Superlatives Exercise

You might know how to compare things in English, but do you know the superlative equivalents?

Superlatives are used when describing extremes. For example, you may think pizza is good, but is it the best food ever?

Most adjectives in their superlative form take the ending -est, for example:
Adjective – Big
Comparative – Bigger
Superlative – Biggest

This rule is followed for most single syllable words (small, quick, slow, clean, high, loud etc.).

The only exception to this rule is when the verb ends in -y. In this case, we change the -y to an -i, and then we add -est. For example:
Adjective – Angry
Comparative – Angrier
Superlative – Angriest

Other examples of these adjectives include bossy, cloudy, dirty, funny, hungry, scary etc.

However, if the adjective has 3 or more syllables, we don’t use -est. Instead, we add ‘the most’ in front. For example:
Adjective – Beautiful
Comparative – More Beautiful
Superlative – Most Beautiful

Other adjectives that take this form are wonderful, powerful, incredible, fantastic etc.

There are also some adjectives which only have 2 syllables which also take ‘the most’. For example:
The most famous
The most stupid
The most upset

Lastly, there are the irregular adjectives. These include:

Good – The best
Bad – The worst
Old – The eldest
Little – Least
Many – Most
Far – The furthest

Here are some examples using each type of superlative…

-I went to the best rated restaurant in Milan yesterday, but the food was the worst.

-The Beatles are one of the most famous bands in the world, but I don’t like their music!

-I think Italy is the most beautiful city in the world, and they have the most incredible food.

-My friends stayed in the dirtiest hotel last weekend. They won’t be returning.

-You don’t need to be the richest person in the world, as long as you are happy!

So now you know the rules, have a go at the quiz and test your knowledge!

Let us know in the comments how you did on the quiz, and if you’d like to further improve your knowledge of English then check out our huge collection of exercises, audio quizzes and blog posts here!