Grammar term · Sarf · morphology
اِسْم التَّفْضِيل
ism al-tafdil
Elative / comparative-superlative
Sarf · morphologyDerived noun (mushtaqq)core term832+ in the Qur'an
In one line
The elative — expresses “more/most” (e.g. أكبر, “greater/greatest”).
Classical definition
اسْمُ التَّفْضِيلِ صِفَةٌ عَلَى وَزْنِ «أَفْعَل» تَدُلُّ عَلَى أَنَّ شَيْئَيْنِ اشْتَرَكَا فِي صِفَةٍ وَزَادَ أَحَدُهُمَا.
“The elative is an attribute on the pattern af'al indicating that two things share a quality and one of them exceeds in it.”
(بتصرف من شذا العرف)
Key words in the Arabic
اشْتَرَكَا فِي صِفَةٍboth share a quality
زَادَ أَحَدُهُمَاone exceeds the other
Understand it
The pin's logic is comparison: أَكْبَر says two things share bigness and one has more of it. With ال or an idafa it turns superlative — الْأَكْبَرُ, أَحْسَنُ الْقَصَصِ, 'the best of stories'. The pattern is frozen: it does not take ta for the feminine in its comparative use (هِيَ أَكْبَرُ), and being on أَفْعَل it is mamnu' min al-sarf — no tanwin, jarr with fatha.
How to spot it
Recognition test
The أَفْعَل pattern where 'more/most' fits — followed by مِنْ for the comparison (أَكْبَرُ مِنْ) or an idafa for the superlative (أَحْسَنُ الْقَصَصِ).
In the Qur'an
وَلَلْأَخِرَةُ أَكْبَرُ دَرَجَٰتٍ وَأَكْبَرُ تَفْضِيلًا
Al-Isra 17:21 — “and the Hereafter is greater in degrees and greater in distinction”
أَكْبَرُ twice — the af'al elative: shared quality, one side exceeding — with تَفْضِيلًا naming the very concept.
Forms it takes
أفعل التفضيل
Related terms