The Comparative of Adjectives in Serbian
Here is the big shift from English: Serbian doesn't put a "more" word in front of the adjective. The comparison is baked right into the word through an ending. Most adjectives take -iji, as in nov → noviji ("newer"). A second group takes a short -ji with a consonant change, like jak → jači. And the four most common adjectives are irregular, so learn them by heart: dobar → bolji, loš → gori, velik → veći, mali → manji. To say what you're comparing against, add od plus the genitive: Ovaj grad je veći. Belgrade is bigger od Niša. The number-one mistake is saying "više dobar" on the English model — don't. Once you have the comparative, the superlative is easy: just prefix naj- (najveći, najbolji).
Examples
- noviji newer
- bolji better
- Ovaj grad je veći. This city is bigger.
The full lesson
Everything in the video, in text.
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You want to say something is bigger, better, or cheaper. In Serbian you don't add a word like više — comparison is built right into the adjective.
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The comparative is the adjective form you use to compare two things. In Serbian you usually just change the adjective's ending.
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There are three paths. Most adjectives take the ending -iji. One group takes a short -ji with a consonant change. And a few of the most common adjectives are irregular and must be memorized.
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Let's start with the most common one — the ending -iji. The adjective nov becomes noviji. Ovaj telefon je noviji.
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The same pattern works for loads of adjectives. Star becomes stariji, pametan becomes pametniji. Moja sestra je starija.
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The second group takes a short -ji, but the final consonant changes. Jak becomes jači — the letter k shifts to č. On je jači od mene.
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This consonant change is predictable. Skup becomes skuplji, and drag becomes draži. The consonant softens before the ending. Ovaj stan je skuplji.
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Now the irregular forms. They're the most important, because they're the most common adjectives in the language — and you have to learn them by heart.
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Dobar doesn't become dobriji — the comparative is bolji. You just have to memorize it. Ova kafa je bolja.
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The opposite of bolji is gori. The adjective loš becomes gori in the comparative. Vreme je danas gore.
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And the most common of all — velik becomes veći. You'll hear this one every day. Ovaj grad je veći.
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And its opposite — mali becomes manji. Remember them as a pair: veći and manji. Moj stan je manji.
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To say what you're comparing against, you use the word od with the second thing: veći od, bolji od, jači od. Beograd je veći od Niša.
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Here's the biggest trap. Learners sometimes say više dobar. That's wrong. Serbian builds comparison into the adjective — you just say bolji.
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The same goes for the irregulars. Never više velik — always veći. And for the superlative you just add naj- to the comparative: najveći, najbolji.
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Let's sum up. Most adjectives take -iji; one group takes -ji with a consonant change; and the most common ones are irregular. And you never add više — the comparison is in the adjective itself.
