The comparative form of adjectives has three types: comparative of superiority (e.g. “more beautiful”), comparative of equality (e.g. “as beautiful as”) and comparative of inferiority (e.g. “less beautiful”). The comparative of equality expresses that referents have a property to an equal degree. Both in Persian and English, there is no morphological way to construct the comparative of equality. Both languages use adverbial constructions for this purpose.
Forming Nouns From Adjectives
An adjective can be converted to a noun by taking the suffix ی (“-i”).
| Adjective | Noun |
|---|---|
| خوب ⟨xub⟩ good |
خوبی ⟨xubi⟩ goodness |
| بد ⟨bad⟩ bad |
بدی ⟨badi⟩ badness |
If the adjective ends in a vowel other than “-e”, the epenthetic consonant “-y-” is added before the suffix “-i” to resolve vowel hiatus.
| Adjective | Noun |
|---|---|
| زیبا ⟨zibâ⟩ beautiful |
زیبایی ⟨zibâyi⟩ beauty |
If the adjective ends in “-e”, usually a “-g-” appears before the suffix. It belongs to the older form of the word and is not the result of epenthesis.
| Adjective | Noun |
|---|---|
| تازه ⟨tâze⟩ fresh |
تازگی ⟨tâzegi⟩ freshness |
Structures of Equality
To make a comparison of equality, nouns and adjectives are placed in the following formulas. As mentioned in the formation of adverbs, combining the preposition به (“be”) with a noun or an adjective plus suffix “-i” (which also forms a noun) results in an adverbial structure. For instance, “be xubi” means “well” but when it takes the genitive postposition and becomes “be xubi-ye”, the meaning changes to “as good as” (comparative adjective of equality) or “as well as” (comparative adverb of equality), depending on the context.
| preposition “be” | noun | genitive “-(y)e” | ||||
| adjective | suffix “-i” | |||||
| Adjective | Comparative of Equality |
|---|---|
| خوب ⟨xub⟩ good |
به خوبی ⟨be xubi-ye⟩ as good as |
| بد ⟨bad⟩ bad |
به بدی ⟨be badi-ye⟩ as bad as |
| زیبا ⟨zibâ⟩ beautiful |
به زیبایی ⟨be zibâyi-ye⟩ as beautiful as |
| تازه ⟨tâze⟩ fresh |
به تازگی ⟨be tâzegi-ye⟩ as fresh as |
| Noun | Comparative of Equality |
|---|---|
| شدت ⟨šeddat⟩ severity, intensity |
به شدت ⟨be šeddat-e⟩ as severe/intense as |
| دقت ⟨deǧǧat⟩ attention |
به دقت ⟨be deǧǧat-e⟩ as attentive as |
Examples
- سارا به زیبایی خواهرش است
⟨sârâ be zibâyi-ye xwâhar-aš ast⟩
Sarah is as beautiful as her sister - امروز هوا به گرمی دیروز نیست
⟨emruz havâ be garmi-ye diruz nist⟩
Today the weather is not as hot as yesterday - هیچ کس به خوبی تو نیست
⟨hič kas be xubi-ye to nist⟩
No one is as good as you - خانه‌ی من به بزرگی خانه‌ی تو نیست
⟨xâne-ye man be bozorgi-ye xâne-ye to nist⟩
My house is not as big as yours - فارسی من به خوبی فارسی تو نیست
⟨fârsi-ye man be xubi-ye fârsi-ye to nist⟩
My Persian is not as good as yours - در تنیس بازی کردن به خوبی من است
⟨dar tenis bâzi kardan be xubi-ye man ast⟩
He is as good in playing tennis as I am
Demonstrative Adjectives of Equality
When the second side of comparison is not mentioned, demonstrative adjectives are used. Both distal and proximal demonstratives can be used depending on the context.
| “be” | demonstrative | noun | “-(y)e” | |||||
| adjective | “-i” | |||||||
| Proximal | Distal |
|---|---|
| به این بزرگی ⟨be in bozorgi⟩ as big as this this big |
به آن بزرگی ⟨be ân bozorgi⟩ as big as that that big |
| به همین بزرگی ⟨be hamin bozorgi⟩ the same big as this as very big as this this very big |
به همان بزرگی ⟨be hamân bozorgi⟩ the same big as that as very big as that that very big |
Examples
- خانه‌ی من به بزرگی خانه‌ی تو نیست
⟨xâne-ye man be bozorgi-ye xâne-ye to nist⟩
My house is not as big as yours - خانه‌ای به این بزرگی می‌خواهم
xâne-i be in bozorgi mixwâham
I want a house this big (as big as this) - خانه‌ای به آن بزرگی می‌خواهم
xâne-i be ân bozorgi mixwâham
I want a house that big (as big as that) - خانه‌ای به همین بزرگی می‌خواهم
xâne-i be hamin bozorgi mixwâham
I want a house this very big (the same big as this) - خانه‌ای به همان بزرگی می‌خواهم
xâne-i be hamân bozorgi mixwâham
I want a house that very big (the same big as that)
More Examples
- تا به حال، امتحانی به این سختی نداده بودم
⟨tâ be hâl emtehân-i be in saxti nadâde budam⟩
I had never taken an exam this difficult
(such a difficult exam; an exam as difficult as this) - در عمرم، دختری به این زیبایی ندیده‌ام
⟨dar omr-am doxtar-i be in zibâyi nadideam⟩
I have never seen such a beautiful girl in my life
(a girl this beautiful; a girl as beautiful as this) - کتاب به آن خوبی که فکر می‌کردم نیست
⟨ketâb be ân xubi ke fekr mikardam nist⟩
The book is not as good as I thought - کتاب به آن خوبی نیست
⟨ketâb be ân xubi nist⟩
The book is not that good - نمی‌دانستم که وضعیت به این بدی است
⟨nemidânestam ke vazøiyat be in badi ast⟩
I did not realize the situation was this bad - تا به حال، با مشکلی به این بزرگی روبرو نشده بودم
⟨tâ be hâl bâ moškel-i be in bozorgi ru-be-ru našode budam⟩
I had never faced such a big problem
(a problem as big as this; a problem this big) - تا کنون، در خانه‌ای به این بزرگی زندگی نکرده بوده‌ایم
⟨tâ konun, dar xâne-i be in bozorgi zendegi nakarde budeim ⟩
We have never lived in as large a house as this
(a house that is as large as this; a house this large)