Adjectives describe and modify nouns and pronouns. The words smart, funny, happy, and outrageous are all examples of adjectives. Sometimes, however, these adjectives on their own are not enough. You might want to say that a joke is not only funny, but also so funny that no other joke can live up to it. Or you might need to say a shoe smells so bad that its stench dominates every other stinky smell.
While there are many different types of adjectives, there is one in particular that can help you in these situations: the superlative adjective. By using superlative adjectives, you can say that joke was the funniest one you ever heard or that smelly shoe has the worst stench in history.
The word superlative has other uses outside of grammar. As an adjective, superlative is used to mean something is the best or highest of its kind, surpasses all others, or is excellent. For example, a superlative cheeseburger would be a cheeseburger that is extremely delicious or is very high quality. Superlative is also used as a noun, which we will explore more later.
To explain how we use superlative adjectives, let’s say we have three sticks that measure one foot, two feet, and three feet long. Of these three, the one that is three feet long can be described as the longest stick because it wins the contest of length. At the same time, the one-foot stick is the shortest as it would win a shortness competition.
Here are the general rules for forming superlatives from a positive form adjective:
1. Most one-syllable adjectives: Add -est to the end. For example, warm becomes warmest. If the adjective ends in -e, just add -st. For example, vile becomes vilest. If the adjective ends in -y, you sometimes replace the -y with an -i before adding -est. For example, dry becomes driest but sly can be either slyest or sliest.
2. One-syllable adjectives that end in consonant-vowel-consonant: Double the final consonant before adding -est. For example, hot becomes hottest and sad becomes saddest.
3. Two-syllable adjectives that end in Y: Drop the -y, replace it with an -i, and then add -est. For example, silly becomes silliest and funny becomes funniest.
4. Two-syllable adjectives that end in -er, -le, or -ow: Add -est to the end. For example, narrow becomes narrowest and clever becomes cleverest.
5. All other adjectives that are two syllables or longer: Add the word most or least to the positive form. For example, energetic becomes most or least energetic and unbelievable becomes most or least unbelievable.
Here are just some examples of superlative adjectives:
angriest, most boring, coolest, darkest, least entertaining, fattest, goofiest, hungriest, iciest, jolliest, laziest, most miserable, nicest, most overrated, purplest, quickest, rudest, smallest, tiniest, ugliest, least visible, widest, youngest, zestiest
Write the comparative and superlative forms of the adjectives below.
| Adjective | Comparative | Superlative | Adjective | Comparative | Superlative |
1. tall 22. far
2. cheap 23. bad
3. expensive 24. fat
4. good 25. interesting
5. lazy 26. narrow
6. pretty 27. safe
7. beautiful 28. dangerous
8. difficult 29. messy
9. boring 30. handsome
10. shy 31. attractive
11. happy 32. delicious
12. short 33. useful
13. famous 34. easy
14. comfortable 35. lucky
15. ugly 36. quiet
16. warm 37. noisy
17. long 38. modern
18. intelligent 39. patient
19. wide 40. convenient
20. thick 41. accurate
Complete the following sentences with the correct superlative form of the words listed below.
funny high delicious easy cold boring lucky smart
dirty rich valuable bad large cheap long scary
1. Yesterday was _____________________ day of the year. I almost froze to death walking home from school!
2. That was ________________________________ movie I’ve ever seen. I almost walked out in the middle.
3. Please give me your recipe. That is _________________________________ cake I’ve ever eaten.
4. Jerry is _______________________________ student in our class. He gets the top grades in every course.
5. Bob told _______________________________________ story last night. I couldn’t stop laughing.
6. Whales are ____________________________________________ animals in the world.
7. The Nile is _________________________________________ river in the world.
8. Marie is ________________________________ person I know. She has won the lottery four times!
9. He is ________________________________ speaker I have ever heard. Half the audience fell asleep during
his speech.
10. Mount Everest is __________________________________ mountain in the world.
11. That is _________________________________ painting in the art gallery. It’s worth a million dollars.
12. Bill Gates is one of ________________________________________ men in the world.
13. I finished the exercise in five minutes. It was _______________________________ homework the teacher
has ever given us.
14. Arthur hates to clean. He has __________________________________ apartment I’ve ever seen.
15. My dinner only cost $6.00. That must be ___________________________________ restaurant in town.
16. I was afraid to turn off the lights last night. That was _____________________________________ show
I’ve ever watched.
Write questions using the words provided and the superlative form of the adjective.
Example: what/ big mistake/ ever made >>> What is the biggest mistake you have ever made?
1. what /beautiful place to visit/ your country
________________________________________________________________________________________
2. who/ kind person/ you know
________________________________________________________________________________________
3. what/ good movie/ ever seen
________________________________________________________________________________________
4. what/ happy day/ in your life
________________________________________________________________________________________
5. what/ crazy thing/ ever done
________________________________________________________________________________________
6. what/ expensive thing/ ever bought
________________________________________________________________________________________
7. what/ good restaurant/ your city
________________________________________________________________________________________
8. what/ exciting place/ ever been
________________________________________________________________________________________
9. who/ interesting person/ ever met
________________________________________________________________________________________
Complete the following sentences with the correct form (comparative or superlative) of the adverb provided.
- 1. I drive ____________________________________ (carefully) than my husband.
2. Angela works ______________________________ (hard) than I do, but our secretary works
________________________________ (hard) of all of us.
3. Anita sings _______________________________ (beautifully) of all the people in the choir.
4. Our teacher explains the lessons ____________________________ (clearly) than your teacher.
5. Robert arrived at the meeting ______________________________ (early) than Francis.
6. Ken arrived _________________________________ (early) of them all.
7. Teenagers usually drive ______________________________ (fast) than their parents.
8. My daughter cooks ______________________________(well) than I do, but my husband cooks
________________________________ (well) of all of us.
9. Rene speaks ______________________________ (fluently) of all the ESL students in the class.
10. The teacher arrived ____________________________(late) than the students.