Comparative Form (Comparing Two Things)

To say something is more than another in Amharic, use:
✅ Subject + ከ + Object + (ይልቅ) + Adjective

Example:

• ድመት ከውሻ ይፈጥናል። (Dimet kewusha yfetnal.) A cat is faster than a dog.
• ከውሻ ድመት ፈጣን ነው። (Kewusha dimet fetan new.) A cat is faster than a dog.
• ውሻ ከድመት ይተልቃል። (Wusha kedimet ytelqal.) A dog is bigger than a cat.
• ከድመት ይልቅ ውሻ ትልቅ ነው። (Wusha kedimet yilq tiliq new.) A dog is bigger than a cat.
• ከድመት ውሻ ተለቅ ይላል። (Kedimet wusha teleq ylal.) A dog is a little bigger than a cat.

The place is not fixed, but using ከ… is necessary to compare things in Amharic.

In Amharic, to compare things, we usually use ከ… or ከ__ ይልቅ (ke… ylq’), which means “than or instead of a...,” for emphasis. Examples:

• ከዚያኛው ቤት ይልቅ ይህ ቤት ሰፊ ነው። (Kezagnaw biet ylq yh biet sefi new.) This house is wider than that one.
• ከእሱ ይልቅ እሷ ብልህ ናት። (Keesu ylq esua blh nat.) She is smarter than he is.

ከ__ ይልቅ means Rather than ___ or instead of___

• ከእሱ ይልቅ እሷ ብልህ ናት። She is smarter than he is.
• ከዚያ ቤት ይልቅ ይህ ቤት ትልቅ ነው። This house is bigger than that one.
• ከውጭ ጉዳይ ሚኒስትሩ ይልቅ የግምጃ ቤቱ ሚኒስትር በታዛቢነት መሰየማቸው ጥርጣሬያችንን ይበልጥ ያጎላዋል። The fact that the Treasury Minister is named as the observer instead of the Foreign Minister further strengthens our suspicions.
• ለሰራተኞች ደመወዝ ከመጨመር ይልቅ ቤት ገንብቶ መስጠት ዘለቄታ ያለው መበረታታትን ይፈጥራል። Building houses instead of increasing workers’ salaries creates lasting incentives.
• እሱ ከምዕራባያውያን ይልቅ ለምስራቁ ዓለም እውቀት ቅድሚያ ይሰጣል። He gives priority to knowledge of the East rather than the West.

Sometimes we use ይበልጥ እና በላይ in place of በይልቅ. For example

• ይህ መጽሐፍ ከዚያኛው ይበልጥ አስደሳች ነው። This book is more interesting than that one.
• የአገሪቷን ሰላም ለማስጠበቅ ከዱሮው የበለጠ / ይበልጥ መስራት አስፈላጊ ነው። It is important to work harder than ever to maintain the peace of the country.

Superlative Form (Comparing Three or More Things)

To compare more than three things, we use ከሁሉ/ም or ከ… ውስጥ / ሁሉ/ም (from.. all), and we use the adverb “በጣም” to intensify the thing.

• ከቡድኑ ውስጥ በጣም ጠንካራው እሱ ነው። (Kebudnu wst beṭam tenkaraw esu new.) He is the strongest in the group.
• ከሁሉም ቦታ ይህ የተሻለ ነው። (Kehulum bota yhie yeteshale new.) This is the best of all places.
• ከሁሉም ቦታ የተሻለው ይህ ነው። (Kehulum bota yeteshalew yhie new.) This is the best of all places.
• ከዚህ ሁሉ ነገር ይህ የተሻለ ነው። (Kezih hulu neger yhie yeteshale new.) This is better than all of this.

To emphasize something, we use “እጅግ በጣም,” “extremely.”

• ገንዘብ እጅግ በጣም አስፈላጊ ነው። (Genzeb ejg betam asfelagi new.) Money is extremely important.

Key Notes:

• ከ (ke) is the equivalent of “than” in English and is used to compare two things.
• The adjective does not change form in Amharic (unlike in English, where we add “-er” or “more” for comparatives).

Also, we use adjective words like this:

• ይሄ ትንሽ ቀለል ይላል። (This is a little simpler.)

We changed the adjective ቀላል to ቀለል.

• ይሄ ትንሽ ከበድ ይላል። This is a little heavy.

We changed the adjective ከባድ to ከበድ.

“ይሄ ትንሽ ከበድ ይላል።” is less intense than “ይሄ በጣም ከባድ ነው። (This is very heavy.)” 

Notes:

1. ተነፃፃሪ ቅጽል (Positive Adjective): The basic form of the adjective (e.g., ጥሩ – Good).
2. አብላጭ ቅጽል (Comparative Adjective): Used to compare two things (e.g., የተሻለ – Better).
3. አበላላጭ ቅጽል (Superlative Adjective): Used to compare three or more things (e.g., ምርጥ – Best).