Berdintasuna eta superlatiboa — equality and superlative

In this lesson, you’ll complete the family of comparisons with two pieces:

Equality (“as… as”, “as much as”): bezain, adina, beste.
Superlative (“the most…”): -en + a.

Equality: bezain

For “as… as” with an adjective or adverb:

X bezain Y

English	Basque
As tall as you	Zu bezain* altua*
As beautiful as Donostia	Donostia bezain* polita*
As good as his father	Aita bezain* ona*
Not as fast as I thought	Uste nuen bezain* azkarra ez da*

Full sentence: Lander zu bezain altua da. — Lander is as tall as you.

Equality of quantity: adina / beste

For “as much as” with a noun or quantity:

English	Basque
As much as you	Zuk adina / Zuk beste
As much money as me	Nik adina* diru*
As many years as Anboto	Anbotok adina* urte*

Zuk adina urte ditut. — I am as old as you.

Garazik nik beste irakurtzen du. — Garazi reads as much as I do.

Difference: bezain goes with qualities (adjectives/adverbs). Adina/beste goes with quantities (countable or quantity nouns). People sometimes get them mixed up — the rule of thumb is: if the word that follows is an adjective → bezain; if it’s a noun or number → adina/beste.

Comparison of manner: bezala / moduan

Another form of equality, this time of mode or manner:

English	Basque
Like you	Zu bezala / Zure moduan
I do it like you	Zuk egin duzun moduan* egiten dut*
A house like yours	Zurea bezalako* etxea*
He/She speaks like his/her mother	Amaren moduan* hitz egiten du*

Compare:

Zu bezain altua — as tall as you (quality)

Zu bezala hitz egiten du — speaks like you (manner)

Zuk adina ikasten du — studies as much as you (quantity)

Superlative: -en + a

For “the most…” you add -en to the adjective or adverb + the article -a:

Adjective	Superlative
handia (big)	handiena (the biggest)
txikia (small)	txikiena
polita (beautiful/pretty)	politena
zaharra (old)	zaharrena
azkarra (fast)	azkarrena
garestia (expensive)	garestiena
ona (good)	onena / hoberena (irregular)
txarra (bad)	txarrena / okerrena

Liburu hau politena da. — This book is the most beautiful.

Donostia Euskal Herriko hiri politena da, askoren ustez. — Donostia is the most beautiful city in Euskal Herria, according to many.

Superlative + group: -etan / -etako

When you indicate within which group, you use the locative or genitive case:

English	Basque
The tallest in the class	Klaseko altuena
The fastest in the world	Munduko azkarrena
The best of all	Denetan onena / Guztietan onena
The worst of days	Egunetan txarrena

Klaseko ikasle azkarrena da. — He/She is the fastest student in the class.

Euskal Herriko mendi altuena Hiru Errege Mahaia da. — The highest mountain in Euskal Herria is Hiru Errege Mahaia (the Table of the Three Kings).

Gehien / gutxien — the one who… the most / the one who… the least

Superlative equivalents for quantity or frequency:

English	Basque
What I like the most	Gehien gustatzen zaidana
What I do the least	Gutxien egiten dudana
The one who studies the most	Gehien ikasten duena

Mini cultural comparison

Typical phrases:

Hiru Errege Mahaia Euskal Herriko mendi altuena da. — Hiru Errege Mahaia (the Table of the Three Kings) is the highest mountain in Euskal Herria.
Korrika euskararen aldeko ekintza handiena da. — Korrika is the biggest event in favor of the Basque language.
San Fermin festa famatuena da. — San Fermín is the most famous festival.

Memory trick

Form	Example
Comparative (more X than…)	X baino Y-agoa
Equality (as X as…)	Y bezain X
Equality of quantity (as much as)	Yk adina X
Superlative (the most X)	X-ena
Superlative in a group	Z-ko / Z-etan + X-ena

Mini-dialogue

— Anboto, hau bai pintxoa! Sekula jan dudan goxoena.

— Bai, zure ustez Bilboko onenak non daude?

— Plaza Berrian. Han pintxoak garestienak dira, baina goxoenak ere bai. Donostiakoak ere ez dira gutxiago: ia maila berekoak dira.

Cultural note: in typical debates in Euskal Herri, Donostiako pintxoak Bilbokoak baino hobeak dira is a classic topic of friendly discussion. The reality: each area defends its own, and they are all delicious.