Adjectives: superlative
Adjectives can have superlative forms. They are used to show extremes when comparing people, things, actions and events.
We usually use ‘the’ before superlative adjective forms:
- Michael is the tallest player on our team.
- Of all her friends, Emily is the nicest.
- This is the best restaurant in town. Their pizzas are the biggest and the most delicious.
Rules for forming superlative adjectives
- To make superlative forms of most one- and two-syllable adjectives, add ‘-est’ to them (or ‘-st’, if the adjective ends in ‘-e’):
- Fast → The cheetah is the fastest animal in the world.
- Old → John is the oldest son in his family.
- Low → This is the lowest point of the valley.
- If an adjective ends in one vowel and one consonant, double the consonant before ‘-est’:
- Big → Whales are the biggest mammals.
- Hot → This has been the hottest day of the summer.
- For two-syllable adjectives ending in ‘-y’, remove the ‘-y’ and add ‘-iest’:
- Happy → It’s my birthday, and I’m the happiest person in the world.
- Early → When does the earliest train from London arrive?
- Some common short adjectives have irregular forms:
- Good → better → This is the best movie I’ve ever seen.
- Bad → worse → The worst things always happen unexpectedly.
- Far → further → Tom dreams about visiting the furthest corners of the Earth.
- To make superlative forms of long adjectives (three syllables and more), use ‘the most’ + adjective:
- This is the most beautiful sunset I’ve ever seen.
- Sport cars are the most expensive vehicles.
The opposite of ‘most’ is ‘least’. Use ‘least’ before long adjectives:
- This region is the least comfortable for leaving.
- The first two chapters were the least interesting in the whole book.
To show that the superlative adjective belongs to a group of similar things, use ‘one of’:
- Shanghai is one of the biggest cities in the world.
- The Miniature Pinscher is one of the smallest dogs.
We can use superlative adjectives without a noun:
- These flowers are not very expensive, but they are the most beautiful.
- You wouldn’t find any other prices, these are the lowest.