Superlative adjectives
What are superlative adjectives?
Superlative adjectives are used to describe an object that is at
the upper or lower limit of a quality (e.g. the tallest, the
smallest, the fastest, the highest).
In other words, they describe extremes. They are used in
sentences to compare three or more nouns:
Noun + verb + the + superlative adjective + noun.
E.g. Parrots are the noisiest birds in the jungle.
How do I make superlative adjectives?
To form superlatives, you need to follow similar rules to those
above for making comparative adjectives.
For one-syllable adjectives and two-syllable adjectives ending
in ‘-y’, we add –est to the end of the adjective (e.g. old –
oldest). With short vowels, we double the final consonant
before adding the –est (e.g. big – biggest), and with adjectives
ending in ‘-y’ we add an ‘i’ before the –est (e.g. friendly –
friendliest).
For two-syllable (or longer) adjectives, we keep the adjective
the same but add ‘the most’ in front (e.g. boring – the
most boring).
The irregular forms in comparative adjectives are the same
for superlative adjectives. So the superlative form of far is (the)
furthest, bad becomes the worst and good is the best.
Examples of superlative adjectives
Trains are the most expensive transport in London.
(We are comparing trains vs. all other forms of
transport. Expensive is a three-syllable adjective so we keep
the adjective the same and add ‘the most’ before it)
Hannah is the tallest person in her family.
(We are saying Hannah is taller than everyone else in her
family. Tall is a one-syllable adjective so we add -est to the end)
Grapefruit is the healthiest fruit.
(We are comparing grapefruit to all other types of
fruit. Healthy ends in ‘-y’ so we add -iest to the end of the
adjective)
Max is the best at maths in his class, but is the worst at
science.
(We are saying that Max is better at maths than everyone in his
class, but is worse at science than everyone in his class.
As good and bad are both irregular forms, we use the
best and the worst).
Quantifiers for comparatives
We can use quantifiers with comparative adjectives to show if
there is a big or small difference between the two things we
are comparing.
For a big difference use…
A lot
The US is a lot bigger than Ireland.
Much
Sarah has much longer hair than Anna.
A great deal
It is a great deal more polluted in London than Cornwall.
Far
It’s far healthier to eat a salad than a burger.
Significantly
The company’s sales have been significantly better this year.
Considerably
Siberia is considerably colder than Australia.
Way (informal)
This week’s homework is way easier than I thought it would
be.
For a small difference use…
A little
The chocolate cake was a little more popular than the lemon
sponge.
A bit (informal)
First class train tickets are always a bit more expensive than
standard ones.
A little bit
The UK is a little bit further north than France.
Slightly
France is slightly bigger than Spain.
Marginally
My hotel room is only marginally bigger than yours.
Exercises: Comparative vs.
superlative adjectives
Task A
Fill in the correct form of the words in brackets (comparative
or superlative).
1. This tree is (tall) __________ than that one.
2. The weather this summer is (good) _______ than last year.
3. Rome is (crowded) __________ city I’ve ever been to.
4. That was (boring) ___________ film I’ve ever seen!
5. He’s a lot (friendly) _________ than his wife.
6. Tokyo is (big) __________ city in the world.
Task B
Rewrite these sentences to give them the opposite meaning by
using the adjectives in brackets.
1. My house is cleaner than your house. (dirty)
2. The bus is the most expensive form of transport in this
city. (cheap)
3. We live nearer to the supermarket than the train station.
(far) (from)
4. The traffic’s worse than I expected. (good)
5. This is the most interesting documentary on the subject of
farming. (boring)
6. That’s the tiniest frog I’ve ever seen. (enormous)
Task C
Match the pictures with the correct sentences below.
1. House A is a lot smaller than house B – picture 1 or picture
2?
2. House B is a little bit taller than house A – picture 1 or
picture 2?
3. House A is slightly smaller than house B – picture 1 or
picture 2?
4. House A is significantly shorter than house B – picture 1 or
picture 2?
5. House B is far bigger than house A – picture 1 or picture 2
6. Answers
Task A Task B Task C
1. dirtier 1. Picture 1
1. taller 2. the
2. Pictur
cheapes
2. better e2
t
3. Pictur
3. further
3. the e2
4. better
most 4. Pictur
5. the
crowde e1
most
d 5. Pictur
boring
e1
4. the 6. the
most most a.
boring enormo
film us
5. friendli
er
6. the
biggest
