The pattern
Ordinary adjectives normally take -er and -st. Past participles used as adjectives usually take meer and meest, and you also use meer to compare two qualities of the same person or thing.
- Ordinary adjectives, including most long ones: duur, duurder, het duurst and moeilijk, moeilijker, het moeilijkst.
- Past participles, the verb form in ik heb gelezen: nog meer verrast, het meest gelezen boek.
- Some words that look like participles now behave as ordinary adjectives and take the endings: bekender, beroemdste, ingewikkelder.
- Some longer adjectives allow both forms in the superlative: de interessantste or de meest interessante lezing, de geschiktste or de meest geschikte kandidaat. In the comparative, -er is the usual choice.
- Two qualities, one person: Joris is meer bang dan boos. You will also hear eerder bang dan boos, with the same meaning.
- The adjective after meer or meest follows the usual -e rules, and meest itself stays meest: de meest gestelde vraag.
For the endings themselves, see Comparatives and Superlatives. For participles before a noun, see Past participles as adjectives.
Examples
| Dat is het meest gelezen boek van dit jaar. | That is the most widely read book of the year. |
| Ik ben nog meer verrast dan jij, want ik wist er niets van. | I am even more surprised than you, because I knew nothing about it. |
| Wat is de meest gestelde vraag aan de balie van de gemeente? | What is the most frequently asked question at the municipality's front desk? |
| Van alle collega's was Bas het meest verbaasd over het nieuws. | Of all the colleagues, Bas was the most surprised by the news. |
| Na de vakantie voelt Daan zich veel meer ontspannen. | After the holiday Daan feels much more relaxed. |
| Volgens het team is Priya de meest geschikte kandidaat. | According to the team, Priya is the most suitable candidate. |
| De lezing van Mei was interessanter dan ik had verwacht. | Mei's talk was more interesting than I had expected. |
| Lotte zegt weinig op verjaardagen, maar ze is meer verlegen dan onvriendelijk. | Lotte says little at birthday parties, but she is shy rather than unfriendly. |
| Ahmed was meer verdrietig dan boos toen zijn fiets gestolen was. | Ahmed was more sad than angry when his bike was stolen. |
Why it works this way
Think of -er and -st as endings you glue onto a plain quality word such as druk, duur or leuk. A past participle is different: it still feels like part of a verb, the result of something that happened. Dutch tends to leave that verb form alone and puts the degree in a separate word in front, just as it does with the verb itself: Dit boek wordt het meest gelezen (This book is read the most).
The meer ... dan pattern is logical too. In Lotte is meer verlegen dan onvriendelijk you are not comparing Lotte with someone else. You are choosing which word fits her better, so meer means something like "rather". Standard Dutch does not use the -er ending for that job.
Your first language can trick you here. English says "more difficult" and "more interesting", and Spanish uses "más" with almost every adjective, but Dutch normally says moeilijker and interessanter. German speakers face the opposite trap: German often puts the ending on a participle ("überraschter"), while Dutch normally says meer verrast.
Speakers also choose meest for emphasis, because a separate word can carry stress: het meest absurde plan can sound stronger than het absurdste plan. Both are correct. You hear this mostly with longer adjectives. With short everyday ones like snel or duur, the ending is the normal choice: de snelste route.
Remember: if you can picture an action behind the word (someone read the book, something surprised you), reach for meer or meest. If it is simply a quality, like druk, duur or moeilijk, use the endings, unless you are weighing two qualities against each other.
Watch out
خطأDeze cursus is meer moeilijk dan de vorige.
صوابDeze cursus is moeilijker dan de vorige.
moeilijk is an ordinary adjective, so it takes -er
خطأDe trein is meer sneller dan de bus.
صوابDe trein is sneller dan de bus.
use -er or meer, not both
خطأHet is het gelezenste boek van dit jaar.
صوابHet is het meest gelezen boek van dit jaar.
gelezen is a past participle, so it takes meest, not -ste
خطأDat is de meeste gestelde vraag.
صوابDat is de meest gestelde vraag.
meest gets no -e before an adjective
خطأJoris is banger dan boos.
صوابJoris is meer bang dan boos.
two qualities of one person: use meer, not -er
Quick check
- Choose: Dat is het (gelezenste / meest gelezen) boek van onze leesclub.
- Fix the sentence: Mijn nieuwe baan is meer leuk dan mijn oude.
- Fill in the Dutch word for "more": Yara was ... verrast dan haar broer, want zij wist van niets.
- Choose: Na het gesprek met de verhuurder is Fatima (bozer / meer boos) dan verdrietig.
اعرض الإجابات
- meest gelezen: gelezen is a past participle.
- Mijn nieuwe baan is leuker dan mijn oude. Leuk is an ordinary adjective, so it takes -er.
- meer: verrast is a past participle, so the degree goes in front.
- meer boos: you compare two feelings of the same person.
Use it today
Tonight, describe your day in three Dutch sentences: one with het meest plus a participle (Ik was het meest verrast door ...), one weighing two of your own feelings (Ik ben meer ... dan ...), and one with an ordinary adjective plus -er. Say them out loud to a partner, a colleague or your cat.