Lesson 19 - Booklet - Superlative Adjectives

A superlative adjective is similar to a comparative adjective; but we use
superlatives to indicate things that are the most extreme or which have the
highest degree of an adjective. In fact, that last sentence had two superlative
adjectives: ‘the most extreme’ and ‘the highest’.
You can remember the word ‘superlative’ starts with the word ‘super’. So that
should remind you that are for things that are super and extreme!
When using superlative adjectives, we

generally indicate these two things:
Sheila is the tallest student.
1. What things we are comparing.
2. Where the things we are comparing
We don’t know if Sheila is the
are located…in other words, the limits of
tallest student in her class, in her
our comparison.
school, or maybe even in her city!
So we should include more information to
be clear. For example:
Sheila is the tallest girl in her English class.
When there are just two members in a group, traditionally, we use the
comparative. However, in informal situations people often use the superlative.
Who is younger, Rowan or Tony? (traditional usage)
Jan and Barbara are both tall, but Jan is the tallest. (more informal)
1. Using comparative instead He is the happier person I know.

of superlative.
2. Doubling up superlatives. His car is the most fastest.
3. Missing the article ‘the’. Finishing quickly was least important task.
One syllable Add -est young The youngest
One syllable ending in -e Add -st nice The nicest
One syllable
Double the last
consonant + short vowel + big The biggest
consonant and add -est
consonant
Remove the –y and add
Two syllables ending in -y happy The happiest
-iest
The most
Two or more syllables most / least + adjective beautiful
beautiful
We don’t normally use Some other two-syllable

the –est ending with two- adjectives (especially those
syllable adjectives ending in an unstressed
ending in –ful. Instead we vowel sound) can also take
use most / least. the –est ending:
clever – cleverest
quiet – quietest
brave - bravest
For negative superlatives, we put the

phrase ‘the least’ before the adjective.
We don’t change the adjective in this

case, even if it’s one syllable.
But remember that, if the adjective does

have one syllable, it may sound strange
to some people.
So, for example, you could say:
Jenny got the least good grade.
But most people would probably say

‘the worst’ instead, because it sounds
much more natural.
When a superlative adjective is Before a superlative adjective, we can
followed by a noun, we normally use:
use ‘the’. • A possessive determiner (my, his)
This is the best meal I’ve had for a My worst score ever in an exam as
long time. zero.
• The + number
In informal situations, we can often
omit ‘the’ after a linking verb (be, Birmingham is the second biggest
seem) or a verb of the senses (look, city in England.
taste) if there is no noun.
• Possessive determiner + number
[talking about sweaters in a shop]
They’ve got them in red green or His two best friends organized him a
grey. Which looks best? surprise party.
We can use an infinitive We don’t normally use ‘of’ before a singular

after a superlative adjective, name of a place or group after a
with a meaning similar to a superlative adjective:
relative clause with ‘who’,
‘which’ or ‘that’: The castle is the oldest building in the city.
Not > …of the city
Who was the oldest person
to compete in the London However, we can use ‘of’ with a plural word
Marathon of 2008? referring to a group:
All the sisters are pretty, but Sarah’s the

prettiest of them all.
We can make a superlative adjective

stronger with ‘by far’, ‘easily’ or ‘of all’: In more formal situations, we
can use ‘quite’:
The Beatles were by far the most successful
rock band of the 1960s. This is quite the most
She’s easily the best dancer in the group. irresponsible behavior I
In yesterday’s competition, the best poem of have ever seen.
all was Sally’s.

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A superlative adjective is similar to a comparative adjective; but we use

When using superlative adjectives, we

Sheila is the tallest girl in her English class.

Who is younger, Rowan or Tony? (traditional usage)

1. Using comparative instead He is the happier person I know.

2. Doubling up superlatives. His car is the most fastest.

One syllable ending in -e Add -st nice The nicest

We don’t normally use Some other two-syllable

For negative superlatives, we put the

We don’t change the adjective in this

But remember that, if the adjective does

So, for example, you could say:

Jenny got the least good grade.

But most people would probably say

We can use an infinitive We don’t normally use ‘of’ before a singular

All the sisters are pretty, but Sarah’s the

We can make a superlative adjective

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