More Irregular Comparatives: hoch, nah, viel
More Irregular Comparatives: hoch, nah, viel
A small set of high-frequency German adjectives break the regular -er/-sten pattern entirely — much like English 'good/better/best' and 'far/further/furthest'.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
hoch and nah change their consonants, not just their vowels
hoch → höher → am höchsten; nah → näher → am nächsten
high → higher → highest; near → nearer → nearest
hoch drops its -ch before adding -er (hoch → höher, not hochër), and nah changes -h to -ch before the superlative ending (nah → nächsten). Both also take the expected umlaut. These are true irregulars, similar to how English 'far' becomes 'further/furthest' rather than 'farer/farest'.
viel, gut, and gern are fully irregular, like English 'good/better/best'
viel → mehr → am meisten; gut → besser → am besten; gern → lieber → am liebsten
much → more → most; good → better → best; gladly → rather → most of all
Just as English 'good/better/best' and 'much/more/most' don't follow the regular -er/-est pattern, German viel, gut, and gern are suppletive — their comparative and superlative forms come from a different root entirely. gern (used with a verb to mean 'like to do something') is especially important: Ich spiele gern Fußball ('I like playing football') → Ich spiele lieber Tennis ('I'd rather play tennis') → Ich spiele am liebsten Schach ('I like playing chess best of all') — a construction with no direct one-word English equivalent.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| German | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| hoch / höher / am höchsten | hohkh / HUR-er / ahm HURKH-sten | high / higher / highest |
| nah / näher / am nächsten | nah / NAY-er / ahm NAYKH-sten | near / nearer / nearest |
| viel / mehr / am meisten | feel / mair / ahm MY-sten | much / more / most |
| gut / besser / am besten | goot / BES-er / ahm BES-ten | good / better / best |
| gern / lieber / am liebsten | gairn / LEE-ber / ahm LEEP-sten | gladly / rather / most of all (liking something) |
| Ich spiele gern Fußball. | ikh SHPEE-leh gairn FOOS-bahl | I like playing football. |
| Ich spiele lieber Tennis. | ikh SHPEE-leh LEE-ber TEN-is | I'd rather play tennis. |
| Ich esse am liebsten Pizza. | ikh ES-eh ahm LEEP-sten PEET-sah | I like eating pizza best of all. |