I want to be the best – Study Tip!

5th March 2017

Would you like to be the best you can be at English? Or is getting better every year enough for you? Last week we looked at the comparative adjective. This week it is time to take a step further and learn about superlative forms.

We use adjective in English when we want to describe a person, place, or thing. When we need to compare two nouns, we use comparative adjectives. And when we need to highlight one noun out of a group of nouns, we use superlative adjectives.

The superlative form is –est or most. In general, we use –est for short words (1 syllable such as “short”) and most for longer words (2 syllables or more such as “beautiful”). For adjectives that end with Y, we cut it and add –iest.  The rules are the same as those for the comparative. See here. We normally use THE before a superlative ( the longest, the hottest ect. )

Long- longer – the longest

Hot-hotter- the hottest

Easy- easier – the easiest

Beautiful – more beautiful – the most beautiful 

Exceptions  

But a few adjectives are irregular and you need to memorise the comparative and superlative forms.

Good-better- the best

Bad- worse- the worst

Far-further- the furthest

Want to learn more? For more Study Tips, you can read our Study Tips posts.