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Vergrotende trapAny adjective · instant

Comparative & superlative.

Type any Dutch adjective and get its -er and -st forms, with the spelling rule. groot → groter → grootst.

Why it trips people up

The endings are easy — the spelling isn't.

Two forms, one input

Type any adjective and get both the comparative (-er) and superlative (-st), with the spelling change spelled out.

The tricky spellings

groot → groter (not grooter), lief → liever, vies → viezer, dik → dikker. The engine applies the open/closed-syllable and f→v / s→z rules for you.

The irregulars you must know

goed → beter → best, veel → meer → meest, weinig → minder → minst, graag → liever → liefst. Learn these by heart; the rest follow the rules.

Common questions

How do you form the comparative and superlative in Dutch?

For most adjectives you add -er for the comparative and -st for the superlative: klein → kleiner → kleinst. Spelling changes follow the normal rules: a long double vowel becomes single when the syllable opens (groot → groter), a short stressed vowel doubles the consonant (dik → dikker), final -f becomes -v (lief → liever) and final -s becomes -z (vies → viezer). Adjectives ending in -r add -der (duur → duurder), and after -s the superlative adds only -t (vies → viest).

What are the irregular Dutch comparatives?

The four you must memorise are goed → beter → best (good), veel → meer → meest (much/many), weinig → minder → minst (little/few) and graag → liever → liefst (gladly). These don't follow the -er/-st pattern.

How do I use the comparative and superlative in a sentence?

The comparative is used with 'dan' (than): Amsterdam is groter dan Utrecht. The superlative usually takes 'het' and an -e ending: Rotterdam heeft de grootste haven; hij loopt het snelst. In front of a noun both add -e: een groter huis, het grootste huis.

Do long adjectives also add -er and -st?

Yes — unlike English, Dutch almost always uses the -er/-st endings even for longer adjectives: interessant → interessanter → interessantst, belangrijk → belangrijker → belangrijkst. You rarely need 'meer' or 'meest' the way English uses 'more' and 'most'.