46 Superlative of Adjectives and Adverbs
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Introduction
The superlative adjectives/adverbs are used to make a comparison between things, people or actions, expressing the superiority of one thing, person or action which has the highest level of a particular quality.
Form
The superlative can be formed by using adjectives or adverbs. The determiner the comes before the adjective/adverb to show that something is superior to other things.
The structure of the sentence is:
Subject + verb + the + superlative adjective/adverb + noun/adjective + …
The superlative form of an adjective/adverb is obtained differently depending on its number of syllables and on its suffix.
One syllable:
- Adjective/adverb: we add –est (clean ⇒ cleanest);
- Adjective/adverb with suffix –e: we add -st (simple ⇒ simplest);
- Adjectives ending with one vowel and one consonant: we double the final consonant before adding -est (big ⇒ biggest).
Two syllables (with suffix -y):
- Adjective/adverb with suffix -y: change -y to –i and add –est (friendly ⇒ the friendliest).
Two syllables (without suffix-y) or more syllables:
- Adjective/adverb without suffix -y: we add the most before the adjective/adverb: the most + adjective/adverb (without changes) (beautiful ⇒ the most beautiful).
When we use the most, the form of adjectives/adverbs remains the same.
Example
One syllable
- I have the cleanest room in the house.
- She has the oldest shop along the street.
- They tried their hardest to buy an apartment.
Two syllables (with -y)
- You are the funniest woman alive.
- She is the friendliest girl I’ve ever met.
- We wake up the earliest to take shower.
Two syllables (without -y) or more syllables
- I think that tennis is the most boring sport.
- ‘War and Peace’ is the most difficult Russian book to read.
- Far east countries’ languages are the most popular to learn.
Use
We use superlative adjectives/adverbs when we want to express the superiority of one thing, person or action over the others in a certain aspect.
Summary
We use superlative adjectives/adverbs when we make a comparison between things, people or actions, expressing the superiority of one that has the highest level of a particular quality.
When we use superlative adjectives or adverbs, we start with the subject and the verb followed by the and the superlative adjective or adverb, followed by a noun or an adjective.
Their form differs according to the number of syllables and the suffix of the adjective.
For example:
One-syllable
— We add -est at the end of the word: “Tall” ⇒ “Claire is the tallest girl in the class.”
— With suffix -e, we add -st: “Nice” ⇒ “Anne is the nicest girl I know.”
— With one vowel + one consonant, we double the consonant and add -est: “Thin” ⇒ “Karl is the thinnest.”
Two-syllables
— With suffix -y, -y becomes -i, and we add -est: “Hungry“ ⇒ “Claire is the hungriest girl in the class.”
Two or more syllables
— (Without suffix -y) We add most before the adjective/adverb: “Tired” ⇒ “Claire is the most tired girl in the class.”
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