In words where C3 is ʻweakʼ (w or y, which in C3 position are respectively
spelt u and i), the pattern is as follows:
ghaniغني ʻrichʼ ághnaأغنى ʻricherʼ
7ilwu حلو ʻsweet; niceʼ áHla اَحْلَى
ʻsweeter; nicerʼ
Using Comparatives
To compare two things in Arabic, you need to use the comparative form of the adjective followed by the word مِنْ (min), in much the same way as you would use the word “than” in English.
Now let’s try some comparisons using مِنْ (min) and the adjectives you’ve just learned.
.شَعْرِكْ اَطْوَلْ مِنْ شَعْرِي
Sha‘rik aṭwal min sha‘3rii.
Your (fem.) hair is longer than mine.
.الْاَسَدْ اَكْبَرْ مِن الْقُطَّة
Il’asad akbar min il’qiṭah.
The lion is bigger than the cat.
.فِيهْ نَاسْ اَكْثَرْ مِن اِمْبَارِحْ
Fiih naas akthar min imbaariḥ
Faatma Ajamal min saamiya
فاطمة أجمل من سامية
Fatma is prettier than Saamiya
الكويتن أغنى من البحرينين
il-kuwaytiyyíin aghnaa min il-ba7rayniyyiin.
ʻThe Kuwaitis are richer than the Bahrainis.ʼ
Using اَكْثَرْ
.الْمُخَدِّرَاتْ مُضِرَّة اَكْثَرْ مِنْ السَّجَايِرْ
Ilmokhaddiraat muḍirra aktar min issagaayir.
Drugs are more harmful than cigarettes.
There are a few classes of adjectives whose elative adjective cannot
be formed according to the above pattern.
The elative in these cases
is made by using the elative of kathir كثيرʻmany; a lotʼ – that is, akthar أكثر
ʻmoreʼ – together with the ordinary form of the adjective.
Adjectives of the CaCCaan fa3laan pattern فعلان
color adjectives a7mar ʻredʼ) and (e.g. ta3baan ʻtiredʼ)
form their elatives in this way.
Note that, in cases like these, akthar is not declined, but ta3baan, a7mar, etc. are:
Abdullah ta3baan akthar min khalifah.
ʻAbdullah is more tired than Khalifa.ʼ
سارة زعلانة أكثر من خليفة
Sahra za3laana akthar min Khalifah .
ʻ Sahra is more upset than Khalifah .ʼ
الريايل فرحانين أكثر من النسوان
ir-rayaayíil far7aaniin akthar min in-niswaan.
ʻThe men are happier than the women.ʼ
البحر أزرق من السماء
il-ba7ar azrag akthar min is-simaa.
ʻThe sea is bluer than the sky.ʼ
بدلتك زرق من بدلتي
badlatik zarga akthar min badlati ana.
ʻYour suit is bluer than mine.ʼ
Using il ال
In order to express the superlative, il is prefix to the elative:’
سارة أحلى من عبداالله تعبان الأكثر
il-áHla jáasim ta3baan il-akthar
ʻSalwa is the prettiestʼ ʻJaasim is the tiredestʼ
مطعم اللإرز المطعم الأحسن في الإمارت
máT3am ʻil-ʼarzʼ il-máT3am il-áHsan fil-imaaráat.
The Cedars restaurant is the best restaurant in the Emirates.ʼ
ish-sharika l-akbar fil-ba7rayn sharikat in-nafT ilba7raynyyyah.
الشركة الأكبر في البحرين شركة النفط البحرينية
The biggest company in Bahrain is the Bahrain Oil Company.
il-walad il-kaslaan il-akthar jaasim
ʻThe laziest boy is jaasimʼ
الولد الكسلان ألأكثر جاسم
The superlative may also be expressed by other turns of phrase
involving the elative.
Note the following:
1 with a following singular noun:
Abdullah a7san 3aamil fil-qisim.
عبدا ألله أحسن عامل في القسم Abdullah is the best worker in the section.ʼ
فاطمة أشطر نبت في الصف
fatimah ashTar bint fiS-Saff.
ʻfatimah is the cleverest girl in the class.ʼ
2 with a following definite plural noun:
عبدا ألله أحسن العمال في القسم Abdullah a7san il-3ummaal fil-qisim.
Abdullah is the best worker in the section.ʼ
فاطمة أشطرا لنبات في الصف Fatima ashTar il-banaat fiS-Saff. ʻFatima is the cleverest girl in the class.ʼ
3 with a following pronoun:
كل البنات في الصف شاطرين لكن فاطمة أشطرهم
kill il-banaat fiS-Saff shaaTriin laakin fatimah ashTarhum.All the girls in the class are clever, but fatimah is the cleverest.
كانوا خمسة الأخوان
kaanaw khamsat ikhwaan, wo Abdullah Akbarhum.
ʻThey were five brothers, and Abdullah
was the eldest (of them).ʼ
Note that, if the pronoun is suffixed to an elative that has a weak
final consonant, for example, aǵhnaأغنى ʻricherʼ or aghlaأغلى ʻdearer; more
expen siveʼ, the final -a is lengthened to -aa. Such elative forms as
aǵhna really have a ʻhiddenʼ final -aa, but this only shows up in
suffixed forms:
شفت خمس سيارات أغلاهم التيوتة
shift khams sayyaaraat, aghlaahum it-toyouta.
I saw five cars, the dearest of them was the Toyota.
4 with a following(masculine waa7id )واحد(feminine .واحة wa7da):
كلهم شاطرين لكن فطمة أشرهم kilhum shaaTriin laakin Fatima ashTar wa7dah. All of them are clever, but fatimah is the cleverest one.ʼ
البيت مالي أكبر في الشارع
il-bayt maali akbar waa7id fish-shaari3.
ʻMy house is the biggest one in the street.ʼ