MULTIMEDIA-ENGLISH
ACTIVITY SHEET (created by the user: Profe)

Before doing this activity you may need to read the text you will find at the end


  SmartMemo
Superlatives
Focus Grammar
Description Practise the superlative form and its sentence construction
Instructions 1- Look at the sentences and try to say the same thing in English 2- Move your mouse over the black button to check your answer. 3- If you were right, click on the green button, if wrong, click on the red.
 
Item Match Comments
Estoy cansadísimo, voy a sentarme un rato I'm so tired. I'm going to sit down for a while
Es la chica más guapa de la ciudad She's the prettiest girl in town also: in the city
also: the most beautiful
Mark es el chico mayor de la clase (en edad) Mark is the oldest boy in class
Kevin es el más guapo de todos Kevin is the most handsome of them
Soy el más bajo de mi familia I'm the shortest in my family
Este libro es con mucho el más interesante This book is by far the best
Mary es la más alta de sus cuatro hermanas Mary is the tallest of her four sisters
Es el nadador más rápido del equipo He's the fastest swimmer in the team
Esa casa es grandísima That house is so big
La primavera es la mejor estación de todas Spring is the best season of all
Dios mío, es tardísimo, tenemos que darnos prisa Oh my! It's so late! we must hurry
Megan es la más rica y la más guapa Megan is the richest and the most beautiful
TKM es, de lejos, la empresa más importante de la ciudad TKM is by far the most important company in town also: in the city
Susan es la chica más feliz que conozco Susan is the happiest girl I know
Dicen que es el hombre más atractivo del año They say he's the most attractive man of the year
Julio suele ser el mes más caluroso del año July is usually the hottest month of the year
Ella es la mujer más fascinante de todas las actrices de la película She is the most fascinating woman of all the actresses in the film
Esa película estuvo super emocionante That film was so exciting
El Everest es la montaña más alta del mundo Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world also: the tallest
Mi madre es con diferencia la mejor madre del mundo My mother is by far the best mother in the world
Ese es el edificio más alto de mi ciudad That is the tallest building in my city
Mike es el más grande de los chicos Mike is the biggest of the boys
Dicen que es el hombre más atractivo de Hollywood They say he is the most attractive man in Hollywood
Estaba contentísimo con todos sus amigos allí He was so happy with all his friends there
Él es el mejor del equipo He's the best in the team
Es el nadador más rápido de todos ellos He's the fastest swimmer of them all
Es el corredor más rápido de España He's the fastest runner in Spain
Ella es una de las personas más ricas de la ciuad She's one of the richest people in the city
Es el tío más guay de la ciudad He's the coolest guy in the city
Daniel es el más listo del mundo Daniel is the most intelligent in the world
Total number of items: 30
This is an activity from Multimedia-English www.multimedia-english.com
 

COMPARISON OF SUPERIORITY AND SUPERLATIVE

When comparing two things we use the comparative:

      John is taller than Mark

When comparing more than two things, we use the superlative:

      John is the tallest in his family
      Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world

short words (1 syllable):

Comparatives add -ER and superlatives add -EST
     old  older  oldest
     fast  faster  fastest
Words ending in -e drop it
     late  later  latest
     fine  finer  finest
Words ending in -y change it to -i
     shy  shier  shiest
Words ending in one single syllable followed by one single consonant, double the final consonant when the vowel is stressed: -1V+1C --> -CC
     fat  fatter  fattest
     slim  slimmer  slimmest
 
long words (3 or more syllables):

They use MORE for the comparative and THE MOST for the superlative.
 
     intelligent  more intelligent  the most intelligent
 
2-syllable words:

They can use both forms, but we prefer More/the Most
     
     handsome  more handsome the most handsome
     cheerful  more cheerful  the most cheerful
 
Nevertheless, words ending in -y and some adjectives such as: quiet, clever y narrow usually take -er/-est
     easy  easier   the easiest
     happy  happier  the happiest
     clever  cleverer   the cleverest
 
But if they end in -ly, they use more/most (except: early)
     quickly  more quickly  the most quickly
     slowly  more slowly  the most slowly
     early  earlier  the earliest
 
If you find the two-syllable words confusing, it is usually safe to say that when in doubt, you can always use more/most.

 
PRONOUNS WITH COMPARATIVES

 If the second part of the comparison is a personal pronoun, there are three possibilities:
     She's older than me     (the most common construction in informal English)
     She's older than I am   (the most common in formal English)
     She's older than I         (very formal and rarely used, so you can forget about it) 

  
SUPERLATIVE SENTENCES

Don't forget to use the article with superlatives: the
     Tommy is the tallest person I know
 
When comparing with a group, use the preposition IN (rarely "of")
     That's the highest building in the world
     You have the nicest room in the hotel
     The boss is the most important person in the company
     I'm the youngest in my family
 
But we can use the preposition OF before plurals and time expresions
     He’s the biggest one of the boys
     Kevin is the most handsome of them
     This is the best day of my life
     July is usually the hottest month of the year

 
GRADING

- my friend is tall  --> my friend is taller than me
- my friend is very tall  --> my friend is much taller than me
- my friend is a bit tall --> my friend is a bit taller than me
- my friend is very very very tall --> my friend is by far the tallest

 
Irregular forms

     good/well    better    best
     bad/badly    worse    worst
     far  further/farther    furthest/farthest

 

  Note for Spanish speakers: What you call "superlativo" is not the English superlative (-est), but the forms ending in -ísimo. That form is usually expressed in English with SO:     Marcos es altísimo   Mark is so tall