two different ways depending on how long the adjective is — a split with no real Hindi equivalent, since Hindi handles every comparison the same way regardless of word length, using से ('than') and सबसे ('than all').
Grammar Comparison
व्याकरण तुलना
Short words add -er/-est; long words add more/most — Hindi never splits this way
tall → taller → tallest (short word, suffix) vs. beautiful → more beautiful → most beautiful (long word, separate words)
लंबा → इससे ज़्यादा लंबा → सबसे लंबा — वही से/सबसे पैटर्न, चाहे विशेषण छोटा हो या बड़ा
Hindi compares every adjective identically no matter how long it is: add इससे ज़्यादा ('more than this') or simply X से ('than X') for the comparative, and सबसे ('than all') for the superlative — लंबा, सुंदर, and every other adjective follow the exact same pattern. English instead splits by syllable count: short adjectives (tall, big, fast) take the suffixes -er/-est, while longer adjectives (beautiful, expensive, interesting) switch to separate words more/most instead. As a rough guide, one-syllable words almost always take -er/-est, and three-or-more-syllable words almost always take more/most, with two-syllable words going either way — there's no way to derive this from the Hindi pattern, so each adjective's category has to be learned individually.
Vocabulary
शब्दावली
| English | Pronunciation | Hindi |
|---|---|---|
| tall → taller → tallest | tawl / TAW-ler / TAW-lest | लंबा → इससे ज़्यादा लंबा → सबसे लंबाlambā → isse zyādā lambā → sabse lambā |
| big → bigger → biggest | big / BIG-er / BIG-est | बड़ा → इससे बड़ा → सबसे बड़ाbaṛā → isse baṛā → sabse baṛā |
| beautiful → more beautiful → most beautiful | BYOO-ti-fuhl / mor BYOO-ti-fuhl / mohst BYOO-ti-fuhl | सुंदर → इससे ज़्यादा सुंदर → सबसे सुंदरsundar → isse zyādā sundar → sabse sundar |
| good → better → best | good / BET-er / best | अच्छा → इससे बेहतर → सबसे अच्छाachhā → isse behtar → sabse achhā |