284. Superlative Adjectives

A comparative adjective compare two nouns. Your house is big. Tom’s house is bigger.
The word bigger is a comparative adjective. Most comparative adjectives end in -er.

A superlative adjective compares three or more nouns.
Your house is big.
Tom’s house is bigger.
Sam’s house is the biggest of all.
The word biggest is a superlative adjective. A superlative adjective usually ends in –est.

Here are more examples of comparative and superlative adjectives:
Jim is taller than Jeff. Carl is the tallest of all three men.
The red train is slower than the blue train. The orange train is the slowest of all three.
Susan is smarter than her sister. Their mother is the smartest of all.

When an adjective ends in -y, change the -y to -i before adding -est.
prettier, prettiest
happier, happiest
funnier, funniest

A superlative adjective compares three or more nouns and ends in -est.

  • Now you try it. Put the correct superlative adjective into the blank in the second sentence. The tall clown was funnier than the magician. The short lady clown was the _____ of all.