LingoflyComparatives: -ago… baino
Comparison is built with the suffix -ago: merkea → merkeagoa — cheaper. "Than" is baino, and what you compare with stands before it: Azoka supermerkatua baino merkeagoa da — the market is cheaper than the supermarket. For example: “Arrain hau hura baino freskoagoa da” — This fish is fresher than that one. A rule from the Basque course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Comparison is built with the suffix -ago: merkea → merkeagoa — cheaper. "Than" is baino, and what you compare with stands before it: Azoka supermerkatua baino merkeagoa da — the market is cheaper than the supermarket.
There is one irregular pair to learn at once: ona — good, hobea — better. "Bad" has two forms: txarragoa and okerragoa — worse.
Table
| positive | comparative | |
|---|---|---|
| expensive | garestia | garestiagoa |
| good | ona | hobea |
| bad | txarra | txarragoa / okerragoa |
| big | handia | handiagoa |
By example
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Comparatives: how does it work in Basque?
Comparison is built with the suffix -ago: merkea → merkeagoa — cheaper. "Than" is baino, and what you compare with stands before it: Azoka supermerkatua baino merkeagoa da — the market is cheaper than the supermarket.
What does it look like in a Basque example sentence?
“Arrain hau hura baino freskoagoa da” — This fish is fresher than that one. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.