The superlative is used to say what thing, person, or idea 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 the highest mountain in Britain. |
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| 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 |
| The Amazon River is the widest river in the world. | ||
| 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 |
| In 2010 a dog called Giant George was given the title of the biggest dog in the world. | ||
| 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 |
| Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the word. (But it isn't the tallest mountain in the world.) | ||
| Words of two syllables, ending in 'y'. | Change 'y' to 'i', and add -est to the end of the word. | happy - happiest |
| In 2013 Australia was named the happiest country in the world. | ||
| Words of two syllables or more, not ending in 'y'. | Place 'the most' before the adjective. | beautiful - the most beautiful |
| Some people say that the Maldives have the most beautiful beaches in the world. | ||
Don't forget that some adjectives are irregular:-
- '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 - Have you noticed that these superlatives are 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."
You can find a list of common irregular adjectives here.