Comparatives with mai

To say that one person or thing has a quality to a greater degree, Romanian puts mai before the adjective: Ana este mai înaltă decât Maria. (Ana is taller than Maria.) The adjective still agrees with the noun or person it describes.

How do you form a comparative with mai?

Put mai before the adjective. When you want to name the comparison target, add decât or ca before it.

1. Choose the adjective that describes the subject: rapid (fast), frumos (beautiful), or ușor (easy).
2. Put mai directly before the adjective: mai rapid, mai frumos, or mai ușor. Mai does not change form.
3. Keep the adjective in agreement with the subject: o mașină mai rapidă (a faster car), but un tren mai rapid (a faster train).
4. Add the comparison target with decât or ca: Trenul este mai rapid decât autobuzul. (The train is faster than the bus.)

How does the adjective agree?

Only mai stays unchanged. The adjective continues to match the noun or subject in gender and number, just as in ordinary descriptions. If this pattern is new, review Romanian adjective agreement.

When do you name the comparison target?

You can leave the target understood when the context identifies it: Radu este mai atent astăzi. (Radu is more careful today.) When you name the target, use decât or ca before it. A noun or pronoun then follows in the accusative: Sora mea este mai calmă decât mine. (My sister is calmer than me.)

• Use a noun after the comparison word: Cartea este mai interesantă decât filmul. (The book is more interesting than the film.)
• Use a pronoun in its object form: El este mai înalt decât mine. (He is taller than me.)

How do you express a smaller or stronger difference?

Put mai puțin before the agreeing adjective to say that the subject has less of a quality. To strengthen mai + adjective, put mult or cu mult before mai.

• To express a smaller degree of a quality, use mai puțin: Exercițiul este mai puțin dificil decât primul. (The exercise is less difficult than the first one.)
• For a stronger difference, put mult or cu mult before the comparative: Acest drum este cu mult mai scurt. (This route is much shorter.)

Which comparison word should you use: decât or ca?

Both decât and ca can introduce the target after mai + adjective: Mara este mai harnică decât Elena. and Mara este mai harnică ca Elena. (Mara is more hard-working than Elena.) In neutral contemporary Standard Romanian, use decât as the default in careful writing. Ca is also standard and occurs more often in colloquial speech.

Mistakes to avoid

• Do not put mai after the adjective: say mai frumos, not frumos mai.
• Do not make mai agree: say o casă mai mare, not a changed form of mai.
• Do not drop the adjective ending when the subject requires it: o stradă mai lungă, not o stradă mai lung.
• Do not put mai mult directly before an adjective when you mean “more + quality.” Use mai interesant, not mai mult interesant. To strengthen a comparative, use mult mai interesant or cu mult mai interesant.
• Do not treat ca as an error in this comparison. It is a common conversational alternative to decât. Use decât as the default in careful writing.