Comparative Adjectives

Lesson objective

In this lesson, you will learn how to compare two people or things.

Comparative adjectives describe a difference between two objects or people. In English: I am taller than John — the words “taller than” are comparative. In Darija, the word mn means than.

Comparative forms

English	Base form	Comparative
Good → better	mzyan	нsn mn
Nice → nicer	ḍrif	ḍrf mn
Tall / long → taller / longer	ṭwil	ṭwl mn
Short → shorter	qṣir	qṣr mn
Big / old → bigger / older	kbir	kbr mn
Small / young → smaller / younger	ṣġir	ṣġr mn
Heavy → heavier	tqil	tql mn
Light → lighter	xfif	xff mn
Old — for a thing → older	qdim	qdm mn
Few → fewer	qlil	qll mn
Cheap → cheaper	rxiṣ	rxṣ mn
Expensive → more expensive	ġali	ġla mn
Sweet → sweeter	нlu	нla mn

For many adjectives, the comparative is made by removing the long i sound — though this does not apply to every adjective.

Examples

Sadia ṣġr mn Malika. — Sadia is younger than Malika.

t-tran нsn mn l-kar. — The train is better than the bus.