Superlative Adjectives in Spanish
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Explanation
Superlative adjectives are used to compare three or more nouns. They are often used to talk about the most or the least of something.
Adjectives are used to compare and contrast nouns in Spanish in comparisons of equality, comparisons of inequality, and in superlatives. We'll focus on superlatives in this article.
Forming Superlative Adjectives
To form superlative adjectives in Spanish, you will use a formula very similar to that used to form comparative adjectives, with the important addition of the definite article.
Regular Superlative Adjectives
The formulas for forming regular superlative adjectives are found below.
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Irregular Superlative Adjectives
For adjectives that have single-word comparative and superlative forms, such as mejor(best) and peor(worst), you do not use más or menos.
The formulas for forming irregular superlative adjectives are found below.
Irregular Superlative Formula
definite article (el, la, los, las) + superlative adjective
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Here are some examples of very common irregular superlative adjectives.
Irregular Superlatives
| Adjective | Superlative Form | English |
|---|---|---|
| viejo | mayor | oldest |
| grande | mayor | biggest/largest |
| joven | menor | youngest |
| pequeño | menor | smallest |
| bueno | mejor | best |
| mal | peor | worst |
-ísimo Adjectives
You can also add -ísimo to an adjective (and even some adverbs) to talk about an extreme degree of something. This handy suffix may be translated as very, really, extremely, super, and quite.
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Common -ísimo Adjectives
Below you will find a list of useful adjectives which use the -ísimo suffix.
-bilísimo Adjectives
The suffix -ble tends to change to -bil when used with -ísimo.
| Adjective | -bilísimo Adjective | English |
|---|---|---|
| agradable | agradabilísimo | really nice |
| amable | amabilísimo | really nice |
| notable | notabilísimo | really outstanding |
| miserable | misirabilísimo | really miserable |
-císimo Adjectives
When an adjective ends in -n, -dor, or -or, -ísimo usually changes to -císimo.
| Adjective | -císimo Adjective | English |
|---|---|---|
| inferior | inferiorcísimo | quite inferior |
| hablador | habladorcísimo | very talkative |
| joven | jovencísimo | very young |
-érrimo Adjectives
Many qualitative adjectives that have an r in the final syllable do not always take the -ísimo ending, but instead take the -érrimo ending.
| Adjective | -érrimo Adjective | English |
|---|---|---|
| acre | acérrimo | extremely bitter |
| célebre | celebérrimo | extremely famous |
| libre | libérrimo | extremely free |
| mísero | misérrimo | extremely wretched |
| salubre | salubérrimo | extremely healthy |
Learn all about adjectives in Spanish with these articles!
