Ch 3 · Lesson 19Esperanto · Chapter 3 · Lesson 19 · Grammar primer
Comparisons: pli, plej, ol, kiel
means better than, means best, means as good as. Four little words replace English's -er, -est, more, most and their exceptions.
The short version
.
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Comparatives are plus the adjective, superlatives , and nothing changes shape: , , . Than is , and in a comparison it follows or ; the group after takes . Equality uses with , or with for amounts. The pairings are fixed, so is wrong: announces sameness in a sentence about difference.
Put in front for more and for most; than is . The adjective never changes shape, and there are no irregular forms.
| Esperanto | English |
|---|---|
| big |
| bigger than me |
| less big |
| the biggest |
| as big as me |
Malgranda hundo, a small dog; pli granda hundo, a bigger dog; la plej granda hundo, the biggest dog.
pli and plej
The adjective stays as it is. makes the comparative, the superlative:
| Plain | More | Most |
|---|---|---|
| | |
| | |
| | |
English has bigger against more beautiful and good, better, best. Esperanto has , , , and that is the whole system.
Adverbs work the same way, usually without :
.- He runs faster..- She runs fastest.
ol: than
brings in the thing you compare with. In a comparison it comes after or :
.- He is taller than me..- Nothing is more important than the truth.
The superlative names its group with or , never :
.- She is the youngest of the children.
has a few fixed partners outside comparison too: (other than), (before). It never means as.
tiel ... kiel: as ... as
For equality, the pair is ... ; for amounts, ... (with before a noun):
.- She is as strong as her father..- I work as fast as he does..- I have as many books as you.
, not : the father is the subject of a shortened clause of his own (as her father is), so cannot point back to .
The pairs never cross:
| Comparison | First word | Then |
|---|---|---|
| more, less | | |
| as ... as | | |
| as much as | | |
Going further: Less: malpli, and what mal- does here and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
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