Superlative Adjectives
You use superlative adjectives to compare something to many other things. Use superlative adjectives to say that something is better or greater than everything else.
John is the tallest person on the team.
You are comparing John’s height to the other people on the team. John is taller than everyone else. This example uses the superlative form of the adjective ’tall'.You always use ’the’ before a superlative adjective.
Mount Everest is the highest mountain.
You are comparing Mount Everest to all other mountains. Mount Everest is higher than all other mountains. Notice we use ’the’ before the superlative ‘highest’.Spelling Rules for Superlatives
Most superlative adjectives end in -est. The spelling rules are based how many syllables the adjective has.
One Syllable Words
For most one syllable adjectives you make the superlative form by adding -est.
| Adjective | Superlative |
|---|---|
| tall | tallest |
| long | longest |
| fast | fastest |
One syllable adjectives
If the adjective already ends in e, you just add -st.
| Adjective | Superlative |
|---|---|
| large | largest |
| wide | widest |
One syllable adjectives ending in e
For some adjectives you need to double the last letter before you add -est. You do this when the last three letters of the word have the pattern consonant-vowel-consonant.
| Adjective | Superlative |
|---|---|
| big | biggest |
| hot | hottest |
One syllable adjectives that need a double letter
Words Ending in y
For adjectives ending in y, you make the superlative form by changing the y to an i, then adding -est.
| Adjective | Superlative |
|---|---|
| happy | happiest |
| pretty | prettiest |
Adjectives ending in y
Two Syllable Words
For most words with two syllables or more, you make the superlative form by adding the word most before the adjective.
| Adjective | Superlative |
|---|---|
| beautiful | most beautiful |
| important | most important |
Two+ syllable adjectives
Butterflies are the most beautiful insects.
The adjective beautiful has three syllables. Notice that we use ’the most’ before ‘beautiful’.Making Superlative Sentences
+ John is the tallest person on the team. noun=John + v=be + the + superlative
- John is not the tallest person on the team. noun=John + v=be + not + the + superlative
? Is John the tallest person on the team? be + noun=John + the + superlative
? Does John run the fastest? Do + noun=John + v + the + superlative?