Comparative and Superlative

اَلْبَحْرُ أَوْسَعُ مِنَ الْبُحَيْرَةِ.

al-baḥru awsaʿu mina-l-buḥayrati

The sea is wider than the lake.

اَلْجَبَلُ أَكْبَرُ مِنَ التَّلِّ.

al-jabalu akbaru mina-t-talli

The mountain is bigger than the hill.

اَلْحِصَانُ أَسْرَعُ مِنَ الْجَمَلِ.

al-ḥiṣānu asraʿu mina-l-jamali

The horse is faster than the camel.

هٰذِهِ الزَّهْرَةُ أَجْمَلُ مِنْ تِلْكَ الزَّهْرَةِ.

hādhihi-z-zahratu ajmalu min tilka-z-zahrati

This flower is more beautiful than that flower.

اَلصَّخْرَةُ أَثْقَلُ مِنَ الْحَجَرِ.

aṣ-ṣakhratu athqalu mina-l-ḥajari

The rock is heavier than the stone.

اَلشَّجَرَةُ أَطْوَلُ مِنَ الزَّهْرَةِ.

ash-shajaratu aṭwalu mina-z-zahrati

The tree is taller than the flower.

Feminine subject, same form.

اَلنَّهْرَانِ أَوْسَعُ مِنَ الْجَدْوَلَيْنِ.

an-nahrāni awsaʿu mina-l-jadwalayni

The two rivers are wider than the two streams.

Dual subject, same form.

اَلْجِبَالُ أَبْرَدُ مِنَ الْمُدُنِ.

al-jibālu abradu mina-l-muduni

The mountains are colder than the cities.

Plural subject, same form.

أَخَوَاتِي أَكْبَرُ مِنِّي.

akhawātī akbaru minnī

My sisters are older than me.

هٰذَا الْجَبَلُ هُوَ الْأَكْبَرُ فِي بِلَادِنَا.

hādha-l-jabalu huwa-l-akbaru fī bilādinā

This mountain is the biggest in our country.

Superlative with the article.

اَلنِّيلُ أَطْوَلُ الْأَنْهَارِ.

an-nīlu aṭwalu-l-anhāri

The Nile is the longest of the rivers.

Superlative by iḍāfa with a definite plural.

اَلْأَسَدُ أَقْوَى حَيَوَانٍ فِي الْغَابَةِ.

al-asadu aqwā ḥayawānin fi-l-ghābati

The lion is the strongest animal in the forest.

Superlative by iḍāfa with an indefinite singular.

فِي الْغَابَةِ أَشْجَارٌ كَثِيرَةٌ وَهٰذِهِ الشَّجَرَةُ أَكْبَرُهَا.

fi-l-ghābati ashjārun kathīratun wa-hādhihi-sh-shajaratu akbaruhā

In the forest there are many trees, and this tree is the biggest of them.

Superlative with a suffix.

اَلسَّمَاءُ أَوْسَعُ مِنَ الْأَرْضِ، وَاللّٰهُ أَكْبَرُ.

as-samāʾu awsaʿu mina-l-arḍi, wa-llāhu akbaru

The sky is wider than the earth, and God is greatest.

اَللّٰهُ أَكْبَرُ: the comparative without مِنْ is understood as an absolute superlative, greater than everything.

هٰذِهِ الْبُحَيْرَةُ هِيَ الْكُبْرَى فِي الْبِلَادِ.

hādhihi-l-buḥayratu hiya-l-kubrā fi-l-bilādi

This lake is the biggest in the country.

أُخْتِي الصُّغْرَى فِي الْحَدِيقَةِ.

ukhti-ṣ-ṣughrā fi-l-ḥadīqati

My youngest sister is in the garden.

صَعِدْنَا إِلَى الصَّخْرَةِ الْعُلْيَا.

ṣaʿidnā ila-ṣ-ṣakhrati-l-ʿulyā

We climbed up to the highest rock.

اَلْعُلْيَا is the feminine of اَلْأَعْلَى; when the letter before the ending is ي the alif is written ا instead of ى: عُلْيَا, دُنْيَا.

لِلّٰهِ الْأَسْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَى.

li-llāhi-l-asmāʾu-l-ḥusnā

To God belong the most beautiful names.

اَلْحُسْنَى, feminine of اَلْأَحْسَنُ, agrees with the non-human plural اَلْأَسْمَاءُ (lesson 41).

فِي الْحَدِيقَةِ زَهْرَةٌ حَمْرَاءُ وَزَهْرَةٌ صَفْرَاءُ.

fi-l-ḥadīqati zahratun ḥamrāʾu wa-zahratun ṣafrāʾu

In the garden there is a red flower and a yellow flower.

اَلسَّمَاءُ زَرْقَاءُ وَالسَّحَابَةُ بَيْضَاءُ.

as-samāʾu zarqāʾu wa-s-saḥābatu bayḍāʾu

The sky is blue and the cloud is white.

اَلْحِصَانُ الْأَسْوَدُ أَسْرَعُ مِنَ الْحِصَانِ الْأَبْيَضِ.

al-ḥiṣānu-l-aswadu asraʿu mina-l-ḥiṣāni-l-abyaḍi

The black horse is faster than the white horse.

With the article the diptote takes the full genitive -i: اَلْأَبْيَضِ.

وَرَقُ الشَّجَرَةِ أَخْضَرُ وَالْوَرَقَةُ الَّتِي عَلَى الْأَرْضِ صَفْرَاءُ.

waraqu-sh-shajarati akhḍaru wa-l-waraqatu-llatī ʿala-l-arḍi ṣafrāʾu

The leaves of the tree are green and the leaf that is on the ground is yellow.

رَأَيْتُ رَجُلًا أَعْمَى وَامْرَأَةً عَرْجَاءَ عِنْدَ الْبَابِ.

raʾaytu rajulan aʿmā wa-mraʾatan ʿarjāʾa ʿinda-l-bābi

I saw a blind man and a lame woman at the door.

Accusative: أَعْمَى does not change; عَرْجَاءَ takes -a without tanwīn.

هٰؤُلَاءِ الْأَوْلَادُ عُرْجٌ وَأُولٰئِكَ الرِّجَالُ عُمْيٌ.

hāʾulāʾi-l-awlādu ʿurjun wa-ulāʾika-r-rijālu ʿumyun

These boys are lame and those men are blind.

Plural فُعْلٌ for people.