Adjectives - Superlative Adjectives

A superlative adjective expresses the extreme or highest degree of a quality. We use a superlative adjective to describe the extreme quality of one thing in a group of things.
In the example below, "biggest" is the superlative form of the adjective "big":

A B C A is the biggest.

In this lesson we will look first at how we make superlative adjectives, and then at how we use them:

• Formation of Superlative Adjectives
• Use of Superlative Adjectives

We can use superlative adjectives when talking about three or more things (not two things).

Adjective - Adjective Order & Comparative Adjectives

Adjective Order

There are 2 basic positions for adjectives:

1. before the noun
2. after certain verbs (be, become, get, seem, look, feel, sound, smell, taste)

		adj.	noun	verb	adj.
1	I like	big	cars.
2			My car	is	big.

In this lesson we look at the position of adjectives in a sentence, followed by a quiz to check your understanding:

• Adjective before noun
• Adjective after certain verbs 
• Adjective order quiz 

Comparative Adjectives
When we talk about two things, we can "compare" them. We can see if they are the same or different. Perhaps they are the same in some ways and different in other ways. We can use comparative adjectives to describe the differences.

We can use comparative adjectives when talking about two things (not three or more things). In the example below, "bigger" is the comparative form of the adjective "big":

A1 A2 A1 is bigger than A2.

Adjectives - Determiners

Determiners are words like the, an, my, some. They are grammatically similar. They all come at the beginning of noun phrases, and usually we cannot use more than one determiner in the same noun phrase.

Articles:

• a, an, the

Possessive Adjectives:

• my, your, his, her, its, our, their, whose

Other determiners:

• each, every
• either, neither
• some, any, no
• much, many; more, most
• little, less, least
• few, fewer, fewest
• what, whatever; which, whichever
• both, half, all
• several
• enough

ADJECTIVES

An adjective is a word that tells us more about a noun. (By "noun" we include pronouns and noun phrases.)
An adjective "qualifies" or "modifies" a noun (a big dog).
Adjectives can be used before a noun (I like Chinese food) or after certain verbs (It is hard).

We can often use two or more adjectives together (a beautiful young French lady).

Determiners
the, a/an, this, some, any

Adjective Order
beautiful, long, dark brown

Comparative Adjectives
richer, more exciting

Superlative Adjectives
the richest, the most exciting

Gradable and Non-gradable Adjectives

see also:

Noun as Adjective
coffee cup, bus station, research centre

***** 

It is sometimes said that the adjective is the enemy of the noun. This is because, very often, if we use the precise noun we don't need an adjective. For example, instead of saying "a large, impressive house" (2 adjectives + 1 noun) we could simply say "a mansion" (1 noun).