# good, bad: comparative, superlative



## Marga H

Hello everybody,
In each language I know a little the comparison of good and bad is irregular(in spite of  fact that English and Polish for exemple haven't got much in common)I'm just curious:does anybody know any exception?What about non european languages?
English : good,better,the best
             bad,worse,the worst
French: bon,meilleur,le meilleur
            mal,pire,le pire
Polish:  dobry,lepszy,najlepszy
           zły,gorszy,najgorszy
More exemples are wanted.
Thanks in advance.


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## Chazzwozzer

*Turkish:*
iyi, daha iyi, en iyi

kötü, daha kötü, en kötü
*
Beter* is also used to mean worse.


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## jazyk

Comparatives in Portuguese are done by means of the adverb mais (more) before the adjective:
bonito - mais bonito (pretty - prettier)
And superlatives using o mais (the most) instead
bonito - o mais bonito (pretty - the prettiest)

Irregular adjectives do exist, but are very few.  I can only think of:
bom - melhor - o melhor (good - better - the best)
mau - pior - o pior (bad - worse - the worst)
pequeno - menor - o menor (small - smaller - the smallest)
grande - maior - o maior (big - bigger - the biggest)


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## ronanpoirier

In Hungarian, the comparative is made by adding -bb to the end of the adjective, following the rules of vowels harmony.
*Csendes* - *Csendesebb* (Silent - more silent)

The superlative is made by adding leg- to the adjective in the comparative .
*A legcsendesebb* (the most silent)

There are some irregular constructions. About "good" and "bad" we'd have:
*Jó* - *Jobb *- *A Legjobb* (good - better - the best)
*Rossz* - *Rosszabb* - *A legrosszabb* (bad - worse - the worst)
_Those are not irreegular._
An irregular example:
*Szép* - *szebb* - *A legszebb* (beautiful - more beautiful - the most beautiful)
And another irregular example:
*Kicsi* - *Kisebb* - *A legkisebb* (small - smaller - the smallest)

Corrections, please.


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## Whodunit

In German, the comparison of "good" (gut) is regular, whereas the one of "bad" (schlecht) is totally regular:

gut - besser - am besten
schlecht - schlechter - am schlechtesten


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## DrWatson

Finnish:

As in German, good is irregular and bad is regular.​ 
Good
Hyvä - parempi - paras (colloquially it's conjugated regularly: hyvä - *hyvempi - *hyvin)

Bad
Paha - pahempi - pahin (sometimes translates to evil instead of bad)
or
Huono - huonompi - huonoin

There are some differences between paha and huono. E.g:
_Minulla on paha maku suussa_ = I have a bad taste in my mouth
vs.​ _Sinulla on huono maku vaatteiden suhteen_ = You have a bad taste concerning clothes.


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## Insider

In Ukrainian:

Good:
добрий - кращий - найкращий (dobryj - kraschyj - najkraschyj)

Bad:
поганий - гірший - найгірший (poganyj - girshyj - najgirshyj)


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## linguist786

*Urdu/Hindi:*

अच्छा/اچها (achChaa)- बेहतर/بہتر (behtar) - ([सब से] बेहतरीन)/ا(سب سے) بہترين([sab se] behtareen)

(so the last two are kind of related. "sab se" (for the superlative) literally means "from all" (of them), so it's a bit like saying "the best from them all")

*Gujarati:*

સારુ (saaru) - વધારે સારુ (vadhaaray saaru) - બદ્ધા કરતાં સારુ (baddhaa kartaa saaru)

Not quite the same concept here - "saaru" obviously means "good" - the comparitive is just "vadhaaray saaru" which literally means "more good". The superlative is "baddhaa kartaa saaru" which literally translates to "good than all" .


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## linguist786

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in *ARABIC*, it is:

جيد (jayyidun) - افضل (afDalu) - الأفضل (al-afDalu)

The idea in Arabic is that the comparitive and superlative are the same. The comparative in any language is often followed by the idea of "than" (e.g. better _than_, bigger _than_, sweeter _than,_ etc) - this idea is expressed in Arabic by using من (min). Obviously sometimes it is not followed by "than" - in which case a sentence like "This is better" would just be "هذا افضل" (haadhaa afDalu) and "This is the best" would have the definite article prefix "al" (i.e. "هذا الأفضل" (haadha 'l-afDalu) - just like French 

edit - I forgot to mention that the above is only for masculine. If feminine, it would be: جيدة (jayyidatun) - افضل (afDalu) - الأفضل (al-afDalu)
(normal adjective changes by adding ة/ـة, but the comparitive & superlative remain the same)


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## Maja

They have irregular comparison in Serbian as well:

dobar, bolji, najbolji  / добар, бољи, најбољи (good, better, the best) 
loš, gori, najgori / лош,  гори, најгори (bad, worse, the worst).


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## robbie_SWE

In Romanian the comparison of adjectives is EXTREMELY difficult (I think anyway that it is)!!! There are many ways of comparing adjectives, I'll try to stick to the biggest in relation to the topic. 

*bun - mai bun - cel (m.)/cea (f.) mai bun(ă): *
*cei (mpl.)/cele (fpl.) /buni(e) *

*rău/rea - mai rău/rea - cel (m.)/cea (f.)mai rău/rea: *
*cei (mpl.)/cele (fpl.) rei/rele*

Does this make any sense?? In the superlativ you can also use the following: 

*foarte/tare/extrem de/cât se poate de bun/rau* 

I'll stop now before all of you get headaches!  

In Swedish, it's much easier. 

*bra - bättre - bäst*
*dålig - sämre - sämst *_or_* dålig - dåligare - dåligast (but this is not all that conventional)*

 robbie


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## Whodunit

linguist786 said:


> Correct me if I'm wrong, but in *ARABIC*, it is:
> 
> جيد (jayyidun) - افضل (afDalu) - الأفضل (al-afDalu)


 
So, why "afDalu" and not "afDalun?" 



> edit - I forgot to mention that the above is only for masculine. If feminine, it would be: جيدة (jayyidatun) - افضل (afDalu) - الأفضل (al-afDalu)
> (normal adjective changes by adding ة/ـة, but the comparitive & superlative remain the same)


 
A normal adjective:
kabiir (كبير) - akbar (أكبر) - al-akbar (اللأكبر)
masculine: big - bigger - biggest

kabiira (كبيرة) - akbar (أكبر) - al-kubraa (الكبرى)
feminine: big - bigger - biggest

According to this pattern, good - better - best in the feminine form would be:

jayyidatun (جيدة) - afDalun (أفضل) - fuDlaa (فضلى)

(although I doubt this is correct )


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## moldo

Whodunit said:


> In German, the comparison of "good" (gut) is *ir*regular, whereas the one of "bad" (schlecht) is totally regular:
> 
> gut - besser - am besten
> schlecht - schlechter - am schlechtesten


 
Likewise in Dutch:

goed - beter - het beste
slecht - slechter - het slechtste


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## Etcetera

It's the same in Russian.


Marga H said:


> English : good,better,the best
> bad,worse,the worst


Хороший, лучший, наилучший
Плохой, худший, наихудший.


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## cherine

Whodunit said:


> So, why "afDalu" and not "afDalun?"


Because it's a mamnuu3 min aS-Sarf ممنوع من الصرف. Such word don't get tanwiin, and when they are majruur, they take a fat7a instead of a kasra.
To answer the other part of the thread's question, the comparative adjectives for bad are :
سيء - أسوأ - الأسوأ
sayyi2 , aswa2 , al-aswa2
So, there's no real change.


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## betulina

In *Catalan* they can be regular and irregular:

_good_ --> bo - millor - el millor (irreg.)/ bo - més bo - el més bo (reg.)

_bad_ --> dolent - pitjor - el pitjor (irreg.)/ dolent - més dolent - el més dolent (reg.)


In *Spanish* it's the same case, they can be regular and irregular:

_good_ --> bueno - mejor - el mejor (irreg.)/ bueno - más bueno - el más bueno (reg.)

_bad_ --> malo - peor - el peor (irreg.)/ malo - más malo - el más malo (reg.)


I think that in both languages we use one or the other depending on the context.


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## ronanpoirier

jazyk said:
			
		

> bom - melhor - o melhor (good - better - the best)
> mau - pior - o pior (bad - worse - the worst)
> pequeno - menor - o menor (small - smaller - the smallest)
> grande - maior - o maior (big - bigger - the biggest)


In Portuguese, those examples may get the regular form (mais pequeno, mais grande, etc.) if we are comparing two things about the same being. Explaining better: we'd say "ele é mais grande do que gordo" instead of "ele é maior do que gordo". This last sentence would have a different meaning. 
Translations: 
"ele é mais grande do que gordo" = "he's 'more big' than fat"
"ele é maior do que gordo" = "he is 'bigger' than fat" (This would mean something like he's bigger than a fat person. But to make it clear the indefinitie article "um" should be placed before "gordo").


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## jazyk




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## linguist786

Whodunit said:


> So, why "afDalu" and not "afDalun?"


Like cherine said, it is a diptote (ممنوع من الصرف) 



			
				Whodunit said:
			
		

> A normal adjective:
> kabiirun (كبير) - akbaru (أكبر) - al-akbaru (اللأكبر*)
> masculine: big - bigger - biggest
> 
> kabiiratun (كبيرة) - akbaru (أكبر) - al-kubraa (الكبرى)
> feminine: big - bigger - biggest
> 
> According to this pattern, good - better - best in the feminine form would be:
> 
> jayyidatun (جيدة) - afDalun (أفضل) - (fuDlaa (فضلى))
> 
> (although I doubt this is correct )


Hope you don't mind me being a bit nitpicky by showing the "proper" endings .

"fuDlaa" sounds very strange to my ears and I highly doubt whether this is right. In fact I'm sure it isn't. 

*"al-akbar(u)" is الأكبر and not اللأكير


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## Abu Bishr

linguist786 said:


> "fuDlaa" sounds very strange to my ears and I highly doubt whether this is right. In fact I'm sure it isn't.



"fuDlaa" is the feminine form of "afDalu" but has very restricted uses. For example you cannot use it with مِن ("min" than) as you would use it with "afDalu". It is mostly used when prefixed with (أل) as an adjective e.g. البنت الفضلى . Other more common examples of this form are: الأسماء الحُسْنَى , السماوات العُلْيا or الدنيا like in الحياة الدنيا or السماء الدنيا or السلطة العليا (the highest power / authority). All of these superlatives occur on the pattern of فُعْلَى (and should the word's actual ending already be a ya' then the subsequent ya' is then changed into an alif to prevent two ya's from meeting.

I hope this clarifies the point of "fuDla"


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## linguist786

wow.. thanks so much for that! "fuDlaa" sounded laughable to me, but now I know 

Just a side thing - I have a friend called "fuDail" (فضيل) - what would this mean? Just "the best"?
Gramatically speaking, how would you explain this?


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## cherine

Abu Bishr said:


> Other more common examples of this form are: الأسماء الحُسْنَى , السماوات العُلْيا or الدنيا like in الحياة الدنيا or السماء الدنيا or السلطة العليا (the highest power / authority).


I agree with all you said. But I have a tiny correction: as السماوات is plural, we should use the plural of العليا which is العُلَى . (in the Qur'an السماوات العلى ).
On the the pattern there is الأمثل (= the optimum or the best), the feminine is المُثْلَى .


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## Abu Bishr

Hi Linguist 786

The point is that you very seldom use "fuDla" without "أل" and never with "من" . So that is a good rule to go by. It appears to me as if you only had a problem with "fuDla" rather than the pattern as a whole. As for the side thing, it is the diminutive form of فَضْل like حُمَيْد , حُسَيْن , سُهَيْل (all of which are names in this case). Diminutives are often used to express endearments as somthing small is more endearing than something big.



cherine said:


> I agree with all you said. But I have a tiny correction: as السماوات is plural, we should use the plural of العليا which is العُلَى . (in the Qur'an السماوات العلى ).
> On the the pattern there is الأمثل (= the optimum or the best), the feminine is المُثْلَى .


 
Both are acceptable العلى and العليا as the feminine plural (esp. for non-intelligent beings) can use both feminine singular or feminine plural as an adjective:

See following Quranic examples:

أياماً معدودة and أياما معدودات

من آياتنا الكبرى and إنها لَإحدى الكُبَر 

and remeber الأسماء is also plural, but we say: الأسماء الحسنى and الصفات العليا or الصفات العُلى .


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## Marga H

Thanks very much for all replies!


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## Abu Bishr

Afrikaans:

goed - beter - beste

sleg - slegter - slegste


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## neli

In slovenian language
dober- boljši- najboljši (good, better, the best)
slab- slabši- najslabši (bad, worse, the worst)
majhen- manjši- najmanjši (small, smaller, the smallest)
velik- večji- največji (big, biger, the biggest)


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## oveka

Insider said:


> In Ukrainian:
> 
> Good:
> добрий - кращий - найкращий (dobryj - kraschyj - najkraschyj)
> 
> Bad:
> поганий - гірший - найгірший (poganyj - girshyj - najgirshyj)


Post*superlative*
добрий - кращий - найкращий - щонайкращий
поганий - гірший - найгірший- щонайгірший


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## apmoy70

Modern Greek:

Positive: *«Καλός, -λή, -λό»* [kaˈlɔs] (masc.), [kaˈli] (fem.), [kaˈlɔ] (neut.) --> _good_
Comparative: *«Καλύτερος. -ρη, -ρο»* [kaˈli.te.ɾɔs] (masc.), [kaˈli.te.ɾi] (fem.), [kaˈli.te.ɾɔ] (neut.) --> _better_
Superlative: *«Κάλλιστος, -στη, -στο»* [ˈka.lis.tɔs] (masc.), [ˈka.lis.ti] (fem.), [ˈka.lis.tɔ] (neut.) --> _best_

Positive: *«Κακός, -κή, -κό»* [kaˈkɔs] (masc.), [kaˈci] (fem.), [kaˈkɔ] (neut.) --> _bad_
Comparative: *«Χειρότερος, -ρη, -ρο»* [çiˈɾɔ.te.ɾɔs] (masc.), [çiˈɾɔ.te.ɾi] (fem.), [çiˈɾɔ.te.ɾɔ] (neut.) --> _worse_
Superlative:
(1) *«Χείριστος, -στη, -στο»* [ˈçi.ɾis.tɔs] (masc.), [ˈçi.ɾis.ti] (fem.), [ˈçi.ɾis.tɔ] (neut.)
or
(2) *«Κάκιστος, -στη, -στο»* [ˈka.cis.tɔs] (masc.), [ˈka.cis.ti] (fem.), [ˈka.cis.tɔ] (neut.) --> _worst_

Ancient Greek:

Positive: *«Καλός, -λή, -λόν» kălós* (masc.), *kălḗ* (fem.), *kălón* (neut.) --> _good_
Comparative:
(1) *«Καλλίων, -ίων, -ιον» kăllíōn* (masc. & fem.), *kắlliŏn* (neut.)
or
(2) *«Βελτίων, -ίων, -ιον» bĕltíōn* (masc. & fem.), *béltiŏn* (neut.) --> _better_
Superlative:
(1) *«Κάλλιστος, -ίστη, -στον» kắllistŏs* (masc.), *kăllístē* (fem.), *kắllistŏn* (neut.)
or
(2) *«Βέλτιστος, -στη, -στον» béltistŏs* (masc.), *bĕltístē* (fem.), *béltistŏn* --> _best_

Positive: *«Κακός, -κή, -κόν» kăkós* (masc.), *kăkḗ* (fem.), *kăkón* (neut.) --> _bad_
Comparative:
(1) *«Κακίων, -ίων, -ιον» kăkíōn* (masc. & fem.), *kắkiŏn* (neut.)
or
(2) *«Χείρων, -ρων, -ρον» kʰeí̯rōn* (masc. & fem.), *kʰeî̯rŏn* (neut.) --> _worse_
Superlative:
(1) *«Κάκιστος, -στη, -στον» kắkistŏs* (masc.), *kăkístē* (fem.), *kắkistŏn* (neut.)
or
(2) *«Χείριστος, -στη, -στον» kʰeí̯ristŏs* (masc.), *kʰei̯rístē* (fem.), *kʰeí̯ristŏn* (neut.)
or
(3) *«Ἥκιστος, -στη, -στον» hḗkistŏs* (masc.), *hēkístē* (fem.), *hḗkistŏn* (neut.) --> _worst_


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## Mahaodeh

linguist786 said:


> Correct me if I'm wrong, but in *ARABIC*, it is:
> 
> جيد (jayyidun) - افضل (afDalu) - الأفضل (al-afDalu)



I'm surprised no one corrected you!

It's جيّد (jayyidun) - أجود (ajwadu) - الأجود (al-ajwadu)
and فاضل (faaDilun) - أفضل (afDalu) - الأفضل (al-afDalu)

You mixed two words, you used the basic adjective from one and used the comparative and superlative from another.



linguist786 said:


> Just a side thing - I have a friend called "fuDail" (فضيل) - what would this mean? Just "the best"?
> Gramatically speaking, how would you explain this?



No, it does not mean that. فضيل (faDeel) has the same meaning as فاضل except that the word implies a permanent or inherent trait in the person (or thing) described. Basically it means "good" but not as simple as that, it has deeper meaning. Grammatically it's called صفة مشبهة باسم الفاعل. The name you gave is a diminutive of faDeel.
​


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## anahiseri

In Spanish, the regular form of "malo" (bad), that is, "más malo" sounds acceptable to me, but I would say "más bueno"  (better), though common in colloquial speech, is not correct.


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## nimak

*Macedonian*

In Macedonian there is no irregular compassion.
_Comparatives are formed with_ по+adjective
_Superlatives are formed with_ нај+adjective

In Macedonian there is also so called "_absolute superlative_" expressing the highest quality without comparison.
_Absolute superlatives are formed with_ пре+adjective

*good* = добар (dobar) ['dɔbar]
*better *= подобар (podobar) ['pɔdɔbar]
*the best* = најдобар (najdobar) ['najdɔbar]
_Absolute superlative_: предобар (predobar) ['prɛdɔbar] = *very good*; *too good*

*bad *= лош (loš) ['ɫɔʃ]
*worse *= полош (pološ) ['pɔɫɔʃ]
*the worst* = најлош (najloš) ['najɫɔʃ]
_Absolute superlative_: прелош (preloš) ['prɛɫɔʃ] = *very bad*;* too bad*

Only one adjective in Macedonian has an irregular comparative: *многу* (*mnogu*).
многу (mnogu) ['mnɔgu] = *a lot*
повеќе (poveḱe) ['pɔvɛcɛ] = *more*
најмногу (najmnogu) ['najmnɔgu] = *the most*
_Absolute superlative_: премногу (premnogu) ['prɛmnɔgu] = *very much*;* too much*


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## AndrasBP

Remarkably, there are no irregular adjectives in *Lithuanian*:
comparatives are formed with -*esnis *(masc. sing. nom.)
superlatives are formed with -*iausias *(masc. sing. nom.)

geras - geresnis - geriausias (good - better - best)
blogas - blogesnis - blogiausias (bad - worse - worst)


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## Circunflejo

anahiseri said:


> I would say "más bueno" (better), though common in colloquial speech, is not correct.



It depends on context (think, for example, about más bueno/a que el pan). Take a look at the 2b) at the DPD: http://lema.rae.es/dpd/srv/search?id=F2hiq04ZVD639Jqxbc.


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## Sardokan1.0

In Sardinian and in Italian it works in the same way of Spanish.

*Italian :*

*Buono *= good -> *Più buono* = (literally) more good | *Migliore *= better (from Latin "melior")
*Cattivo *= bad -> *Più cattivo* = more bad | *Peggiore *= worst (from Latin "peior")

*Sardinian :*

*Bonu *= good -> *Piùs bonu* = more good | *Mèzus *= best, better (from Latin "melius")
*Malu *= bad ->* Piùs malu* = more bad | *Pèus *= worse, worst (from Latin "peius")


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## symposium

Sardokan1.0 said:


> In Sardinian and in Italian it works in the same way of Spanish.
> 
> *Italian :*
> 
> *Buono *= good -> *Più buono* = (literally) more good | *Migliore *= better (from Latin "melior")
> *Cattivo *= bad -> *Più cattivo* = more bad | *Peggiore *= worst (from Latin "peior")
> 
> *Sardinian :*
> 
> *Bonu *= good -> *Piùs bonu* = more good | *Mèzus *= best, better (from Latin "melius")
> *Malu *= bad ->* Piùs malu* = more bad | *Pèus *= worse, worst (from Latin "peius")


Let's not forget "ottimo = the best" and "pessimo = the worst".


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## elroy

Modern Standard Arabic:

As was said above, "good, better, best" is جيد، أفضل، الأفضل (_jayyid_, _afḍal_, al-_afḍal_).  I guess this could be considered "irregular"; specifically, the comparative and superlative forms are based on a different adjective, فاضل (_fāḍil_).  جيد (_jayyid_) does have its own comparative and superlative forms, أجود، الأجود (_ajwad_, _al-ajwad_), but they're rarely used.

"Bad, worse, worst" is regular: سيّء، أسوء، الأسوء (_sayyiʿ_, _aswaʿ_, _al-ʿaswaʿ_).

Palestinian Arabic:

"good, better, best": منيح/كويّس، أحسن، أحسن إشي/واحد (_mnīḥ/kwayyes_, _aḥsan_, _aḥsan iši/wāḥad_).  This is the same situation as in MSA.  The comparative and superlative forms are based on the adjective حسن (_ḥasan_), which is used in MSA but not in Palestinian Arabic

"bad, worse, worst": This one is interesting.  The default way to say "bad" is literally مش منيح (_miš mnīḥ_), which literally means "not good."  Another word that is used in some contexts is عاطل (_ʾāṭel_), which has regular comparative and superlative forms: أعطل، أعطل إشي/واحد (_aʾṭal_, _aʾṭal iši/wāḥad_).  Otherwise, there is no default way to say "worse, worst."  Various words are used depending on the context -- for example, أنحس، أنحس إشي/واحد (_anḥas_, _anḥas iši/wāḥad_), from the adjective نحس (_niḥes_).


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## Awwal12

Etcetera said:


> It's the same in Russian.
> 
> Хороший, лучший, наилучший
> Плохой, худший, наихудший.


Yes, but Russian at least allows to avoid the suppletivity in the superlative form ("самый хороший", ~"most good"). Technically, it does so for the comparative as well, except people normally don't say it that way ("более хороший", ~"more good").

I must note that the superlative forms in "наи-" are generally sort of bookish in Russian. Otherwise, the superlative form is the same as the comparative one (here it's "лучший", "худший" - and I'd say it is the most expected meaning of these words; Russian syntax generally avoids their comparative use), or "analytic" ("самый хороший", "самый плохой"), or "redundant" ("самый лучший", "самый худший" - although these forms are frowned upon by philologists), or "ultra-redundant" ("самый наилучший", "самый наихудший" - generally used for putting a strong emphasis, purely colloquial and pretty rare).


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