Degrees of Adjectives

Comparatives and superlatives are constructed in a very straightforward way in Turkish. Besides these, there is a special way of making adjectives stronger in Turkish and this is not very trivial. I this lesson, we will cover all these topics.

1. Comparatives
1.1. More, Less
Comparative of an adjective is obtained by adding the word "daha" before the adjective. We can say that daha is the word for more and all adjective comparatives are constructed like 'more clever' (not like faster). faster --> daha hzl slower --> daha yava more intelligent --> daha zeki more hardworking --> daha alkan more beautiful --> daha gzel

If you want to say less beautiful or less hardworking, then replace the word 'daha' with 'daha az'. less fast --> daha az hzl less intelligent --> daha az zeki less hardworking --> daha az alkan less beautiful --> daha az gzel

Now, let's see how the comparative form of an adjective is used in sentences. I am beautiful. --> (Ben) gzelim. I am more beautiful. --> (Ben) daha gzelim.

You are more beautiful. --> (Sen) daha gzelsin. She is more beautiful. --> (O) daha gzel.

This is a fast car. --> Bu hzl bir araba. This is a faster car. --> Bu daha hzl bir araba. This car is faster. --> Bu araba daha hzl.

1.2. More than

If you want to compare two nouns with respect to an adjective, the structure used in English is as follows: noun1 is more adjective than noun2 Ex1: Ahmet is more hardworking than Mehmet. Ex2: I am more intelligent than you. The structure to express the same meaning in Turkish is as follows: noun1 noun2-den daha adjective Ex1: Ahmet Mehmet'ten daha alkan. (Note that the ' sign is used to separate private names from their suffixes) Ex2: Ben senden daha zekiyim.

Now, let's see a few example sentences with this expression. - Beril is beautiful. --> Beril gzel. - Gke is more beautiful. --> Gke daha gzel. - Gke is more beautiful than Beril. --> Gke Beril'den daha gzel.

- He is more hardworking than me. --> O benden daha alkan. - My car is faster than your car. --> Benim arabam senin arabandan daha hzl. - US is larger than Turkey. --> Amerika Trkiye'den daha byk.

1.3. As ... as
If you want to say that two nouns are equal with respect to an adjective, the strctre used in English is: noun1 is as adjective as noun2 Ex1: Beril is as beautiful as Gke. Ex2: I am as beautiful as you. The structure to express the same meaning in Turkish is as follows:

eviacejda radak onuon onuon.

no

eviacejda radak onuon dd onuon

Both of these expressions have the same meaning, you will understand the very slight difference as you see them used. One point to note here is that if noun2 is a simple pronoun (like ben, sen, bu, u) then it is used in possessive form (like benim, senin, bunun, unun). Ex1: Beril de Gke kadar gzel. Ex2: Ben de senin kadar gzelim. Now, let's see a few example sentences with this expression. - Beril is beautiful. --> Beril gzel. - Gke is also beautiful. --> Gke de gzel. (de means 'also', 'as well') - Gke is as beautifl as Beril. --> Gke de Beril kadar gzel. - He is as hardworking as me. --> O da benim kadar alkan.

- My car is as fast as your car. --> Benim arabam da senin araban kadar hzl. - US is almost as large as China. --> Amerika neredeyse in kadar byk. (neredeyse means almost)

2. Superlatives
Superlatives are also straightforward in Turkish, like it is in English. Instead of 'the most', you use 'en', and all superlatives are constructed using this word. the fastest --> en hzl slower --> en yava the most intelligent --> en zeki the most hardworking --> en alkan the most beautiful --> en gzel

Now, let's see how the superlative form of an adjective is used in sentences. I am beautiful. --> (Ben) gzelim. I am more beautiful. --> (Ben) daha gzelim.

When you want to use the superlative form in a sentence, there are two different cases: I am the most beautiful. --> (Ben) en gzelim. (This has the meaning of describing yourself, like an answer to the question "What are your traits?") I am the most beautiful. --> En gzel benim. (This has the meaning of the answer to the question "Who is the most beautiful?")

I am the most beautiful girl. --> En gzel kz benim.

I am the most beautiful girl in this class. --> Bu snftaki en gzel kz benim. You are the most beautiful girl in this class. --> Bu snftaki en gzel kz sensin. She is the most beautiful girl in this class. --> Bu snftaki en gzel kz o.

3. Making an adjective stronger

3.1. Very
In English, when you want to make an adjective stronger, you use the word 'very'. Saying very fast is a stronger statement than just saying fast. The same method is applied also in Turkish, and the word for very is 'ok'. Hence: very fast --> ok hzl very slow --> ok yava very intelligent --> ok zeki very hardworking --> ok alkan very beautiful --> ok gzel You are very beautiful. --> (Sen) ok gzelsin. She is a very beautiful girl. --> (O) ok gzel bir kz. This girl is very beautiful. --> Bu kz ok gzel.

3.2. Too
Another way of making an adjective stronger, but this time giving the meaning extreme, is to use the word too. Saying something is too fast gives the meaning that it is extremely fast and should be slower. The word for too in Turkish is 'fazla'. too fast --> fazla hzl too slow --> fazla yava too intelligent --> fazla zeki

too hardworking --> fazla alkan too beautiful --> fazla gzel We are too fast. --> (Biz) fazla hzlyz. This car is too fast. --> Bu araba fazla hzl.

3.3. Other ways

A third way commonly used in Turkish (which is not seen in English) to make an adjective stronger is adding a modified form of the first syllable before the adjective. Important points to note here are:

There is not a rule for how this first syllable should be modified, which makes this rule hard to learn. This gives the same meaning as using the word 'very' and makes the adjective stronger. All adjectives can't be made stronger using this method, and there is not a rule to understand for which adjectives this method can be used. A group of adjectives you can always use this method is colors, to express that the color is strong. However, there is no rule to exactly say which adjectives can be made stronger like this. Because there is not a well-defined rule, it will be very difficult to go over adjectives and see what the stronger form of each adjective is. I think you should not try to learn this for each adjective at this step. The best strategy here would be to note that there is a rule like this and when you see it used, you will understand what it means. In your sentences, you simply can use 'ok + adjective' instead and you will be clearly understood.

Let's see some examples to this rule: hzl --> fast hphzl --> very fast sar --> yellow sapsar --> very yellow, strong yellow mavi --> blue masmavi --> very blue, strong blue beyaz --> white bembeyaz --> very white, strong white

abuk --> quick arabuk --> very quick kaln --> thick kapkaln --> very thick

Another way to make an adjective stressed and stronger is to repeat it twice. Again, this is not done with all adjectives and the best way to learn for which adjectives this rule is applicable is to note when you hear an adjective used like this. Don't be afraid by these rules, you will learn how to use them if you start reading Turkish texts or if you speak to native speakers. You can still express yourself without using these methods for making adjectives stronger. Simply use the word 'ok' before the adjective. I am giving these rules now so that you know the meaning when you see such a usage somewhere. byk byk evler --> big houses, the property big is stressed sar sar elmalar --> yellow apples, the property yellow is stressed

There is also another way to stress an adjective and make it stronger. That is, adding a modified form of the adjective after the original form. This is again an irregular rule and you don't need to know this completely, just understand it when you see this usage. Sometimes, an adjective followed by the modified form of that adjective may have a slightly different meaning. yal --> old (for people) yal bal --> old, mature eski --> old (for objects) eski psk --> very old and useless