дорогий Becomes дорожчий: Comparative and Superlative Forms in Ukrainian

“This melon is more expensive than that one.” “Which is the cheapest?” Whether shopping or giving directions, comparisons come up all the time. In Ukrainian, “more ~” and “most ~” are expressed by changing the shape of the adjective itself. дорогий (expensive) becomes дорожчий (more expensive), and найдорожчий (most expensive).

Below, this article sets out how such forms are built, based on Український правопис as it took effect as the State Language Standard on March 28, 2026 (the “2026 Standard” below), on Українська мова. Енциклопедія (the Encyclopedia of the Ukrainian Language, 2nd edition, 2004, compiled by two institutes of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; the “Encyclopedia” below), and on the Academy’s 20-volume dictionary. Confirmed as of September 2026.

Three Degrees: звичайний, вищий, найвищий

The Encyclopedia’s entry “Ступені порівняння прикметників” (“Degrees of comparison of adjectives”; written by А. П. Грищенко) divides adjective forms into three.

• звичайний ступінь (the plain degree): the form that expresses a quality without comparing it to anything else. дорогий (expensive)
• вищий ступінь (the higher degree): the form showing that the quality is present more strongly than in the plain form — what is usually called the comparative. дорожчий (more expensive)
• найвищий ступінь (the highest degree): the form showing that the quality is strongest among others being compared — what is usually called the superlative. найдорожчий (most expensive)

According to the same entry, only “qualitative adjectives” (якісні прикметники) that describe a quality admitting degrees of difference have comparative forms at all.

How to Form the Comparative

Section §104, “Ступенювання прикметників” (“Comparison of adjectives”), of the 2026 Standard gives three ways of forming the comparative. Consonant changes are set out separately in §20.

How it is formed	Example (plain form → comparative)	Source
Adding -іш-	новий → новіший (new), повний → повніший (full), синій → синіший (blue)	§104, item 1, no. 1
Adding -ш-	дешевий → дешевший (cheap), солодкий → солодший (sweet)	§104, item 1, no. 1
Adding -ш-, with г, ж, з changing to жч, and с changing to щ	дорогий → дорожчий (expensive), дужий → дужчий (strong), вузький → вужчий (narrow), низький → нижчий (low), високий → вищий (high, tall)	§20; §104, item 1, no. 1
Exceptions where the consonant does not change	довгий → довший (long), легкий → легший (light, easy)	§20
Words with both forms	товстий → товщий and товстіший (thick, fat)	§104, item 1, no. 1
Words that switch to a different stem	великий → більший (big), малий → менший (small), гарний → кращий (good, beautiful), поганий → гірший (bad)	§104, item 1, no. 3
Placing більш (more) or менш (less) in front (noted as “рідше,” i.e. this form is used less often)	більш вдалий (more successful), більш глибокий (deeper), менш вередливий (less capricious)	§104, item 1, no. 2

The Encyclopedia states that, between -іш- and -ш-, it is -іш- that now forms new words. When -ш- is added, the original form’s -к-, -ок-, or -ек- can drop, as in солодкий → солодший, глибокий → глибший (deep), and далекий → дальший (far). However, the same entry also notes that this change is not consistent, listing легший, м’якший (soft), and тихший (quiet) alongside тугіший (tight) and гіркіший (bitter). Which pattern a given word follows is safest to check word by word in a dictionary.

In dictionaries, some comparative forms get an independent headword of their own. Looking them up in the 20-volume dictionary, ДОРО́ЖЧИЙ is glossed as “Вищ. ст. до дороги́й” (the comparative of дорогий), and БЛИ́ЖЧИЙ is glossed as “the comparative of близький (near).” How to read dictionary headwords is covered in our article on how to use Ukrainian dictionaries.

Words That Change Completely: кращий, гірший, більший, менший

The comparatives of “good,” “bad,” “big,” and “small” bear little resemblance to their plain forms. The Encyclopedia’s entry “Суплетивізм” (“Suppletion”) calls it suppletion when forms with different roots combine as if they were a single word’s forms, and says this happens especially often with comparison, giving хороший (also добрий, гарний) — кращий, поганий — гірший, багато (much/many) — більше, and мало (little/few) — менше.

The 20-volume dictionary glosses кращий as “the comparative of гарний, добрий, хороший,” and also gives ліпший as a synonym with the same meaning. The entry for ліпший is “the comparative of добрий and гарний.” §104 of the 2026 Standard gives four words as examples of a comparative formed from a different stem: великий, малий, гарний, and поганий.

старший Is Not Just “Older”

Some comparative forms have lost their comparative meaning and are used as words in their own right. The Encyclopedia notes that старший (the comparative of старий, “old”) no longer expresses a difference of degree meaning “more elderly,” giving as examples job titles and ranks such as старший лейтенант (senior lieutenant) and старший викладач (senior lecturer). It likewise cites вищий in вищий навчальний заклад (higher education institution) and молодший in молодший лейтенант (junior lieutenant, literally “younger lieutenant”).

How to Form the Superlative

The superlative is formed by adding най- to the front of the comparative (2026 Standard §104, item 2, no. 1): найбільший (biggest), найкраща (best, feminine form), найменше (smallest, neuter form). Where the comparative uses a different stem, the superlative uses the same stem.

A second way is to place найбільш (most) or найменш (least) in front of the plain form (item 2, no. 2 of the same section). The Standard again notes this form as “рідше” (used less often), giving as examples найбільш зручний (most convenient), найбільш стійка (most stable, feminine form), and найменш приємне (least pleasant, neuter form).

якнай- and щонай- Are Written Together, Without a Hyphen

To intensify the superlative further, як- or що- is added in front. §104, item 2 of the 2026 Standard states that this як and що are “written together with the adjective,” giving щонайсильніший, якнайбільший, and якнайшвидший. The same applies to adverbs: §41, item 1, no. 9 lists щонайбільше, щонайкраще, якнайбільше, and якнайдовше among words written together, and §44, item 3, no. 1 likewise gives щонайкращий and якнайшвидше as examples written together.

The meaning differs slightly from “most.” According to the Encyclopedia, forms like якнайбільший and щонайбільший do not mean “most” in the sense of being compared against others, but rather express the maximum possible degree of a quality — “as ~ as possible.” As illustrations, the Encyclopedia quotes a line by Mykola Zerov, “…неподільні на частки і якнайменші на розмір” (“…indivisible into parts and as small in size as possible”), and a passage by Borys Hrinchenko, “От і кавуни. Санько зірвав щонайбільшого і покотив до Стецька” (“And there are the watermelons. Sanko picked the very biggest one and rolled it over to Stetsko”).

The prefix пре-, placed before an adjective, has a similar function. §31, item 4 of the 2026 Standard states that пре- is used “with qualitative adjectives, and with adverbs formed from them, to express the highest degree of a quality,” giving прегарний (very beautiful), прекрасний (wonderful), премудрий (very wise), препогано (terribly badly), and пречудово (marvelously).

How to Say What You Are Comparing Against: ніж, за, від

There is more than one way to say “than ~.” The Encyclopedia lists the following forms used together with a comparative.

• The prepositions від, проти, and супроти + the genitive case (roughly corresponding to “of”)
• The prepositions за, над, and понад + the accusative case (roughly corresponding to “than/over”)
• The conjunctions ніж, аніж, and як
• The paired conjunctions чим… тим and що… то (“the more…, the more…”)

All three types appear among the example sentences in the 20-volume dictionary.

• ніж: Сьогодні грядка була ще краща, ніж учора (“Today the garden bed was even better than yesterday.” Vynnychenko)
• за: Ніхто краще за неї не гаптував у п’яльцях (“No one embroidered better than she did on an embroidery hoop.” Panas Myrny)
• від: Вона дівчина бідна, але завжди вбирається краще від господарських дочок (“She is a poor girl, but she always dresses better than the daughters of well-off households.” Lesya Ukrainka)

The dictionary’s entry for більший notes that when comparing, it is “used with the prepositions від, за, or the conjunction ніж.” The 2026 Standard’s §104 says nothing about which of these forms is preferred; §104 fixes only how the forms themselves are built. The case that follows a preposition is covered in our article on Ukrainian noun cases and declension.

Is “найкращий за всіх” an Error? A Disagreement Between Two Encyclopedia Entries

On combining the superlative with a preposition, the Encyclopedia itself is inconsistent between entries.

• The entry “Ступені порівняння прикметників” (by А. П. Грищенко) states that superlative adjectives are used together with з, з-між, серед (genitive), над, за (accusative), між (instrumental), and в (у), на (locative)
• The entry “Тавтологія” (“Tautology,” by О. О. Тараненко) gives, as examples of unwanted, unintended repetition of a word or form, “більш досконаліший” (більш repeated with the comparative -іш- suffix) and “найкращий за всіх” (the superlative overlapping with кращий за всіх, meaning “better than everyone”)
• The entry “Контамінація” (“Contamination,” also by Тараненко) gives “більш точніше” (a blend of більш точно and точніше) and “найкращий від усіх” (a blend of найкращий and кращий від усіх) as examples of mistakenly combining an analytic form with a single-word form

In other words, both entries agree in treating the doubling of більш (more) with a comparative suffix as undesirable and incorrect. But on adding за to a superlative, one entry lists it as a usable form while another treats it as a case of unwanted repetition. The 2026 Standard does not settle which is the norm. Keeping “better than everyone” as кращий за всіх and “best of all” as найкращий з усіх would not conflict with either entry (this arrangement is the editors’ own).

“More” and “Most” for Adverbs

Adverbs also have comparative forms. The Encyclopedia’s entry “Прислівник” (“Adverb”) gives весело (happily) — веселіше — найвеселіше as an example. The comparative of добре (well) is given in the 20-volume dictionary as both краще and ліпше. Consonant changes follow the same pattern as for adjectives; §20 of the 2026 Standard lists adverb forms too, such as дорожче, вужче, нижче, and вище.

Adjectives With No Comparative

Even among qualitative adjectives, some do not form a comparative. The Encyclopedia gives the following kinds of words.

• Qualities admitting no difference of degree: босий (barefoot), голий (naked), мертвий (dead), сліпий (blind), and so on
• Coat colors of horses and cattle: буланий (dun), вороний (raven-black), гнідий (bay)
• Colors named after objects: вишневий (cherry-colored), малиновий (raspberry-colored), буряковий (beet-colored)
• Words whose suffix already expresses a degree: білуватий (whitish), біленький (nicely white, diminutive), широчезний (very wide), премудрий, and so on
• Adjectives made of two words: сіро-зелений (grayish-green), блакитноокий (blue-eyed), and so on

However, the same entry notes that these restrictions are not absolute, and that writers sometimes create comparative forms of such words for stylistic effect, citing “крутосхилішим” (“of a steeper slope”) from a passage by Hryhir Tyutyunnyk. Diminutive suffixes such as -еньк- are covered in our article on Ukrainian diminutive forms.

Comparing the 1993, 2019, and 2026 Editions of the Orthography

The rules on forming comparatives have been added to, bit by bit, with each new edition of the orthography.

Edition	Section	What changed (compared with the previous edition)
1993 (4th edition)	§18, item 3; §69 “Ступенювання прикметників”	Examples of consonant change (високий — вищий, вузький — вужчий, дорогий — дорожчий, дужий — дужчий, низький — нижчий; the exception легкий — легший). The comparative via -іш-/-ш- and більш/менш; the superlative via the “prefix най-” (префікс най-) and найбільш/найменш. що and як written together
2019	§20, §104 “Ступенювання прикметників”	Section numbers change. “(рідше)” (“used less often”) is added for більш/менш and найбільш/найменш
2026 (State Language Standard)	§20, §104 “Ступенювання прикметників”	довгий — довший is added to §20’s exceptions. §104 adds examples of the жч/щ change (вищий, товщий and товстіший, ближчий, дорожчий, and so on) and the four words formed from a different stem (більший, менший, кращий, гірший). The word “префікс” (“prefix”) disappears, and only “най-” is written

The 2019 edition that the 2026 Standard is based on, and what happened afterward, is covered in our article, “The 2019 Orthography Became a ‘State Language Standard’ Seven Years Later.” In an announcement on March 27, 2026, the Ministry of Culture explained that the text of the Standard received editorial corrections such as added examples and clearer wording, but that these do not affect settled rules. Whether the additions in the 2026 column of the table above amount to a change in the rules is not addressed in the text of the Standard itself.

Differences between Ukrainian and Russian in general are covered in our article, “Where Ukrainian and Russian Differ”; the use of the prepositions у and в is covered in our article on у/в and і/й.