The ESL HELP! Desk

What Is the Superlative?

We use the superlative form of an adverb when the total group of comparison includes three or more items, and you are describing the one that possesses a superior (or inferior) quality.

How Do You Form the Superlative Form of an Adverb?

We will discuss regular adverbs and irregular adverbs.

1.  To the adverb form, add "the most ~ ".  

Notice that you do not need to include the entire comparison; you need only include it if the comparison is unclear.

base form -->	the most + adverb (of)
quick -->	We left quickly.
comparative	We left more quickly than we had arrived.
superlative	We left the most quickly of any of the guests.
	We left the most quickly.
base form
serious -->	He was seriously injured.
comparative	He was more seriously injured than the others were.
	He was injured more seriously than the others were.
superlative	He was the most seriously injured of all the guests.
	Of all the guests, he was injured the most seriously.
	He was injured the most seriously.

   2.  Exceptions

Exceptions
good -->	We did well.
comparative	We did better than we had done before.
superlative	(the) best
	Our class scored the best of all.
	We took three tests but on this test our class scored the best of all.
bad -->	We did badly on the test.
comparative	We did worse on this test than we had done in the first one.
superlative	(the) worst
	Our class scored the worst of all the classes.
	Our class scored the worst.

Next...

In our next lesson...

Continue with our next lesson, "Unit Quiz: Comparative and Superlative Forms of Adverbs".

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