Comparison of Adjectives in Romanian

Overview

Comparing things is a fundamental part of communication — "bigger," "more expensive," "the best." Romanian handles comparisons in a way that is relatively straightforward once you know the basic system. Unlike English, which sometimes adds -er/-est and sometimes uses more/most, Romanian consistently uses the particles mai (more) for the comparative and cel mai (the most) for the superlative. This regularity is good news for learners.

At the A2 level, you need to compare people, objects, places, and experiences. The comparative and superlative degrees work with all adjectives — short and long alike — using the same particles. There are a few irregular adjectives (most notably bun → mai bun → cel mai bun), but even these follow predictable patterns.

One important detail: the superlative article cel must agree in gender and number with the noun it describes, just as adjectives do. This adds a layer of agreement, but the pattern is consistent and easy to internalize with practice.

How It Works

Degrees of Comparison

Degree	Formation	Example with mare (big)
Positive	adjective	mare
Comparative (more)	mai + adjective	mai mare
Comparative (less)	mai puțin + adjective	mai puțin mare
Superlative (most)	cel/cea/cei/cele mai + adjective	cel mai mare
Superlative (least)	cel/cea/cei/cele mai puțin + adjective	cel mai puțin mare

Superlative Article Agreement

The article before mai agrees with the noun:

Noun type	Article	Example
Masc. singular	cel	cel mai înalt băiat (the tallest boy)
Fem. singular	cea	cea mai înaltă fată (the tallest girl)
Masc. plural	cei	cei mai înalți băieți (the tallest boys)
Fem. plural	cele	cele mai înalte fete (the tallest girls)

Comparative Constructions

Construction	Pattern	Example
More than	mai + adj. + decât	Mai mare decât mine. (Bigger than me.)
As ... as	la fel de + adj. + ca	La fel de mare ca tine. (As big as you.)
Less than	mai puțin + adj. + decât	Mai puțin scump decât acela. (Less expensive than that one.)

Irregular Comparatives

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
bun (good)	mai bun (better)	cel mai bun (best)
rău (bad)	mai rău (worse)	cel mai rău (worst)
mare (big)	mai mare (bigger)	cel mai mare (biggest)
mic (small)	mai mic (smaller)	cel mai mic (smallest)

Note: Bun and rău are technically regular in formation (just mai + adjective), but they are the ones most commonly confused by learners who expect a separate irregular stem (as in English good → better).

Adjective Agreement Still Applies

The adjective in comparative/superlative forms still agrees with the noun:

• El este mai înalt. (He is taller.) — masculine
• Ea este mai înaltă. (She is taller.) — feminine
• Cea mai frumoasă zi. (The most beautiful day.) — feminine noun zi

Examples in Context

Romanian	English	Note
Cluj este mai mare decât Brașov.	Cluj is bigger than Brașov.	Comparative with decât
Maria este mai înaltă decât Ana.	Maria is taller than Ana.	Fem. agreement
Acest restaurant este mai bun.	This restaurant is better.	Irregular bun
E la fel de scump ca celălalt.	It's as expensive as the other one.	Equality comparison
Cel mai frumos oraș din România.	The most beautiful city in Romania.	Masc. superlative
Cea mai bună cafea este aici.	The best coffee is here.	Fem. superlative
Iarna este mai rece decât toamna.	Winter is colder than autumn.	Seasons comparison
Filmul a fost mai puțin interesant.	The movie was less interesting.	Inferiority
Cei mai buni prieteni ai mei.	My best friends.	Masc. pl. superlative
Asta e cea mai ieftină opțiune.	This is the cheapest option.	Fem. superlative
E mai greu decât credeam.	It's harder than I thought.	Abstract comparison
Cele mai bune rezultate.	The best results.	Fem. pl. superlative

Common Mistakes

Forgetting agreement in the superlative article

• Wrong: Cel mai frumoasă fată.
• Right: Cea mai frumoasă fată.
• Why: Fată is feminine singular, so the superlative article must be cea, not cel (which is masculine singular).

Using ca instead of decât in comparatives

• Wrong: Mai mare ca mine.
• Right: Mai mare decât mine.
• Why: While ca is widely used in spoken Romanian and many speakers consider it acceptable, the standard/formal comparative uses decât. Ca is correct only in the equality construction la fel de... ca.

Forgetting adjective agreement in comparative forms

• Wrong: Ea este mai înalt decât el.
• Right: Ea este mai înaltă decât el.
• Why: Even in comparative constructions, the adjective must agree with the subject. Since ea is feminine, use înaltă, not înalt.

Double-marking the comparative

• Wrong: Mai mai bun. or Cel mai cel mai bun.
• Right: Mai bun. Cel mai bun.
• Why: One mai is sufficient. Do not double the particle.

Usage Notes

In colloquial Romanian, ca frequently replaces decât in comparative constructions: Mai mare ca mine instead of Mai mare decât mine. While prescriptive grammar prefers decât, both are understood and ca is dominant in everyday speech.

The superlative can also be expressed informally with intensifiers: foarte bun (very good), extrem de frumos (extremely beautiful), super interesant (super interesting). These are not true grammatical superlatives but are common in spoken language.

The construction din ce în ce mai + adjective means "more and more": Din ce în ce mai bun (better and better), Din ce în ce mai greu (harder and harder).

Practice Tips

• Compare pairs of things you know: Take two cities, two friends, two foods and build sentences: Pizza este mai bună decât salata. Cafeaua este mai scumpă decât ceaiul.
• Practice the superlative article: Take an adjective and run it through all four superlative articles: cel mai mare, cea mai mare, cei mai mari, cele mai mari.
• Use din ce în ce mai daily: Describe trends you observe: E din ce în ce mai cald (It's getting warmer and warmer).

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Basic Adjective Agreement — comparative and superlative adjectives still follow gender/number agreement
• Next steps: Adverb Formation — adverbs can also be compared using the same mai / cel mai system