12.9: Gramática. El superlativo y el superlativo absoluto
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- Romano Sánchez Domínguez
- Imperial Valley College
Superlatives and absolute superlatives
Superlatives
Superlatives compare one versus all or the most and the least. Use the following constructions with superlatives:
Article + más + adjective + de + group being compared to. (Article and adjective must agree with gender and number of the subject of the sentence.)
Article + menos + adjective + de + group being compared to. (Article and adjective must agree with gender and number of the subject of the sentence.)
- El más inteligente de la clase. (The most intelligent in the class. This example refers to a male student because it uses the article "el".)
- María es la más bonita de su familia. (María is the most beautiful in her family. Use "la" since María is a female.)
- Juan y José son los más cómicos de su familia. (Juan and José are the most funny in their family. Use "los" to refer to Juan and José.)
- María y Mariela son las más bonitas de su clase. (María and Mariela are the most beautiful in their class. Use "las" to refer to María and Mariela.)
The absolute superlative
Absolute Superlative (in Spanish, "superlativo absoluto") is used with adjectives to express someone or something is extremely [+ adjective].
How to form absolute superlative
- Drop the last vowel of the adjective and add the ending “-ísimo", "-ísima", "-ísimos", "-ísimas" (depending on the gender and number of the noun it describes).
- If the adjective ends in the consonant “L”, just add “-ísimo”, "-ísima", "-ísimos", "-ísimas" to the adjective.
- If the adjective ends in the consonants “n” or “r”, add “-císimo", “-císima", “-císimos", “-císimas" to the adjective.
- If the original adjective has an accent mark, it must be transferred to the first "-í-" of "-ísimo".
Ejemplos
Note that all superlative endings and spell changes are indicated in bold .
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
|
large My cell phone is extremely large. My purse is extremely large. |
grande Mi celular es grand ísimo . Mi bolsa es grand ísima . |
|
intelligent We are extremely intelligent. nice My friends are extremely nice. long My dress is extremely long. |
inteligente Somos inteligent ísimos . simpático ("c" changes to "qu") (same for rico, rica, poco, poca) Mis amigas son simpati qu ísimas . largo ("g" changes to "gu") Mi vestido es lar gu ísimo . |
|
difficult These classes are extremely difficult. |
difícil Estas clases son dificil ísimas . |
|
hard-working
young Your parents are extremely young. |
trabajador Mis padres son trabajador císimos . joven Tus padres son joven císimos . |