Comparative and Superlative

Comparisons are expressed as follows:

Più and meno can be used with di or che.  Di is used when comparing two different things, while che is used when the comparison is between two qualities of the same thing.

Le ciliege sono più buone delle fragole.  Cherries are better than strawberries.
La mela è più verde che rossa.  The apple is more green than red.
Franco è così alto come me.  Frank is as tall as me.

The Relative Superlative compares two or more things and expresses the greatest or the least degree.  It is formed by placing the article before the comparative form of the adjective, or in front of the noun.  And instead of the prepostion in, di (and its contractions) is always used with the superlative.

Le mele sono la frutta meno costosa del mondo.  Apples are the least expensive fruit in the world.
L'oro è il più prezioso dei metalli.  Gold is the most precious metal.
Questo è il palazzo più alto di Napoli.  This is the tallest building in Naples.

The Absolute Superlative expresses an extreme degree or absolute state of something without comparison.  This can be expressed in several ways in Italian.

Drop the last vowel of the adjective and add -issimo, -issima, -issimi, or -issime.
Le fragole sono dolcissime.  Strawberries are very sweet.

Place the words molto, troppo, or assai before the adjective.
Questa arancia è molto buona.  This orange is very good.

Repeat the adjective or adverb.
Lei parla piano piano.  She speaks very softly.

Some adverbs have irregular comparative, relative superlative, and absolute superlative forms.  The most common are:

Note:   You don't use possessive pronouns when referring to parts of the body or clothing, but you do use the definite article.  Mi metto la maglia is I'm wearing my sweater.  

The future of regular verbs is formed by dropping the final -e of the infinitive and adding the following endings.  For -are verbs, the a is changed to an e.

Verbs ending in -care and -gare add an h after the c and g in the in order to retain the hard sounds.  Verbs ending in -ciare and -giare drop the i from their stems in the future.

Many verbs use irregular stems in the future tense, but they still use the regular endings from above: