Superlative Adjective

Rules to form superlatives

There are many

examples of superlative adjectives⁠

in the English language. In general, superlative adjectives are formed by adding the suffix -est to an adjective. There are a few basic spelling rules to follow when forming a superlative adjective in this way.

one-syllable words - Add -est to the word, as with terms like strongest, tallest and fastest. Sometimes this will require you to

double the final letter⁠

of the original adjective, as with the words biggest and saddest.

one- and two-syllable words ending in silent "e" - Add -st to the word, since the "e" is already in place. Note that doing this makes the "e" pronounced instead of silent. Examples include rarest, finest and sanest.

two-syllable words ending in "y" - Change the "y" to an "i" and add -est in words that have two syllables. Examples include silliest, funniest and craziest.

most other words - Instead of

adding a suffix⁠

, most other words are made into a short adjective phrase by adding "most" or "least" before the adjective. For example, this includes phrases like most careful, most congenial, least restrictive, and least invasive.

irregular superlative adjectives - There are a few irregular superlatives. For example, bad becomes worst, good become best, little becomes least, many becomes most, and far becomes

the farthest or furthest⁠

A Note About About Most and Least

Note that when you use the words "most" and "least" in tandem with other adjectives, those two words technically become adverbs in your sentence. An

adverb describes⁠

a verb, adverb or adjective. Paired with the adjective, this word combination forms an

adjective phrase⁠

. So, the superlative adjective phrase "least upset" functions as an adjective in the sentence, but can be further broken down into two parts of speech: the head adjective (upset) and the adverb that describes it (least).

One Superlative at a Time

In both writing and speech, it's important to remember to use only one superlative form at a time. For example, you can either say something is the "most funny" or "the funniest," but you cannot correctly say that something is the "most funniest." Use either most or least or the -est suffix as described in the rules above, but do not combine them. Doing so is a

grammatical error⁠

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