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 inferiority expresses that one referent has a property to a lower degree compared to other referent(s). Both in Persian and English, there is no morphological way to construct the comparative of inferiority. Both languages use adverbial constructions for this purpose.
In Persian, the comparative of inferiority is not as common as it is in English. For instance, instead of “less expensive”, the superior degree of the opposite adjective (“cheaper”) or the negated form of its equality degree (“not as expensive as”) is employed.
- Gold is less expensive than platinum
- طلا کمتر از پلاتین گران است
⟨talâ kamtar az pelâtin gerân ast⟩
Gold is less expensive than platinum
(using an adverbial structure: less + ADJECTIVE) - طلا ارزانتر از پلاتین است
⟨talâ arzântar az pelâtin ast⟩
Gold is cheaper than platinum
(using the superior degree of antonyms) - طلا به گرانی پلاتین نیست
⟨talâ be gerâni-ye pelâtin nist ⟩
Gold is not as expensive as platinum
(using the comparative of equality with a negative verb)
The first sentence literally translates to “Gold less than platinum expensive is”. That is, the structure “less + ADJECTIVE” is separable in Persian whereas “less expensive” is an inseparable unit in English. The first sentence can be alternatively worded as follows, which is closer to its English equivalent.
- طلا از پلاتین کمتر گران است
⟨talâ az pelâtin kamtar gerân ast⟩
Gold is less expensive than platinum
(literally: Gold than platinum less expensive is)