Spoken Description

Guía completa de los adjetivos superlativos en español: formación, uso en oraciones y ejemplos claros para comparar cualidades entre objetos y personas.

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Complete guide to Spanish superlative adjectives: formation, use in sentences, and clear examples for comparing qualities among objects and people.

Superlative adjectives show the highest degree of a quality among three or more things. This guide covers the main forms for short and long adjectives, irregulars, and useful phrases.

Form

Short Adjectives

Short adjectives form the superlative by adding -est and usually doubling a final consonant if needed. They can appear with the before them.

English Word(s)English Sentence(s)
tallShe is the tallest in the class.
bigThis is the biggest apple.
hotToday is the hottest day.
Among all the students, she is(tall).
Complete the sentence with the correct superlative form of a short adjective (use -est; include 'the' if needed).

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Long Adjectives

Long adjectives form the superlative with the most before the adjective. They do not change form.

English Word(s)English Sentence(s)
beautifulThat is the most beautiful painting.
expensiveThis is the most expensive car.
difficultIt was the most difficult test.
That is(beautiful) painting in the gallery.
Use 'the most' for long adjectives: voc = 'beautiful'

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Irregular

Irregular superlatives change form completely and must be memorized. Common ones include best, worst, farther/furthest, and least.

English WordSuperlative English Word
goodbest
badworst
farfarthest / furthest
littleleast
Out of all the movies, that was the(good).
Fill with the irregular superlative form of 'good'.

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Usage

The superlative is usually used with the because it refers to one member that stands out. It can modify nouns directly or function as a complement after verbs like be.

Summary

Use -est for short adjectives and the most for long ones. Remember irregular forms and always use the with superlatives that single out the top example.

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Suggested Reading

English File

English File by Unknown (Oxford University Press series)

Practical English Usage

Practical English Usage by Michael Swan

English Grammar in Use

English Grammar in Use by Raymond Murphy

English Grammar Workbook: Simple Grammar for Non-Native Speakers

English Grammar Workbook: Simple Grammar for Non-Native Speakers by SIMPLE English Language School

Essential Grammar in Use

Essential Grammar in Use by Raymond Murphy

New Concept English

New Concept English by L. G. Alexander

Oxford Practice Grammar

Oxford Practice Grammar by Norman Coe, Mark Harrison & Ken Paterson

The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation

The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation by Jane Straus

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