Comparison is between 2 things:
"A is bigger than B."
A B
But the superlative is the extreme between 3 or more
things. "A is the biggest."
A B C
How do we form or make a superlative adjective?
As with comparative adjectives, there are two ways to form a superlative
adjective:
- short adjectives: add
'-est'
- long adjectives: use 'most'
We also usually add 'the' at the beginning.
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Short adjectives
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old, fast
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- 2-syllable adjectives
ending in -y
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happy, easy
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Normal rule: add '-est'
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old > the oldest
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Variation:
if the adjective ends in -e, just add -st
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late > the latest
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Variation:
if the adjective ends in consonant, vowel, consonant, double the
last consonant
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big > the biggest
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Variation:
if the adjective ends in -y, change the -y to -i
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happy > the happiest
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Long adjectives
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- 2-syllable adjectives
not ending in -y
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modern, pleasant
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- all adjectives of 3
or more syllables
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expensive, intellectual
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Tip With some 2-syllable
adjectives, we can use '-est' or 'most':
- quiet > the quietest/most
quiet
- clever > the
cleverest/most clever
- narrow > the
narrowest/most narrow
- simple > the
simplest/most simple
Exception The following
adjectives have irregular forms:
- good > the best
- bad > the worst
- far > the furthest
How do we use superlative adjectives?
We use a superlative adjective to describe 1 thing in a group of 3
or more things.
Look at these examples:
- John is 1m75. David is 1m80.
Chris is 1m85. Chris is the tallest.
- America, China and Russia
are big countries. But Russia is the biggest.
- Mount Everest is the
highest mountain in the world.
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