Superlatives: How and When to Use in English
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Superlatives
• Superlatives of superiority:
• If the adjective is short (monosyllabic), the "-est" suffix is generally added:
• If the adjective is short (monosyllabic), the "-est" suffix is generally added:
Willy is the tallest guy in the building. Willy is taller than everyone else in the building.
My boss is the craziest person I have ever known. I have never known anyone crazier than my boss.
Just like for past tense verbs, the final consonant is sometimes doubled:
thin -> thinnest
hot -> hottest
• If the adjective is long, MOST is used preceding the adjective:
She is the most intelligent woman in the company. Nobody in the company is as intelligent as her.
Note: There is no strict rule to determine if an adjective is 'short' or 'long'. Obviously, monosyllabic adjectives are considered short, however there are some two-syllable adjectives which can be both short and long:
happy -> happiest or most happy
ugly -> ugliest or most ugly
• Superlatives of inferiority, with LEAST:
August is the least profitable month for sales. Less money is generated by sales in August than in any other month.
Of the three major cosmetics corporations, Grevelon generated the least revenue for the year of 2008. Grevelon generated less money than the other two major cosmetics corporations in 2008.
Last but not least... Importantly, despite being mentioned after everything else...
• Some commonly-used irregular superlatives:
good -> best
He's the best cook in town. He cooks better food than everyone else in this town.
He's the best cook in town. He cooks better food than everyone else in this town.
bad -> worst
What's the worst thing that could happen?
What's the worst thing that could happen?
far -> farthest (literal distance) or furthest (literal or figurative distance)
The farthest south I have traveled in France is to Montpellier. Montpellier is the most southern point in France that I have traveled to.
Her birthday is the furthest thing from my mind. The last thing I am going to think about is her birthday.
The farthest south I have traveled in France is to Montpellier. Montpellier is the most southern point in France that I have traveled to.
Her birthday is the furthest thing from my mind. The last thing I am going to think about is her birthday.
• Best can be used as a noun or an adverb:
I'm doing my best. I am doing as well as I can.
Which song do you like best? Which song do you like more than all the others?
Exercise 1
Following the example, create a sentence using the superlative form of the adjective in the blank.
Example: Polly owns the (expensive) necklace in the office = Polly owns the most expensive necklace in the office.
Kevin Connors is the man I have ever met.
Susie has the pair of socks.
Yesterday was one of the days I have ever experienced.
That was the movie ever made.
Horatio is a nice man, but he makes the chocolate chip cookies I've ever tasted.
Example: Polly owns the (expensive) necklace in the office = Polly owns the most expensive necklace in the office.
Kevin Connors is the man I have ever met.
Susie has the pair of socks.
Yesterday was one of the days I have ever experienced.
That was the movie ever made.
Horatio is a nice man, but he makes the chocolate chip cookies I've ever tasted.
Following the example, create a sentence using the superlative form of the adjective in the blank.
Example: Polly owns the (expensive) necklace in the office = Polly owns the most expensive necklace in the office.
Kevin Connors is the [not done] cheapest 1 man I have ever met.
Susie has the [not done] best 2 pair of socks.
Yesterday was one of the [not done] hottest 3 days I have ever experienced.
That was the [not done] most absurd 4 movie ever made.
Horatio is a nice man, but he makes the [not done] worst 5 chocolate chip cookies I've ever tasted.
Example: Polly owns the (expensive) necklace in the office = Polly owns the most expensive necklace in the office.
Kevin Connors is the [not done] cheapest 1 man I have ever met.
Susie has the [not done] best 2 pair of socks.
Yesterday was one of the [not done] hottest 3 days I have ever experienced.
That was the [not done] most absurd 4 movie ever made.
Horatio is a nice man, but he makes the [not done] worst 5 chocolate chip cookies I've ever tasted.
1 cheapest: 'Cheapest' is the superlative form of the adjective 'cheap'. Because it only has one syllable, we create the superlative form by adding 'est' to the end of the word.
2 best: 'Best' is the superlative form of 'good'. The adjective 'good' is irregular in its comparative and superlative forms. Good / Better / Best
3 hottest: 'Hottest' is the superlative form of 'hot'. When constructing the comparative and superlative forms of many short adjectives, we must often double a consonant to spell the word properly.
4 most absurd: 'Absurd' has more than one syllable, so it takes 'most' in the superlative form.
5 worst: 'Worst' is the superlative form of 'bad'. It is irregular in the comparative and superlative forms. Bad / Worse / Worst.
Exercise 2
Following the example, create a sentence using the comparative or superlative form of the adjective in the blank.
Example: Icarus is (lonely) than Horatio = Icarus is lonelier than Horatio.
Some people say that Susie is the PR Director in San Francisco.
I think Bob is than Bruno.
Icarus is much than Stuart, the elevator boy.
Polly is in her office than she is in her apartment.
Delavigne Corp is the perfume company in the whole world.
Example: Icarus is (lonely) than Horatio = Icarus is lonelier than Horatio.
Some people say that Susie is the PR Director in San Francisco.
I think Bob is than Bruno.
Icarus is much than Stuart, the elevator boy.
Polly is in her office than she is in her apartment.
Delavigne Corp is the perfume company in the whole world.
Following the example, create a sentence using the comparative or superlative form of the adjective in the blank.
Example: Icarus is (lonely) than Horatio = Icarus is lonelier than Horatio.
Some people say that Susie is the [not done] prettiest 1 PR Director in San Francisco.
I think Bob is [not done] heavier 2 than Bruno.
Icarus is much [not done] more intelligent 3 than Stuart, the elevator boy.
Polly is [not done] happier 4 in her office than she is in her apartment.
Delavigne Corp is the [not done] best 5 perfume company in the whole world.
Example: Icarus is (lonely) than Horatio = Icarus is lonelier than Horatio.
Some people say that Susie is the [not done] prettiest 1 PR Director in San Francisco.
I think Bob is [not done] heavier 2 than Bruno.
Icarus is much [not done] more intelligent 3 than Stuart, the elevator boy.
Polly is [not done] happier 4 in her office than she is in her apartment.
Delavigne Corp is the [not done] best 5 perfume company in the whole world.
1 prettiest: 'Prettiest' is one of the superlative forms of 'pretty'. Because the word has more than one syllable, we create the superlative form by replacing the 'y' with 'iest'. Note: 'most pretty' is also an acceptable superlative form of the word.
2 heavier: 'Heavier' is the comparative form of the adjective 'heavy'. Short adjectives generally take 'er' and 'est' in the comparative and superlative forms respectively.
3 more intelligent: 'Intelligent' is a long (polysyllabic) adjective, so it requires the prefix 'more' in the comparative form. 'Less intelligent' and 'more intelligent' are both acceptable answers here.
4 happier: 'Happier' is one of the comparative forms of 'happy'. Note: 'more happy' is also an acceptable comparative form of 'happy'.
5 best: 'Best' is the superlative form of 'good'. The adjective 'good' is irregular in its comparative and superlative forms. Good / Better / Best
Exercise 3
Philip told me that Kevin's new suit was ugly. He wasn't joking. It is the suit I've ever seen. But to be honest, I'm much than most people.
Philip told me that Kevin's new suit was ugly. He wasn't joking. It is the ugliest 1 suit I've ever seen. But to be honest, I'm much more discerning 2 than most people.
1 ugliest: 'Ugliest' is the correct choice. It is the superlative form of the adjective 'ugly'. Example: That's the ugliest dog I've seen this month.
1 uglier: 'Uglier' is the comparative form of the adjective 'ugly', but we need the superlative form here (ugliest). We can recognize the need for the superlative form from the article 'the' which generally precedes the superlative.
1 more ugly: 'More ugly' is not a superlative, but a comparative, and therefore does not fit here.
1 uglyer: 'Uglyer' is not a real word. When we form the comparative of words that end in the letter 'y', we change the 'y' into an 'i'. Ugly: uglier.
2 more discerning: This is the best choice here. We need to use the comparative (more discerning) because the blank is followed by the word 'than' which signals a comparison. A 'discerning (person)' shows good judgement and understanding. Example: He's a little more intelligent than his pet parrot.
2 discerningest: 'Discerningest' is not a real word. 'Most discerning' is the superlative form of the adjective 'discerning', however it does not belong here.
2 discerninger: 'Discerninger' is not a real word. When we form the comparative of a word which is several syllables long, we simply add the word 'more' before it.
2 most discerning: 'Most discerning' is the superlative form, which does not belong here.
Exercise 4
Luna: Bob, do you want to hear about day I ever had?
Bob: You tell bizarre stories than people I know.
Bob: You tell bizarre stories than people I know.
Luna: Bob, do you want to hear about the most incredible 1 day I ever had?
Bob: You tell more 2 bizarre stories than most 3 people I know.
Bob: You tell more 2 bizarre stories than most 3 people I know.
1 the most incredible: 'The most incredible' is the superlative form of the adjective 'incredible'. For long adjectives such as 'incredible', the superlative form is created by adding the prefix 'the most' before the adjective. Luna is describing an amazing day.
1 the more incredible: 'The more incredible' is the comparative form of the adjective 'incredible'. Luna is not making a comparative statement here, but rather a superlative one.
1 more incredible: 'More incredible' does not work here because it is a comparative form. We must use the superlative form of the adjective 'incredible'.
1 most incredible: To create the superlative form of the adjective 'incredible', we must add the article 'the' to 'most incredible'.
2 more: The construction 'more...than' is a comparative one, which allows Bob to compare Luna's stories to the stories that most other people tell him. This type of construction is used with long (polysyllabic) adjectives (like 'bizarre') and is formed with 'More + Adjective + Than + Subject. Example: Horatio is more adventurous than Bob.
2 most: When comparing two (or more) things, we cannot use the superlative form. Also, we would need 'the' to precede 'most' in this particular construction to create the superlative form.
2 many: The term 'than' is used to make a comparison, not to describe the amount of bizarre stories which Luna tells.
3 most: 'Most' describes the countable noun 'people'. 'Most people' also completes the comparative construction which Bob is making between the stories Luna tells and those that other people tell him.
3 the most: 'The most' cannot be used here because Bob is not making a superlative statement, but a comparative one.
3 much: The noun 'people' is a quantifiable or countable noun, which cannot be described by 'much' which is only used for uncountable nouns.
Exercise 5
In terms of total sales, Kalvin Krime is successful cosmetics company in the United States. However, Delavigne is quickly becoming and more competitive. Of course, in terms of quality, Delavigne has always been respected company in the industry.
In terms of total sales, Kalvin Krime is the most 1 successful cosmetics company in the United States. However, Delavigne is quickly becoming more 2 and more competitive. Of course, in terms of quality, Delavigne has always been the most 3 respected company in the industry.
1 the most: The superlative form of 'successful' is 'the most successful'.
1 most: The word 'most' is the superlative form of the word 'more'. The article 'the' is required in this construction to create the superlative form.
1 many: 'Many' is used to describe an amount or quantities, we would not use it to describe the singular noun 'company'.
2 more: 'More' is the best choice here. 'More and more' is an idiom which expresses progression, or an increase.
2 most: We cannot use 'most' here. 'Most and more' does not make sense. The correct expression is 'more and more'.
3 the most: 'The most respected' is the best choice here because it correctly expresses the superlative form of 'respected'.
3 most: We must precede 'most' with the article 'the' in order to correctly express the superlative form of the adjective 'respected'.
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