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Overview
Serbian adjectives have three degrees - позитив (positive, the plain form from basic-adjectives-a1), компаратив (comparative, more/-er) and суперлатив (superlative, most/-est) - both built by changing the adjective's own ending.
The regular comparative - -ији
Most adjectives, including every -ан adjective with the fleeting a from basic-adjectives-a1, form the comparative by adding -ији to the stem: паметан (smart) → паметнији - the same stem you get by stripping the fleeting a (паметн-). Most adjectives ending in a plain consonant also add -ији directly: стар (old) → старији - but a smaller group, including some ending in к/г/х, instead shifts a consonant or adds -ши (see the next section).
The comparative agrees in gender like the positive, but with its own fixed endings - -и masculine, -а feminine, -е neuter - regardless of which pattern the positive followed: паметнији/паметнија/паметније.
Irregular comparatives - memorize as a set
A handful of very common adjectives don't use -ији at all and must be learned individually, the same way you'd memorize English good/better or bad/worse: добар (good) → бољи, лош (bad) → гори, велик (big) → већи, мали (small) → мањи. Their superlatives follow the regular нај- rule like everything else.
A smaller group forms the comparative with -ши or a consonant change instead of plain -ији, best learned one at a time rather than derived from a rule: леп (nice) → лепши, млад (young) → млађи.
The superlative - нај-
The superlative is simple: it's always the comparative with the fixed prefix нај- glued onto the front, with no exceptions. Once you know an adjective's comparative, its superlative is automatic.
Two things follow. It's written as one word - нај- is a prefix, never separate (нај јефтинији) or hyphenated (нај-јефтинији): the superlative of јефтин is најјефтинији. And it agrees in gender exactly like the comparative it's built on - најпаметнији/најпаметнија/најпаметније - including irregulars, whose superlative is simply нај- plus their own comparative: бољи → најбољи.
Comparing two things: него and од
Than has two correct translations. Него pairs with the same case as the first thing compared - usually nominative: Он је старији него ја. (He is older than I am.) Од instead takes the genitive: Он је старији од мене. (He is older than me.) Don't mix the two in one sentence.
Case marking still applies as before - од is the same genitive preposition from genitive-case-a2, and the comparative still agrees in gender and case with the noun it describes.
Tables
| Gender | Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|---|---|
| мушки | паметан | паметнији | најпаметнији |
| женски | паметна | паметнија | најпаметнија |
| средњи | паметно | паметније | најпаметније |
Examples
Compared with…
English splits comparison by syllable count - short adjectives take -er/-est, long ones take more/most - a distinction Serbian does not make: паметнији works exactly like бољи regardless of length, because Serbian always changes the adjective's own ending rather than adding a separate word. The irregular set (добар/бољи, лош/гори) maps directly onto English's own irregulars (good/better, bad/worse), so that part transfers perfectly.
Common mistakes
Tips & exceptions
- Whatever pattern the comparative follows, its own gender endings are always the same: -и masculine, -а feminine, -е neuter - паметнији/паметнија/паметније, бољи/боља/боље, alike.
- The superlative needs no separate memorization: take the comparative you already know and add нај- in front, with no exceptions.
- Learn добар/бољи, лош/гори, велик/већи, мали/мањи together as one small vocabulary set from the very start, the same way you'd learn English good/better, bad/worse - resist the temptation to regularize them.
- A smaller group of adjectives - often one syllable - take -ши or shift a consonant instead of plain -ији (леп → лепши, млад → млађи); there is no simple rule that predicts which adjectives belong here, so treat each one as vocabulary.
- Него and од are not interchangeable mid-sentence: него expects the same case as what it's compared to (typically nominative), од always takes the genitive regardless.
- Comparatives and superlatives decline for case exactly like any other adjective (case agreement from basic-adjectives-a1 and cases-introduction-a1) - nothing extra to learn once you have the comparative stem.
Summary
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