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Superlative Adjectives

This document discusses how to form superlative adjectives in English. There are two ways to form the superlative: adding "-est" to short adjectives or using "most" with long adjectives. Short adjectives are one-syllable or those ending in "-y", while long adjectives have two or more syllables. Some exceptions exist, such as "good" becoming "best" and "bad" becoming "worst" in their superlative forms.

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198 views

Superlative Adjectives

This document discusses how to form superlative adjectives in English. There are two ways to form the superlative: adding "-est" to short adjectives or using "most" with long adjectives. Short adjectives are one-syllable or those ending in "-y", while long adjectives have two or more syllables. Some exceptions exist, such as "good" becoming "best" and "bad" becoming "worst" in their superlative forms.

Uploaded by

CarlosGarcíaAlbarracín
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Superlative adjectives

We use a superlative adjective to describe the


extreme quality of one thing in a group of things.
We can use superlative adjectives when talking
about three or more things (not two things).
In the example below, "biggest" is the superlative
form of the adjective "big":

AB

A is the biggest.
Formation of Superlative Adjectives
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.
Short adjectives:
1-syllable adjectives (old, fast)
- syllable adjectives ending in y (happy, easy)
RULE: add "-est"
old the oldest

Variation:
- if the adjective ends in -e, just add st.
large the largest
-

if the adjective ends in consonant, vowel,


consonant, double the last consonant.
big the biggest

if the adjective ends in -y, change the y to i


happy the happiest

Long adjectives:
-

2-syllable adjectives not ending in y (modern,


pleasant)
all adjectives of 3 or more syllables (expensive,
intelectual)

RULE: use "most"


Modern

the most modern

Expensive

the most expensive

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 farthest / furthest

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