Superlative Adjectives – Usage, Tips and Examples

Rules for Forming Superlative Adjectives

Superlative adjectives are created by adding -est to the end of short adjectives and by using ‘most’ before longer adjectives. Knowing these formation rules is crucial for using superlative adjectives correctly.

One-syllable Adjectives

For one-syllable  adjectives, you can typically add the suffix –est to the end of the word without altering the spelling. Following are a few examples

• fine -> finest
• great -> greatest
• fast -> fastest
• strong -> strongest

However for one-syllable adjectves enidng in –e or a consonant-vowel-consonant pattern, hey have spcecific spelling rules.

One-syllable adjectives ending in –e

In case of adjectives ending in –e, you can simply add –st to the end without adding another e.

For example:

• brave -> bravest
• fine -> finest
• large -> largest
• rare -> rarest

One-syllable adjectives ending in consonant-vowel-consonant

When the adjectives with the last three letters following a consonant-vowel-consonant pattern, such as big or thin, you need to double the last consonant and then add –est.

Let’s look at a few examples

• wet -> wettest
• red -> reddest
• sad -> saddest
• hot -> hottest

One- or two-syllable adjectives ending in –y

To form a superlative form of adjectives ending in -y, we need to change the y into an i and then add -est.

For example,

• happy -> happiest
• easy -> easiest
• silly -> silliest
• busy -> busiest

Two-syllable adjectives ending in –er, –ow, or –le

Two-syllable adjectives ending in -er, -ow, or -le form their superlative differently from other long adjectives. For adjectives ending in –er  or –ow, simply add –est to the end without altering the spelling. The adjectives ending in –le only require –st, without the need for an additional e.

For example,

• humble -> humblest
• gentle -> gentlest
• tender -> tenderest
• clever -> cleverest

Using Most in Superlative Adjectives

The determination to use suffix -est or the adverb most can be tricky. Uusllay, for short adjectives, we use the suffix -est, while for longer ones we use most. We can simply remeber that we use most for all adjectives with three or more syllables, and for adjectives with two syllables except those that end in –er, –ow, –le, or –y. If the two syllables adjectives have the mentioned ending, we need to remember the rules mentioned above.

Understanding Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

Comparative adjectives are employed to compare two things, while superlative adjectives are utilized to compare three or more things. The distinction lies in the degree of comparison, with superlative adjectives indicating the highest degree of a quality. Let’s understand the concept with an example ,

“Among the students in the class, Sarah is smarter than Jack, but the smartest student overall is Emily.”

In the sentence “Sarah is smarter than Jack, but the smartest student overall is Emily,” “smarter” is the comparative adjective, comparing Sarah’s intelligence to Jack’s. “Smartest” is the superlative adjective, indicating that Emily has the highest level of intelligence among all the students.