miklu + Comparative
Much Bigger (Miklu Stærri)
Reykjavík er miklu stærri en Akureyri. (Reykjavík is much bigger than Akureyri.)
How It Works
Making a comparative stronger.
- miklu (much): miklu stærri, miklu betra
- mun (much): mun kaldara
- aðeins (a little): aðeins betri
- enn (even): enn betra
Not with mjög. mjög (very) goes with the base form: mjög stór. With a comparative, use miklu or mun: miklu stærri.
By how much. Put the amount in the dative before the comparative. The numbers one to four are then in the dative too (tveimur, þremur, fjórum):
- Bróðir minn er tveimur árum eldri en ég. (My brother is two years older than me.)
- Hún kom tíu mínútum fyrr. (She came ten minutes earlier.)
This is the same dative that því + comparative uses.
With superlatives. A superlative is made stronger with the prefix lang- instead: langstærsta borgin (by far the biggest city), langbest.
Examples (6)
- Reykjavík er miklu stærri en Akureyri.
Reykjavík is much bigger than Akureyri.
Word by Word: Reykjavík is by-much bigger than Akureyri.
- Þetta er miklu betra!
This is much better!
Word by Word: This is by-much better!
- Bróðir minn er tveimur árum eldri en ég.
My brother is two years older than me.
Word by Word: Brother my is by-two years older than I.
tveimur árum is dative: it says by how much.
- Það er mun kaldara í dag en í gær.
It's much colder today than yesterday.
Word by Word: It is much colder in day than in yesterday.
- Hún kom tíu mínútum fyrr en ég.
She came ten minutes earlier than me.
Word by Word: She came by-ten minutes earlier than I.
- Ég tala aðeins betri íslensku en í fyrra.
I speak slightly better Icelandic than last year.
Word by Word: I speak a-bit better Icelandic than in last-year.
Common Mistakes
Using mjög with a comparative.
Reykjavík er mjög stærri en Akureyri.Reykjavík er miklu stærri en Akureyri.mjög goes only with the base form (mjög stór). A comparative takes miklu or mun.
Putting the difference in the accusative.
Bróðir minn er tvö ár eldri en ég.Bróðir minn er tveimur árum eldri en ég.The amount of difference is in the dative: tveimur árum.
How It Connects
Learn This First
miklu builds on than and the dative.
Related Patterns
- Comparing: -ari and -ri
The comparative forms that miklu makes stronger.
Level 2 - mjögVery (Mjög)
The word for "very", which goes with base forms only.
Level 1 - One to Four in All Cases
The dative numbers in tveimur árum and þremur dögum.
Level 3 - Better, More and Most
Adverb comparatives, which miklu also strengthens: miklu betur.
Level 4 - því + ComparativeThe More ..., The More
Another dative before a comparative: því meira, því betra.
Level 4
Words in This Pattern
Practice miklu + Comparative in Bubblegum
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