bättre/bäst

Better/best

Level 2

Use 'bättre' to say something is 'better' and 'bäst' to say something is the 'best'. These are irregular forms derived from 'god' (good) and 'bra' (well/good).

How It Works

In Swedish, the words for 'good', 'better', and 'best' are irregular and don't follow the standard -are/-ast pattern.

Base Form: god / bra
The base adjective is god (good). It agrees with the noun's gender: en god vän (a good friend), ett gott vin (a good wine). Bra is both an adjective (en bra bok, ett bra svar) and an adverb (hon sjunger bra).

Comparative Form: bättre
Bra and god in general quality senses use bättre (better). Godare is also valid, especially when describing a better taste. It is used to compare two things and does not change its form.

  • Den här boken är bättre än den andra. (This book is better than the other one.)

Superlative Form: bäst / bästa
The superlative form means 'best' and identifies the highest degree in the relevant comparison set; Swedish does not require that set to contain at least three items. It has two main forms:

1. Bäst: Used predicatively (after a verb like 'är', 'var', 'blir').

  • Hennes idé är bäst. (Her idea is best.)

2. Bästa: The definite form, used when the noun is definite (e.g., after 'den/det/de', a possessive pronoun, or in a genitive phrase). This is a form of adjective agreement.

  • Det är den bästa filmen. (It is the best film.)
  • Han är min bästa vän. (He is my best friend.)

Examples (5)

  1. Den här soppan är bättre än den jag åt igår.

    This soup is better than the one I ate yesterday.

    Word by Word: This here soup is better than it I ate yesterday.

  2. Vilken film tycker du är bäst?

    Which film do you think is best?

    Word by Word: Which film think you is best?

  3. Hon anses vara Sveriges bästa sångerska.

    She is considered to be Sweden's best singer.

    Word by Word: She is considered to be Sweden's best singer.

    The genitive noun 'Sveriges' (Sweden's) requires the definite superlative form 'bästa'.

  4. Det här är det bästa hotellet i stan.

    This is the best hotel in town.

    Word by Word: This here is the best hotel in town.

  5. Han talar bättre svenska nu.

    He speaks better Swedish now.

    Word by Word: He speaks better Swedish now.

    Bättre modifies svenska here: he speaks better Swedish. Compare Han talar svenska bättre nu, where bättre instead modifies how he speaks.

Common Mistakes

  • Using 'godare' where the quality sense needs 'bättre'

    Det är en godare idé.
    Det är en bättre idé.

    In the general quality sense, 'god' is irregular: its comparative is 'bättre', not '*godare'. When 'god' means tasty (about food), the regular 'godare/godast' is correct — 'Den här kakan är godare.'

  • Forgetting the -a ending in the definite superlative form

    Det var den bäst dagen i mitt liv.
    Det var den bästa dagen i mitt liv.

    When the superlative 'bäst' is used with a definite noun (like after 'den'), it must take the definite form 'bästa'.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

bättre/bästLevel 2Better/best

Learn This First

To understand 'bättre' and 'bäst', you first need to be familiar with how regular adjectives are compared using the '-are' and '-ast' suffixes. This allows you to identify these forms as the irregular counterparts to 'bra' and 'god'.

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Words in This Pattern

bättrebäst