Comparison in Turkish: daha and en

In Turkish, the adjective does not change when you compare things; there are no endings like “bigger, biggest” in English. Two words do the job: daha (more) and en (most). The thing you compare with takes the ablative suffix: Ali Ayşe’den daha uzun. (Ali is taller than Ayşe.) In this article I cover comparing two things, saying that something is the most of all, and the mistakes learners make most often.

1. Comparing two things: -dan daha

The order is: A + B-dan / -den + (daha) + adjective.

A	B + -dan / -den	daha	Adjective	Sentence
Ali	Ayşe’den	daha	uzun (tall)	Ali Ayşe’den daha uzun. (Ali is taller than Ayşe.)
Çay (tea)	kahveden (than coffee)	daha	ucuz (cheap)	Çay kahveden daha ucuz. (Tea is cheaper than coffee.)
Bu ev (this house)	şu evden (than that house)	daha	büyük (big)	Bu ev şu evden daha büyük. (This house is bigger than that one.)

The suffix on the thing you compare with is the ablative suffix and follows the same rules: vowel harmony and t after a hard consonant: kitaptan, sokaktan. More in the case suffixes article.

Because “-dan / -den” already shows the comparison, daha is often left out: Ali Ayşe’den uzun. Both sentences are correct.

If it is clear what you are comparing with, daha alone is enough: Bu daha güzel. (This one is nicer.) Yarın hava daha soğuk olacak. (The weather will be colder tomorrow.)

2. The highest degree: en

To say that something is the most in a group, en comes before the adjective:

• Bu en güzel ev. (This is the most beautiful house.)
• Ali sınıfın en uzun öğrencisi. (Ali is the tallest student in the class.)
• İstanbul Türkiye’nin en kalabalık şehri. (Istanbul is the most crowded city in Türkiye.)

When the group is mentioned, two patterns are used:

• Belonging: sınıfın en uzun öğrencisi (the noun takes a possessive suffix). More in the possessive suffixes article.
• Ablative: öğrencilerin içinde en uzunu (the tallest of the students), hepsinden en güzeli (the most beautiful of all).

3. Other meanings of “daha”

“Daha” is also used a lot outside comparison:

Expression	Meaning	Example
daha + negative verb	(not) yet	Daha gelmedi. (He hasn’t come yet.)
bir daha	again	Bir daha söyler misin? (Could you say it again?)
daha fazla	more (in amount)	Daha fazla çay ister misin? (Would you like more tea?)
daha çok	mostly, usually	Daha çok akşamları çalışıyorum. (I mostly work in the evenings.)

4. Common mistakes

Wrong	Right	Why
Ali Ayşe daha uzun.	Ali Ayşe’den daha uzun.	The thing you compare with takes -dan / -den.
Ayşe’dan	Ayşe’den	The suffix follows the last vowel: Ayşe, -den.
en çok güzel	en güzel	“En” comes directly before the adjective.
İstanbul Türkiye en büyük şehir.	İstanbul Türkiye’nin en büyük şehri.	When the group is mentioned, the possessive pattern is needed.

Test yourself

5 questions

1. 01"Metro otobüs___ daha hızlı." (The metro is faster than the bus.)

   otobüseotobüstenotobüste

   Answer:otobüsten. The thing you compare with takes the ablative; s is a hard consonant: otobüsten.

2. 02"Bu, dünyanın ___ yüksek dağı." (This is the highest mountain in the world.)

   dahaençok

   Answer:en. The highest degree in a group is said with "en".

3. 03Which one is correct?

   Ali Ayşe daha uzun.Ali Ayşe'den uzun.Ali Ayşe'de daha uzun.

   Answer:Ali Ayşe'den uzun.. "-dan / -den" shows the comparison; "daha" can be left out.

4. 04"Otobüs ___ gelmedi." (The bus hasn't come yet.)

   endahabir daha

   Answer:daha. With a negative verb, "daha" means "yet".

5. 05"Ankara İstanbul'dan ___ küçük." (Ankara is smaller than Istanbul.)

   endahaçok daha en

   Answer:daha. When two things are compared, "daha" is used.

Next step

Comparison relies on the ablative suffix; you can find its rules in the case suffixes article. For all A1 topics, see the grammar guide. If you have a question, ask me.