Irregular comparatives and superlatives
A number of adjectives in Icelandic either get a vowel change (the I-shift) in the comparative and superlative, or are wholly irregular.
I-shift
The following adjectives get the I-shift. They also have shortened endings: -ri in the comparative and -stur in the superlative.
They inflect the same way as any other comparative and superlative forms.
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| a/ö → e | langur grannur svangur dökkur þröngur | lengri grennri svengri dekkri þrengri | lengstur grennstur svengstur dekkstur þrengstur |
| á/ó → æ | fár hár lágur smár stór | færri hærri lægri smærri stærri | fæstur hæstur lægstur smæstur stærstur |
| jú/ú → ý | djúpur drjúgur mjúkur rúmur | dýpri drýgri mýkri rýmri | dýpstur drýgstur mýkstur rýmstur |
| u → y | fullur grunnur stuttur ungur þungur | fyllri grynnri styttri yngri þyngri | fyllstur grynnstur stystur yngstur þyngstur |
Irregular
The following adjectives have fully irregular comparative and superlative forms. They are said to be suppletive, because the positive stem is “supplied” with a completely different stem (for example góður – betri – bestur).
Again, they inflect the same way as any other comparative and superlative forms.
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|---|
| gamall | eldri | elstur |
| góður | betri | bestur |
| slæmur vondur illur | verri | verstur |
| lítill | minni | minnstur |
| mikill | meiri | mestur |
| margur | fleiri | flestur |