Superlative adjectives are used to show the highest and lowest level of quality. This article will show you how to form superlatives in Spanish.
Superlatives in Spanish
Spanish superlatives are divided into two categories including relative superlatives and absolute superlatives.
1. RELATIVE SUPERLATIVES
A relative superlative is used to describe a noun and compare it with a larger group. It's similar to using words like "the most" and "the least" before the adjective or adding the ending "est" to the adjective in English. Here's how to form relative superlative in Spanish.
1.1. REGULAR SUPERLATIVE ADJECTIVES IN SPANISH
Definite article (el, la, los, las) + noun + más + adjective + de = the most
Definite article + noun + menos + adjective + de = the least
Note: The definite article must match the noun/the subject of the sentence.
- El: used for singular noun, masculine gender
- La: singular noun, feminine gender
- Las: plural of “la”, feminine gender
- Los: plural of “el”, masculine gender
See: gender of nouns in Spanish.
For examples:
John is the smartest boy in the class - Juan es el chico más inteligente de la clase.
As in English, the noun can be omitted
Definite article (el, la, los, las) + más + adjective = the most + adjective
Definite article (el, la, los, las) + menos + adjective = the least + adjective
For examples:
María es la chica más delgada de la clase. - Mary is the thinnest girl in the class.
María es la más delgada de la clase. - Mary is the thinnest in the class.
Mi madre es la más inteligente de la familia. - My mother is the most intelligent one in the family.
Mi hermano es el menos responsable de la familia. - My brother is the least responsible one in the family.
Fernando es el más alto de la clase. - Fernando is the highest in the class.
Alejandra es la más joven del grupo. - Alejandra is the youngest of the group.
Lo más importante es terminar a tiempo. - The most important thing is to finish on time.
Understanding Spanish definite articles.
1.2. IRREGULAR SUPERLATIVE ADJECTIVES IN SPANISH
Single-word adjectives
Just like in English, to one-syllable adjectives, we add –er or –est for the comparative and superlative respectively, this is similar in Spanish.
Definite article (el, la, los, las) + superlative adjective
For example:
My father is the oldest of his brothers. - Mi padre es el mayor de sus hermanos.
Some common irregular superlative adjectives in Spanish
- Viejo – mayor (superlative form) – oldest (meaning in English)
- Grande - mayor - biggest/largest
- Joven – menor - youngest
- Pequeño – menor - smallest
- Bueno – major - best
- Mal – peor – worst
2. Absolute superlatives
An absolute superlative is used to describe a noun at its highest or least degree of quality without comparing it to any other noun.
It is formed by adding -ísimo/-ísima/-ísimos/-ísimas to the word root of the adjective.
You can add -ísimo to an adjective (or some adverbs) to talk about an extreme degree of something. This suffix can be translated as very, really, extremely, super in English.
For examples:
Las chicas allí son bellísimas. - Those girls over there are really beautiful.
La comida está riquísima. - The food is super delicious.
Es grandísimo. - He is extremely, incredibly and unsurpassably big.
Some common and useful -ísimo adjectives with English translation
- Cómico (funny) - comiquísimo (really hilarious)
- Blanco (white) – blanquísimo (very white)
- Fresco (fresh) – fresquísimo (super fresh)
- Largo (long) – larguísimo (very long)
- Amargo (bitter) – amarguísimo (really bitter)
- Antiguo (old) – antiquísimo (very old)
- Agradable (nice) – agradabilísimo (super nice)
- Feliz (happy) – felicísimo (extremely happy)
- Caliente (hot) – calentísimo (really hot)
EXCEPTIONS
1. Words with the suffix –ble often change to –bil when used with -ísimo.
For example:
Agradable – agradabilísimo (really nice)
Amable – amabilísimo (really nice)
Notable – notabilísimo (really outstanding)
Miserable – misirabilísimo (really miserable)
2. Words or adjectives that end in –n, -or, -dor often change to -císimo.
For example:
Inferior – inferiorcísimo (quite inferior)
Hablador – habladorcísimo (very talkative)
Joven – jovencísimo (very young)
3. Many qualitative adjectives that have an -r in the final syllable often take the -érrimo ending.
For example:
Acre – acérrimo (extremely bitter)
Célebre – celebérrimo (extremely famous)
Libre – libérrima (extremely free)
Mísero – misérrimo (extremely wretched)
Salubre – salubérrimo (extremely healthy)
Pobre - paupérrimo
4. Other exceptions
antiguo - antiquísimo
rico - riquísimo
fuerte - fortísimo
5.
muy (very) + adjective
sumamente (extremely) + adjective
You can also use “muy” or “sumamente” which also mean extremely and very.
For example:
very handsome/extremely handsome = muy guapo/sumamente guapo/guapísimo
Es sumamente grande. - He is extremely big.
The above rules are really useful if you want to compare anything in Spanish. By keeping all comparative and superlative forms of adjectives/adverbs/nouns, you can easily make comparisons between or among things.
For more on Spanish grammar and comparison, check out this lesson: How to make comparisons in Spanish.