Drożej, taniej, lepiej: the comparative degree
To say cheaper or older, add -szy or -ejszy to the adjective: drogi → droższy, tani → tańszy, stary → starszy. It works like English -er. For example: “Na targu jest taniej niż w sklepie” — At the market it is cheaper than in the shop. A rule from the Polish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
To say cheaper or older, add -szy or -ejszy to the adjective: drogi → droższy, tani → tańszy, stary → starszy. It works like English -er.
Two things trip people up. The most common words are irregular, as in English good and better: dobry → lepszy, duży → większy, mały → mniejszy. And the consonant before the ending often shifts: g becomes ż in droższy, and n becomes ń in tańszy.
English than is niż: Targ jest tańszy niż sklep. You can also put od in front of what you compare with: tańszy od tego. Both are alive, but niż is more common in speech.
For the most, put naj- in front of the comparative: najtańszy, najdroższy, najlepszy.
Table
| Adjective | Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|---|
| drogi — expensive | droższy | najdroższy |
| tani — cheap | tańszy | najtańszy |
| dobry — good | lepszy | najlepszy |
| duży — big | większy | największy |
| mały — small | mniejszy | najmniejszy |
| stary — old | starszy | najstarszy |
| świeży — fresh | świeższy | najświeższy |
By example
- Na targu jest taniej niż w sklepieAt the market it is cheaper than in the shop
- Ten ser jest świeższyThis cheese is fresher
- To jest najdroższy sklep w mieścieIt is the most expensive shop in the city
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
Drożej, taniej, lepiej: how does it work in Polish?
To say cheaper or older, add -szy or -ejszy to the adjective: drogi → droższy, tani → tańszy, stary → starszy. It works like English -er.
What does it look like in a Polish example sentence?
“Na targu jest taniej niż w sklepie” — At the market it is cheaper than in the shop. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.