superlative
part of speech
adjective (superlative); noun (a superlative, superlatives)
meaning for a pupil
1) (grammar) A superlative is the form of an adjective or adverb that shows the most or least: biggest, fastest, most beautiful, best, worst. tree →
2) (formal) Superlative means extremely good, of the highest quality: a superlative performance. tree →
3) (noun) Superlatives can also be words of very high praise: "The review was full of superlatives." tree →
sense in the lessons
In English grammar lessons (and SATs), pupils learn comparatives (bigger, more) and superlatives (biggest, most): short words take -est, long words take "most", and some are irregular (good, better, best; bad, worse, worst). In maths, superlatives in word problems ("the tallest", "the fewest") tell you to find the maximum or minimum. Phrases: "superlative form", "run out of superlatives".
examples
- "Tallest" is the superlative of "tall". tree →
- The superlative of "good" is "best". tree →
- Use "the" before a superlative: the fastest runner. tree →
- The chef cooked a superlative meal. tree →
- The critics ran out of superlatives to describe the show. tree →
- Find the superlative: "Mount Everest is the highest mountain on Earth." tree →
- "Most exciting" is a superlative made with "most". tree →
note
Rules: one syllable: add -est (big, biggest — double the final consonant after a short vowel); ending in y: change to -iest (happy, happiest); long words: "most" + adjective. Do not use both: not "most biggest". In maths problems, superlatives mean largest (maximum) or smallest (minimum).
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «superlative» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.