In German and Dutch, the comparable prefix may also take adjectival bases, as for instance in Dutch aartsconservatiefvery conservative (< conservatiefconservative) or German erzdummvery stupid (< dummstupid). This is impossible in Frisian: *aartskonservatyf or *aartsdom. Instead, one must use an independent adverb for expressing a comparable high degree, preferably enforced with an emphatic ending -e, for example in ôfgryslike konservatyfvery conservative or grouwélige domvery stupid.

With respect to the second type, the prefix aarts-[a:ts] has been pronounced as earts-[ɪ.əts] for a certain length of time, along the lines of a regular phonological change in Frisian. The prefix became confused with the ordinal and adjective earst[ɪ.əst]first. A favourable circumstance was also that the stress in the derivation resembled the pattern found in a phrase consisting of an adjective followed by a noun. As a consequence, expressions like in earste(n) dogeneata real rogue or in earste(n) domkopa real dunce came into existence, with the inflectional suffix -e) or the emphatic suffix -en). The use of in earste(n)a real later extended to positive evaluations, for example in in earste(n) hurddravera firstclass runner, in earste(n) leafhawwer fan klassike muzyka serious fan of classical music, etcetera. One could possibly qualify this development as a case of degrammaticalization, where we see an affix developing into an independent word.