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Superlative Forms of Adjectives
In today's Grammar HELP! Student Handbook - Online! lesson we continue our unit on Adjectives and Adverbs. Today we focus on superlative forms of adjectives.
What's Wrong With This
Sentence?
The earthquake was the most terrifying and worst experience
of my life.
You can read our prior lesson, Comparative Forms of Adjectives, before you begin today with the exercises.
Superlative Forms of Adjectives
What Is a Superlative Form of an Adjective?
Use the superlative form of an adjective when you are comparing three or more items.
How Do You Form the Superlative Form of an Adjective?
This depends on several factors. It depends on:
-
how many syllables the adjective has, and
-
what letter of the alphabet the adjective ends in.
| One-syllable Adjectives ("Short" adjectives) | |
| e.g. few, tall, large, sad | |
| comparative | |
| superlative | Add the + est |
| large | Who was the largest President? |
| great | Life is the greatest gift. |
| Exceptions: | |
| good | superlative: the best |
| bad | superlative: the worst |
| Multi-syllable Adjectives that End in the Letter ~y | |
|
e.g. happy, easy, silly |
|
| 1) First, eliminate the ~y. | |
| 2) Then: | |
| comparative | |
| superlative | add ~iest |
| happy |
The happiest
people are those who are satisfied with what
they have. |
|
It was one of the happiest
moments in my childhood. |
|
| One-syllable Adjectives that End in the Letter ~y | |
|
e.g. shy, gay |
|
| Follow the rule in Chart #1, above, for "short" adjectives. There are two (2) acceptable ways of spelling this. | |
| comparative | |
| superlative | add ~iest |
| shy |
I was the shiest person in
my class. |
|
I was the shyest person in
my class. |
|
| Multi-syllable Adjectives that Do Not End in the Letter ~y | |
|
e.g. beautiful, interesting |
|
| comparative | |
| superlative | Add the most ~ |
| important |
Mt. Merendon is
the most important mountain
in Honduras.
San Pedro Sula is the second most important city in Honduras. |
| Add one of the most ~ +plural form of noun | |
| beautiful |
Love is one of the most beautiful emotions
a person can experience. |
Word Order
When using two or more superlative adjectives in a phrase:
-
place the adjectives that use an adjective ending (~est) first.
-
place the adjectives that use a helping word (more, most, etc.) last.
What's Wrong With This Sentence?
The earthquake was
the most terrifying and
the worst experience of my life
.
Solution:
The earthquake was the
worst and (the) most terrifying experience
of my life.
Next... Unit Quiz.
Continue for our Adjectives Unit Quiz.
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