Superlatives: the most and the least — Foreign languages, 7–10
Learn how to show that one person or thing stands at the top or bottom of a group. This helps you talk about records, favourites and choices.
One stands out from the group
A superlative tells you that one person or thing has more of a quality than every other one in a group. You often use the and a word such as biggest, fastest or most interesting: “Mia is the fastest runner in the class.”
Why put one at the top?
When you compare two things, you can say which is bigger or smaller. But a race, a list or a class may have three or more things, and you need to name the one at the extreme. Superlatives solve that problem without repeating every comparison.
Finding the fastest animal
Imagine three animals: a turtle runs at 1 km/h, a dog at 10 km/h and a horse at 70 km/h. First, compare their speeds. Then choose the extreme: 70 is more than 1 and 10, so say, “The horse is the fastest animal.”
The extra “-est” is not always right
It is reasonable to think that every superlative ends in -est, because fastest and smallest do. But longer words usually use most: “the most exciting”, not “the excitingest”. Some words change completely, such as good to best, so learn these as useful exceptions.
Records and choices
You hear superlatives in sports results, reviews and everyday choices: the tallest building, the cheapest ticket or the funniest film. When you say one is the best, check the group you mean; it might be the best in your family, school or town, not everywhere in the world.
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