Degrees of Comparison of Ukrainian Adjectives

An Adjective is a part of speech that describes a feature or quality of an object and answers the questions: "який?" (what kind of?), "чий?" (whose?).

In Ukrainian, adjectives are divided into three main groups:

1. Qualitative Adjectives (Якісні): Describe qualities that can be perceived by the senses, character traits, physical features, or age. These qualities can exist in different intensities (e.g., "fast" or "faster"). Examples: висока жінка (a tall woman), хитра лисиця (a cunning fox).
2. Relative Adjectives (Відносні): Describe a feature through its relation to materials, time, or purpose. These qualities are "static" and cannot be compared. Examples: скляне вікно (a glass window), подвійна платня (double pay).
3. Possessive Adjectives (Присвійні): Indicate that something belongs to a person or, sometimes, an animal. They answer the questions: "чий?" (masculine), "чия?" (feminine), "чиє?" (neuter). Examples: мамине вбрання (mother’s outfit), авторська пісня (author’s song).

Note: Do not confuse possessive adjectives with possessive pronouns!

Degrees of Comparison (Ступені порівняння)

Only Qualitative Adjectives have degrees of comparison. There are two degrees: Comparative (Вищий) and Superlative (Найвищий). Each has a Simple and a Compound form.

Comparative Degree (Вищий ступінь)

1. Simple Form: тепліший (warmer)
2. Compound Form: більш теплий (more warm)

Superlative Degree (Найвищий ступінь)

1. Simple Form: найтепліший (the warmest)
2. Compound Form: найбільш теплий (the most warm)

1. The Comparative Degree (Вищий ступінь)

Shows that one object has more or less of a quality than another.

1. Simple Form: Created by adding suffixes -іш- or -ш- to the stem:
2. спритний (nimble) → спритніший.
3. Note: Some adjectives lose suffixes like -к-, -ок-, -ек- before adding -ш-: легкий (easy) → легший.
4. Consonant Changes: In some cases, letters change their sound:
5. зьк + ш = жч: близький (near) → ближчий.
6. с + ш = щ: високий (high) → вищий.
7. Compound Form: Created by adding the words більш (more) or менш (less) to the basic adjective:
8. товстий (thick/fat) → більш товстий.

2. The Superlative Degree (Найвищий ступінь)

Shows that an object has the highest or lowest degree of a quality compared to all others.

1. Simple Form: Take the Comparative form and add the prefix най-:
2. кращий (better) → найкращий (the best).
3. To add even more emphasis, you can add prefixes що- or як-: якнайшвидший (the fastest possible).
4. Compound Form: Created by adding найбільш (the most) or найменш (the least) to the basic adjective:
5. холодний (cold) → найбільш холодний.

Exceptions (Винятки)

You cannot form degrees of comparison for:

1. Absolute qualities: Words that are already "final" in meaning: порожній (empty), німий (mute), босий (barefoot).
2. Adjectives with emotional suffixes: Words that already imply "very" or "tiny" using suffixes like -еньк-, -есеньк-, -енн-, -езн-:
3. маленький (tiny/small), здоровенний (huge).