Comparison with als

Using als is actually quite straightforward once you see the pattern. You take a basic adjective and make it "stronger" or "more." This is what we call the comparative form. In German, this usually means adding -er to the end of the word. Once you have your comparative adjective, you place als right after it. It acts like a bridge leading to the second thing you are comparing. For example, klein (small) becomes kleiner (smaller). Then you add als to get kleiner als (smaller than). It’s a very logical flow that keeps your sentences moving forward. Even native speakers sometimes trip up, but the logic remains the same. You are basically saying "A is [adjective-er] than B." It is a universal formula for comparing anything from prices to people.

1. 1Start with your basic adjective, such as schnell (fast).
2. 2Add the suffix -er to the end to get schneller (faster).
3. 3Check if the adjective is short and has a, o, or u.
4. 4These often need an umlaut, like alt becoming älter.
5. 5Place the word als immediately after this comparative form.
6. 6Add the person or thing you are comparing against at the end.
7. 7Ensure both sides of the comparison use the same grammatical case.
8. 8For irregulars like gut, use the special form besser before als.

Use als whenever you want to highlight a difference between two things. Use it at a restaurant when the steak is teurer als the salad. Use it at the train station when one train is später als another. It is perfect for job interviews when you want to sound confident. You might say you are fleißiger als other candidates. It helps you clarify your preferences and state facts in your daily life. If there is an "-er" or a "more" in English, use als. Think of it as the "difference maker" in your vocabulary. It is also great for describing changes over time. You can say your German is besser als last month. This shows progress and makes your speech sound more natural and dynamic.

Don't use als if the two things you are comparing are equal. If two cars are equally fast, als stays at home. In those cases, you need the word wie combined with so. For example, so schnell wie (as fast as). Think of als as the "rivalry" word and wie as the "twin" word. If there is no difference, als has no job to do. Also, do not use als with the superlative form. If something is "the fastest" (am schnellsten), you don't need a comparison word. als only likes pairs where one is "more" than the other. It’s like a grammar traffic light; only go with als when things are unequal.

The most frequent trap is using wie instead of als for differences. You might hear people say größer wie, but that is technically wrong. Always stick to größer als to keep your German clean and correct. Another common mistake is forgetting the umlaut on short adjectives. Saying kälter als is correct, while kalter als sounds a bit strange to native ears. Lastly, keep an eye on your cases. If you say "He is taller than I," both "He" and "I" should be nominative. So, it is er ist größer als ich, not als mich. It’s a small detail, but it makes a huge difference in sounding fluent.

It helps to compare als with its cousin wie. As mentioned, wie is used for equality. so groß wie means two people are the same height. größer als means one is definitely taller. You can think of it as a mathematical sign. wie is like the equals sign (=). als is like the greater-than sign (>). Sometimes people combine them into als wie, but please avoid this. It is a common dialect mistake that will make your teacher cringe. Stick to one or the other based on the situation. If you see a difference, use als. If you see a match, use wie. It is that simple.