ENGLISH GRAMMAR GUIDE: SUPERLATIVES

Superlatives, have you ever heard of this? It is one of the many ways of describing things offered by the English language. We can use superlative adjectives to explain nouns and superlative adverbs to describe verbs, adjectives, and adverbs themselves. What differentiates superlative adverbs and adjectives from their normal counterparts you might ask? To answer this question, we must first answer the question: What is superlative? 

According to the Cambridge Dictionary superlatives are “the form of an adjective or adverb that expresses that the thing or person being described has more of the particular quality than anything or anyone else of the same type”

In short, it is used to describe something that has the MOST or the LEAST quality in its category. For example: 

Mount Everest is the highest mountain.  Explanation: Mount Everest is the tallest (quality) of the mountains (category). This is an example of a superlative adjective, as it describes the quality of a noun (mountain).

Next, we have superlative adverbs. An example of this would be: It rains most often at the beginning of the year. Explanation: it rains the most (quality) at the beginning of the year over all the other times of the year (category)

Congratulations! Now, you know what superlatives are. The next step is to determine how it works.

Superlative adverb: You can make a superlative adverb just by modifying the normal adverb a little.

The general rules are:

If it is a one-syllable adverb, you can just add -est to it. for example, slow → slowest, fast → fastest, etc.

(I swam the fastest, and he swam the slowest)

If it is an adverb that ends with -ly, you can add most or least to the front. for example, happily -> the least happily, beautifully-> the most beautifully, etc.

(He acted the most happily of all the boys. The main singer sang the most beautifully.)

If it is an irregular adverb, sadly you need to memorize it. for example, good → best, bad → worst, etc.

(He cooked the worst of all of us. She bakes the best of all the other bakers.)

Superlative adjective: The rules are mostly the same as superlative adverbs with some differences.

The general rules are:

If it is a short adjective, you can just add -est to it. for example, old → oldest, easy → easiest, etc.

(This is my oldest book. This is the easiest part of the game.)

If it is a long adjective, you can add most or least to the front. for example, expensive → least expensive, intellectual → most intellectual, etc. If it is a long adjective, you can add most or least to the front. for example, expensive → least expensive, intellectual → most intellectual, etc.

(This is the most expensive gift I have ever received. (This is the most expensive gift I have ever received. Morty is the most intelligent man in the galaxy.)

If it’s an irregular adverb, sadly you need to memorize them. e.g. good -> the best, bad -> the worst, etc.

(He is the best friend I could have ever asked for. She is the worst makeup artist ever.)

You have learned what superlatives are. And all that’s left to do is to implement them in your daily lives. And to that, I wish you good luck. Keep learning, and one day you might be the best English speaker in your area.

REFERENCES:

superlative. (2023). https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/superlative

MasterClass. (2021b, September 2). How to Use Superlative Adverbs Correctly – 2023 – MasterClass. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/superlative-adverb

Superlative Adjectives | Grammar | EnglishClub. (n.d.). https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/adjectives-superlative.php