2.6.3: Superlative of Adjectives and Adverbs

Superlative of Adjectives and Adverbs

With adjectives and adverbs of one syllable:

tall               taller than                 the tallest
old               older than                 the oldest
quick            quicker than              the quickest
slow             slower than               the slowest
rich              richer than                the richest
kind              kinder than               the kindest
flat               flatter then               the flattest

My son André is the tallest person in my family.
Bill Gates is the richest person in America.
My sister is the kindest person that I know.
My wife is the fastest cook of all the women I know.

With adjectives and adverbs that end in Y (only sometimes with LY):

busy             busier than                 the busiest
lazy              lazier than                  the laziest
crazy            crazier than                 the craziest
heavy           heavier than                the heaviest
happy           happier than               the happiest
pretty           prettier than                the prettiest
friendly         friendlier than             the friendliest
early             earlier than                the earliest
healthy         healthier than             the healthiest

My son Alex is the heaviest person in my family.
I wake up the earliest in my family.
I think that dogs are the friendliest animal of all the other animals.
Seattle is one of the prettiest cities in America when it isn’t raining.

With adjectives and adverbs that have two or more syllables:

careful              more careful than              the most careful
carefully           more carefully     than        the most carefully
successful         more successful than          the most successful
successfully       more successfully than       the most successfully
quick                quicker  than                     the quickest
*quickly            more quickly than              the most quickly
smooth             smoother than                   the smoothest
*smoothly         more smoothly than          the most smoothly
easy                 easier than                       the easiest
*easily              more easily than               the most easily
beautiful           more beautiful than           the most beautiful
beautifully         more beautifully than         the most beautifully
expensive          more expensive than         the most expensive
expensively       more expensively than       the most expensively
strange             stranger than                    the strangest
*strangely         more strangely than          the most strangely

* In common usage, many people use the est form with short adverbs as well as with short adjectives.  In formal grammar, however, it is better to use the most ----ly form.

*My father was the most friendly man that I have ever known.
*My father was the friendliest man that I have ever known.
Joan Baez sang the most beautifully of all the women singers I listened to as a young man.
I studied the most diligently of anyone else in my family as a young boy.
My friend Roger speaks French the most fluently of all my other American friends.

 

Irregular Superlatives

good             better than           the best
well               better than           the best
bad               worse than           the worst
badly            worse than            the worst
far                farther* than         the farthest*
far                further*than          the furthest*
fast              faster** than         the fastest**
hard              harder** than       the hardest**
late               later than**          the latest**

(* Generally speaking, the farthest and the furthest have the same meaning.  Sometimes I will say the farthest and other times I will say the furthest.  However, only the furthest can be used to mean many more of something, especially nouns that can’t really be measured such as education, wisdom, sense of justice, sense of right from wrong, etc.)

(**The words fast, hard, and late are both adjectives AND adverbs of manner.  Fastly is not a word in English; hardly means almost none of something; and lately means recently or in the past few days.)

Exercise 54:  Give the comparative and the superlative of the following adjectives and adverbs, please.

Simple Form                    Comparative Form                Superlative Form

1.  rich                      -------------------------                ------------------------

2.  simple                 -------------------------                ------------------------

3.  carefully                    -------------------------                ------------------------

4.  hard                     -------------------------                ------------------------

5.  prompt                -------------------------                ------------------------

6.  obediently                -------------------------                ------------------------

7.  affectionately             -------------------------                ------------------------

8.  attentive              -------------------------                ------------------------

9.  sarcastically        -------------------------                ------------------------

10.  round                 -------------------------                ------------------------

11.  angrily               -------------------------                ------------------------

12.  small                 -------------------------                ------------------------

13.  frantic                -------------------------                ------------------------

14.  thoughtful                --------------------------              ------------------------ 

15.  ambitious                 -------------------------                --------------------------

16.  ugly                   ------------------------                 --------------------------

17.  legible               ------------------------                 --------------------------

18.  carelessly                 ------------------------                 --------------------------

Exercise 55:  Complete the following sentences by using superlative adjectives, please.

1.  Rhode Island is (small)  ------------------------- state in the United States.

2.  Alaska is (large) ------------------------- state in the United States.

3.  Seattle is (big) ------------------------ city in Washington.

4.  Your teacher is (heavy) ------------------------ person in this room.

5.  The Nile River is (long) ----------------------- river in the world.

6.  China is (populous) ------------------------ country in the world.

7.  Your teacher is (handsome) ------------------------- man in the world.

8.  Your teacher’s wife is (good) ----------------------- cook I have ever met.

9.  My students are (energetic) ------------------------- students in the ESL program.

10.  My wife is (ambitious) ------------------------- person in my family.

11.  My father was (patient) ------------------------- person I have ever met. 

12.  I am (courteous) ------------------------- member of my family.

13.  January is (cold) ------------------------- month of the year.

14.  Streets are (slippery) ------------------------- when there is ice on them.

15.  Fruit and vegetables are (healthy) ------------------------ food to eat.

16.  Lake Superior is (large) ------------------------- lake in America.

17.  English is (important) ------------------------- language in the world.

18.  My garden is (peaceful) ------------------------- place in my neighborhood.

19.  My father’s coffee cup is my (valuable) ------------------------- possession.

20.  Mount Everest is (high) ------------------------- mountain in the world.

21.  India is (interesting) ------------------------- country in the world.

22.  My garden is (pretty) ------------------------ garden in my neighborhood.

Exercise 56:  Complete the following sentences by using superlative adverbs, please.

1.  My son Alex eats (quickly) -------------------------- in my family.

2.  My sister treats people (kindly) ------------------------- of anyone I know.

3.  My wife cooks (fast) -------------------------- in our house.

4.  My wife drives (slowly) -------------------------- in our family.

5.  President Obama speaks (eloquently) ------------------------ of any president since Kennedy.

6.  Young boys drive (dangerously) ------------------------- of all other drivers in America.

7.  My wife cleans our house (efficiently) ----------------------- in our family.

8.  Students from Columbia and Venezuela write (neatly) ---------------------- of all the students I have ever taught.

9.  Some people on buses in America act (rudely) ------------------------- of bus riders anywhere else in the world.

10.  The holder of the winning ticket reacted (happy) ------------------------ of all the people waiting for the numbers to be announced.

11.  The little girl was playing (quietly) ------------------------- of all the children.

12.  The best student in the class was listening (attentively) ------------------------ while the teacher was speaking.

13.  The old man sat (comfortably) ------------------------ of all the people watching TV.

14.  The new student wrote (slowly) ------------------------- of all the students.

15.  The lazy student did his homework (carelessly) ------------------------- of all the students.

16.  My friend ran (fast) ------------------------ in the race and won a big prize.

17.  The boy’s mother reacted (violently) ------------------------ of all the mothers when the man hit their children.

18.  The little boy spent his money (foolishly) ------------------------- of all the children.

19.  The old man typed (slowly) ------------------------- of all the students.

20.  My mother worked (hard) ------------------------- of all her brothers and sisters.