Superlatives

Dr. Grammar says:

“What’s wrong with this sentence? I am good at Maths and so is my brother, but my sister is the better in my family.”

The lesson should be completed as follows:

1. Read the explanation section.

2. Complete the exercises below and check your answer using the answer key.

3. Apply the grammatical rules for writing and speaking, starting from sentence level.

EXPLANATION

If we talk about one thing being MORE or LESS than ALL the others (the most or the least), we use a superlative.

If one mobile phone (phone A) costs 2,500,000 VND, another (phone B) costs 3,000,000 VND, and the last one (phone C) costs 4,000,000 VND, how do we say this?

Let’s use the same two adjectives we looked at in the “Comparatives”.

cheap = something doesn’t have a high price

expensive = something has a high price

We can say…

Phone C is the most expensive.   or…

Phone A is the cheapest.

Why? Because…

for short adjectives with one syllable (e.g. cheap, hot) we use “the adjective + est”

hot > the hottest and cheap > the cheapest

for long adjectives (e.g. expensive, beautiful) we use “the most + adjective”

expensive > the most expensive and beautiful > the most beautiful

for short adjectives ending in “y” (e.g. dirty, pretty) we use “adjective – y + iest”

dirty > the dirtiest and pretty > the prettiest

for some irregular adjectives (e.g. good) we have to learn the correct forms

good > best

So…

I am good at Maths and so is my brother, but my sister is the better in my family. X

I am good at Maths and so is my brother, but my sister is the best in my family. √

EXERCISE

Use the adjectives from the box to complete the sentences, and decide how to change the adjective into the superlative.

1. My motorbike is ……………………………, I always get to school after all my friends.

2. The movie I saw yesterday was …………………………… movie I have ever seen! I am going to have nightmares all week.

3. Antarctica is …………………………… place in the world. It was once -89.2oC.

4. Some people say that …………………………… exercise is swimming, but I think that running is …………………………… way to exercise. I always feel exhausted when I run!

5. A place in India called Cherrapunji is …………………………… place in the world. It has 12m of rain every year (Vietnam has an average of 1.5 – 2m of rain every year).

Answers: 1. the slowest, 2. the most frightening, 3. the coldest, 4. the best, the most tiring, 5. the wettest (not “the wetest" because we add an extra “t” to keep the /e/ sound)

FURTHER PRACTICE

Writing or Speaking:

Look at everything around you for the day. What can you see? Try to describe things by comparing them (two birds, the motorbikes on the street, your house and your friend’s house). Either write down your ideas, or practice with a friends, and say your descriptions.

Use these adjectives to help you:

big               boring

small          interesting

old               exciting

new             old

pretty           young

ugly             nice

This material is provided by the Australian Centre for Education and Training (ACET).