20
Irregular comparison of adjectives and adverbs
Certain adjectives and adverbs have irregular comparative and superlative forms. Here are the most common of these:
ADJECTIVES
| (positive) | (comparative) | (relative superlative) |
| buono — good | migliore — better | il migliore — best |
| cattivo — bad | peggiore — worse | il peggiore — worst |
| grande — large | maggiore — older5 | il maggiore — oldest5 |
| piccolo — small | minore — younger5 | il minore — youngest5 |
ADVERBS
| bene — well | meglio — better | il meglio — best |
| male — badly | peggio — worse | il peggio — worst |
| molto6 — much | più — more | il più — most |
| poco6 — little, not very (much)” | meno — less | il meno — least |
5 Compare the meanings of the regular forms: più grande = “larger,” più piccolo = “smaller,” etc. Maggiore is also used to mean “greater” or “larger,” and minore is also used to mean “smaller.”
6 Molto and poco are also adjectives.
VOCABULARY
| bugia lie |
forse perhaps |
giocare to play (a game or sport) |
lettura reading |
| piacciono please (3d. pl., piacere) |
scritto writing |
solo only(adv.), alone(adj.) |
vicino near |
| volta time, occurrence, instance |