Comparisons 2 (superlatives, compa ring wrth verbs)

thist,extract from a blog,

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descr:ibe Wa
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writer think airy-othdistores

and more profitable than

with lower prices?

@ Forming superlative adjectives an

A1

adjectives and adverbs

cheap+chgapest fastlfastest

add -esf

short adjectives and adverbs

oftwo or rnore

expensive -+ mostlleast expensive

most/leost.,

carefully -s mos{least carefullY

syllables

two-syllable adjectives ending in -y

{See Unit3l

(Comparisons

drop -y and add -rest

1)and}Appendix I

busy

busiest

(Spelling).

Some adjectives and adverbs have irregular superlative forms.

good/well

-+ best bad/badly -+ worct lar/far

furthest

ffi

farthest is possible but less frequent

Some two-syllable adjectives have two superlative form s (e.g. friendliest

A2

ffi

Th"

*or.

most friendly).

one form is usually more frequent

frequent forms are: -est: costliest, friendliest, simplest, wealthiest; most: most common, most (un)likely.

@ Using superlative adjedives and adverbs

Bt

You can use a superlative to compare three or more people or things. The superlative shows that one person or thing has
more (or less) of something than the others.
We

bought the best ond most efficient air conditioners on the market.

In spoken English people often use superlatives to compare two people or things'

#
82

l'vegottwodesignstoshowyou.Theblueone\thecheapest,butwhichdoyoulikebest?

You can use a superlative adjeciive

with

the

or apossessive

(e.g.

your, the compony's, ltaly\).Wth a superlative adverb,

you do not have to use fhe.

Sales in June

were the our highest.

Soles to Asia are

growing (the) fastest even though

we go there

(the) least often.

After a superlative, use rn (not ef) before places and organisatio ns (e.g. in the country/world/company/ddpartment),

83

Wotmort is the biggest business in the IJS.(notef+heUfl

Use of to introduce other

things you are comparing and time periods (e.9. of my life / the last ten yeors / the century).

Hyundai is the lorgest of the conglomerates in South

84

Korea. Leaving my iob wos the worst decision of my life.

You can use superlative adverbs before adjectives that are present or past participles (e.g. devetoping/developed).
Mobile communicotions

is the fastest growing oreo in the telecom sector. Our logo is probobly the best known in

85 iou can use ordinal numbers (second, third etc.but not frst) before
lntel is

superlative to order things

theworld! second most successful computer compony lfter Microsoft'

ttrtafing comparisons with Yerbs

You can use more, less and (the) most and (the) least as adverbs'
Computers cost less now than (they did) in

2004.

See Unit 35 (Quantifiers) for comparisons

Unemploynent hurts young people (thel most.

with nouns'

ff-.,

s9

the wortd.