Spanish Superlative
El superlativo refers to comparisons between two or more items where one comes above all the others, such as the most/the least.
1) Superlative of adjectives
To compare adjectives (e.g. pretty, interesting, lazy) in Spanish, you use the following structures:
| English | Spanish |
|
the most [adjective] |
el/la/los/las más [adjetivo] |
| the least [adjective] | el/la/los/las menos [adjetivo] |
ATTENTION: The adjective and the definite article (el/la/los/las) have to agree in gender and number with the noun they refer to.
For example:
La princesa era la más bella de todas.
The princess was the most beautiful of all.
El gato es el más ágil de todos los animales.
The cat is the most agile of all animals.
Estos chicos son los más altos de mi clase.
These boys are the tallest in my class.
Note that sometimes the superlative changes slightly its place in the sentence. For example:
Esta es la casa más moderna.
This is the most modern house.
Esta casa es la más moderna.
This house is the most modern (one).
2) Superlative "absoluto" with adjectives.
There is another type of superlative called El superlativo absoluto which is used with adjectives and expresses that something/someone is extremely [adjective].
To form these, we add the suffix -ísimo/ -ísima /-ísimos /-ísimas to the adjective. For example:
Tu hijo es altísimo.
Your son is extremely tall.
María es inteligentísima.
María is extremely intelligent.
Esos coches son rapidísimos.
Those cars are extremely fast.
Tus amigas parecen simpatiquísimas.
Your friends seem extremely friendly.
3) Superlative with verbs.
We can use the superlative with verbs but it works quite differently to English. Have a look at the table to see the formula. Notice that we need some relative pronouns here.
| English | Spanish |
|
[verb] the most |
el que/ la que/ los que / las que [verb] más |
| [verb] the least | el que/ la que/ los que / las que [verb] menos |
For example:
Thomas es el que come más en mi familia.
Thomas is the one who eats the most in my family.
María es la que trabaja menos de todas.
María is the one who works the least of all of them.
Los helados de fresa son los que me gustan más.
Strawberry ice-creams are the ones I like the most.
Estas faldas son las que me gustan menos.
These skirts are the ones I like the least.
4) Irregular superlatives
Some adjectives and adverbs have irregular superlative forms to express the most. However, they remain regular when expressing the least:
| original form | superlative form | English |
| bueno (adjective) | el/la mejor los/las mejores |
good = the best |
| malo (adjective) | el/la peor los/las peores |
bad = the worst |
| grande (adjective) | el/la mayor los/las mayores |
big = the biggest |
| pequeño (adjective) | el/la menor los/las menores |
small = the smallest |
For example:
Daniel es el mejor en matemáticas.
Daniel is the best in maths.
Vosotros sois los peores en educación física.
You are the worst in sports class.
