The superlative is used to say what thing or person has the most of a particular quality within a group or of its kind. Superlative adjectives normally come before any other adjectives.
 |
|
Snowdon is not the highest mountain in Britain, Ben Nevis is. |
| Mount Snowdon is 3,559 feet high. | Ben Nevis is 4,408 feet high. |
Forming the superlative
| Form | Rule | For example |
|---|---|---|
| Words of one syllable ending in 'e'. | Add -st to the end of the word. |
wide - widest |
| Words of one syllable, with one vowel and one consonant at the end. | Double the consonant and add -est to the end of the word. | big - biggest |
| Words of one syllable, with more than one vowel or more than one consonant at the end. | Add - est to the end of the word. | high - highest |
| Words of two syllables, ending in 'y'. | Change 'y' to 'i', and add -est to the end of the word. | happy - happiest |
| Words of two syllables or more, not ending in 'y'. | Place 'the most' before the adjective. | beautiful - the most beautiful |
The following adjectives are exceptions:
- 'good' becomes 'the best'
- 'bad' becomes 'the worst'
- 'far' becomes 'the furthest'
For example:
- "Jill is the best student in the class ."
- "Jack is the worst student in the class."
- "In our solar system the planet Pluto is the furthest planet from the Sun."
!Note - superlatives are usually preceded by 'the'.
For example:
- "The Rio de la Plata river, on the southeast coastline of South America, is the widest river in the world."
- According to the List of World records Carol Yager (1960-1994), from Michigan, is the fattest person ever to live, weighing 725 kg (1,600 lb).
- "Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world."
- "I think that Castle Combe is the prettiest village in England."
- "Arguably, Rome is the most beautiful city in the world."
