Comparative and Superlative: akbar

To compare, Arabic puts the adjective's root into the pattern أفعل and adds من (than): كبير → أكبر, القاهرة أكبر من دمشق (Cairo is bigger than Damascus). This form never changes for gender: أختي أصغر مني (my sister is younger than me).

• doubled roots: مهم → أهم, قليل → أقل
• roots ending in و or ي: غالٍ → أغلى, ذكي → أذكى
• جيد → أفضل or أحسن (better)
• adjectives that do not fit أفعل, mostly ones beginning with مـ such as مزدحم، مفيد, use أكثر + a noun: أكثر ازدحاما (more crowded)

The same form also means the most: before an indefinite singular noun (أكبر مدينة, the biggest city) or a definite plural (أفضل المطاعم, the best restaurants). After a definite feminine noun it can take the feminine فعلى: البنت الصغرى (the youngest daughter), الدراسات العليا (graduate studies).