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Expressing the highest or lowest degree of a quality.
Superlative adjectives identify the highest or lowest degree of a quality within a group.
They compare one person or thing with all other members of the same group.
This is the tallest building in our city.
Это самое высокое здание в нашем городе.
"Tallest" identifies the building with the highest height in the group.
She is the fastest runner on the team.
Она самая быстрая бегунья в команде.
"Fastest" identifies the team member with the highest speed.
That was the best pizza I have ever had.
Это была лучшая пицца, которую я когда-либо ел.
"Best" identifies the highest degree of quality among all the pizzas considered.
This is the most expensive restaurant in the neighborhood.
Это самый дорогой ресторан в районе.
"Most expensive" identifies the restaurant with the highest price level.
Saturday was the hottest day of the week.
Суббота была самым жарким днем недели.
"Hottest" identifies the day with the highest temperature.
This is the easiest question on the test.
Это самый легкий вопрос в тесте.
"Easiest" identifies the question with the lowest degree of difficulty.
He bought the newest model of the car.
Он купил самую новую модель этой машины.
"Newest" identifies the model with the most recent release date.
That was the most interesting part of the trip.
Это была самая интересная часть поездки.
"Most interesting" identifies the part with the highest degree of interest.
Short adjectives usually take -est, while longer adjectives normally use most.
Examples include tallest, happiest, most beautiful and most interesting.
She is the tallest student in the class.
Она самая высокая студентка в классе.
"Tall" forms the superlative "tallest" with "-est".
This is the biggest box in the store.
Это самая большая коробка в магазине.
"Big" forms "biggest" by doubling the final consonant before "-est".
She is the happiest person in the office.
Она самый счастливый человек в офисе.
"Happy" changes "y" to "i" before "-est".
This is the most beautiful park in the city.
Это самый красивый парк в городе.
"Beautiful" normally forms the superlative with "most".
That was the most difficult part of the job.
Это была самая сложная часть работы.
"Difficult" takes "most" rather than "-est".
This is the thinnest slice of pizza.
Это самый тонкий кусок пиццы.
"Thin" doubles the final consonant before "-est".
He chose the simplest option.
Он выбрал самый простой вариант.
"Simple" forms the superlative "simplest".
This is the most useful feature of the app.
Это самая полезная функция приложения.
"Useful" normally takes "most" in the superlative.
Superlative adjectives are usually preceded by the.
The article identifies one item as having the highest or lowest degree within a group.
She is the smartest student in the class.
Она самая умная студентка в классе.
"The" identifies the single person at the highest level of the quality.
This is the cheapest option.
Это самый дешевый вариант.
"The" normally precedes a superlative adjective.
That was the worst movie I saw this year.
Это был худший фильм, который я видел в этом году.
"The" introduces the superlative "worst".
He lives in the largest house on the street.
Он живет в самом большом доме на улице.
"The" makes the superlative specific within the group.
Sunday was the coldest day of the month.
Воскресенье было самым холодным днем месяца.
"The" identifies the one day with the lowest temperature.
This is the most important part of the plan.
Это самая важная часть плана.
"The" precedes "most important" in the standard superlative construction.
She bought the newest iPhone model.
Она купила самую новую модель iPhone.
"The newest" identifies one model as the most recent.
That was the easiest test of the semester.
Это был самый легкий тест за семестр.
"The" makes "easiest" definite within the set of tests.
Some adjectives have irregular superlative forms.
Common examples include good → best, bad → worst and far → farthest/furthest.
This is the best restaurant in town.
Это лучший ресторан в городе.
"Best" is the irregular superlative of "good".
That was the worst decision I ever made.
Это было худшее решение, которое я когда-либо принимал.
"Worst" is the irregular superlative of "bad".
This is the farthest point we can reach today.
Это самая дальняя точка, до которой мы можем добраться сегодня.
"Farthest" is commonly used for physical distance.
This is the furthest we have gone in the project.
Это самое далеко, до чего мы продвинулись в проекте.
"Furthest" is common for figurative or extended distance.
That was the best part of the vacation.
Это была лучшая часть отпуска.
"Best" is the irregular superlative form of "good".
Monday was the worst day of the week.
Понедельник был худшим днем недели.
"Worst" is the irregular superlative of "bad".
This is the best coffee I have had in Chicago.
Это лучший кофе, который я пил в Чикаго.
"Best" expresses the highest quality among the coffees considered.
That is the worst traffic I have seen all year.
Это самая ужасная пробка, которую я видел весь год.
"Worst" identifies the lowest quality or most undesirable situation.
Least forms the negative superlative and expresses the lowest degree of a quality.
It is commonly used with longer adjectives, as in the least expensive and the least interesting.
This is the least expensive hotel nearby.
Это самый недорогой отель поблизости.
"Least expensive" expresses the lowest degree of expense.
That was the least interesting part of the movie.
Это была наименее интересная часть фильма.
"Least interesting" identifies the lowest degree of interest.
This option is the least practical.
Этот вариант наименее практичный.
"Least practical" expresses the lowest degree of practicality.
Friday was the least convenient day for the meeting.
Пятница была наименее удобным днем для встречи.
"Least convenient" identifies the day with the lowest degree of convenience.
This is the least useful feature of the app.
Это наименее полезная функция приложения.
"Least useful" expresses the lowest degree of usefulness.
He chose the least expensive flight.
Он выбрал самый дешевый рейс.
"Least expensive" is a common alternative to "cheapest" in some contexts.
This route is the least dangerous of the three.
Этот маршрут наименее опасный из трех.
"Least dangerous" identifies the lowest degree of danger.
That was the least helpful answer.
Это был наименее полезный ответ.
"Least helpful" expresses the lowest degree of helpfulness.
Some adjectives change spelling when forming the superlative.
Examples include big → biggest, happy → happiest and thin → thinnest.
This is the biggest room in the house.
Это самая большая комната в доме.
"Big" doubles the final consonant before "-est".
She is the happiest person here.
Она самый счастливый человек здесь.
"Happy" changes "y" to "i" before "-est".
This is the thinnest slice of bread.
Это самый тонкий ломтик хлеба.
"Thin" doubles the final consonant before "-est".
That is the hottest day we have had this summer.
Это самый жаркий день, который у нас был этим летом.
"Hot" doubles the final consonant before "-est".
This is the prettiest dress in the store.
Это самое красивое платье в магазине.
"Pretty" changes "y" to "i" before "-est".
This is the simplest solution.
Это самое простое решение.
"Simple" forms the superlative "simplest".
He lives in the largest apartment in the building.
Он живет в самой большой квартире в здании.
"Large" forms the superlative "largest".
This is the nicest neighborhood in the city.
Это самый приятный район в городе.
"Nice" forms the superlative "nicest" with "-est".
The prepositions of and in commonly introduce the group being compared.
Use in with places or categories and of with defined groups of people or things.
She is the tallest student in the class.
Она самая высокая студентка в классе.
"In" introduces the group or category within which the comparison is made.
This is the best restaurant in town.
Это лучший ресторан в городе.
"In town" identifies the geographical category.
He is the youngest of the three brothers.
Он самый младший из трех братьев.
"Of the three brothers" identifies the defined group being compared.
This was the hardest of all the tests.
Это был самый сложный из всех тестов.
"Of all the tests" introduces the complete defined group.
She is the most experienced person in the department.
Она самый опытный человек в отделе.
"In the department" specifies the group.
That is the largest park in the city.
Это самый большой парк в городе.
"In the city" identifies the geographical category.
This is the cheapest of the three options.
Это самый дешевый из трех вариантов.
"Of the three options" names the limited comparison group.
He was the most popular player on the team.
Он был самым популярным игроком в команде.
"On the team" identifies the group within which the comparison is made.
Words such as by far, easily and quite can strengthen or soften superlative meaning.
These modifiers indicate the degree of difference from the rest of the group.
This is by far the best option.
Это безусловно лучший вариант.
"By far" strongly emphasizes the superlative.
She is easily the most experienced person on the team.
Она безусловно самый опытный человек в команде.
"Easily" emphasizes that the difference is obvious or substantial.
That was by far the worst traffic I have seen.
Это была безусловно худшая пробка, которую я видел.
"By far" makes the superlative difference especially strong.
This is easily the easiest way to get downtown.
Это безусловно самый простой способ добраться до центра.
"Easily" emphasizes the clear superiority of the easiest option.
That was quite possibly the most surprising result.
Это, пожалуй, был самый неожиданный результат.
"Quite possibly" softens the certainty while emphasizing the superlative.
It was by far the most expensive item in the store.
Это был безусловно самый дорогой товар в магазине.
"By far" emphasizes a large difference in price.
She is easily the best player on the team.
Она безусловно лучший игрок в команде.
"Easily" indicates that the superlative is clear.
This is quite possibly the least convenient time to call.
Это, пожалуй, самое неудобное время для звонка.
"Quite possibly" presents the extreme as a strong but qualified judgment.
The structure one of the + superlative + plural noun identifies membership in an outstanding group.
Examples include one of the oldest buildings and one of the most successful companies.
New York is one of the largest cities in the United States.
Нью-Йорк — один из крупнейших городов США.
"One of the largest cities" identifies New York as a member of an outstanding group.
She is one of the best teachers at the school.
Она одна из лучших учителей в школе.
"One of the best teachers" means she belongs to the group of teachers with the highest level of quality.
This is one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the city.
Это один из самых дорогих районов города.
"One of the most expensive" identifies the neighborhood as part of the top group.
He bought one of the newest cars on the market.
Он купил одну из самых новых машин на рынке.
"One of the newest cars" places the car among the newest available.
This is one of the easiest ways to solve the problem.
Это один из самых простых способов решить проблему.
"One of the easiest ways" identifies membership in a group of easy solutions.
She is one of the fastest runners in the state.
Она одна из самых быстрых бегуний в штате.
"One of the fastest runners" identifies membership in the fastest group.
That was one of the funniest movies I have seen this year.
Это был один из самых смешных фильмов, которые я видел в этом году.
"One of the funniest movies" indicates membership in an outstanding group.
This park is one of the most popular places to visit in Chicago.
Этот парк — одно из самых популярных мест для посещения в Чикаго.
"One of the most popular places" identifies the park as part of the top group.
Superlatives are used to emphasize outstanding qualities and extreme situations.
They are common in advertising, journalism and everyday conversation.
That was the biggest surprise of the day.
Это был самый большой сюрприз дня.
"Biggest" emphasizes an extreme degree.
This is the most amazing view I have ever seen.
Это самый потрясающий вид, который я когда-либо видел.
"Most amazing" emphasizes an extreme positive quality.
That was the worst traffic jam of the year.
Это была самая ужасная пробка года.
"Worst" emphasizes an extreme negative experience.
This is the most important thing to remember.
Это самое важное, что нужно помнить.
"Most important" emphasizes the highest degree of importance.
That was the coldest night of the winter.
Это была самая холодная ночь зимы.
"Coldest" emphasizes an extreme temperature.
This is the funniest story I have heard all week.
Это самая смешная история, которую я слышал всю неделю.
"Funniest" emphasizes an extreme reaction.
That was the longest meeting we have had this month.
Это было самое долгое собрание, которое у нас было в этом месяце.
"Longest" emphasizes an extreme duration.
This is the most ridiculous rule I have ever heard.
Это самое нелепое правило, о котором я когда-либо слышал.
"Most ridiculous" strongly emphasizes an extreme judgment.
Some superlatives compare members of a group, while others emphasize an extreme quality without a direct comparison.
Understanding this distinction helps explain many idiomatic uses of superlatives.
She is the tallest student in the class.
Она самая высокая студентка в классе.
This is a relative superlative because she is compared with the other students.
That was the funniest joke!
Это была самая смешная шутка!
The superlative emphasizes an extreme reaction and does not require an explicit comparison group.
This is the most important decision we need to make.
Это самое важное решение, которое нам нужно принять.
The decision is ranked within a specific group of decisions.
You are the best!
Ты лучший!
The superlative is used as an absolute expression of praise without an explicit comparison group.
That was the worst day of my life.
Это был худший день в моей жизни.
The day is compared with all other days of the speaker's life.
This is the most amazing!
Это самое потрясающее!
The superlative can function as an absolute emotional expression without naming the comparison set.
That is the greatest news ever.
Это величайшая новость!
"Greatest" expresses an extreme judgment without specifying a comparison group.
This is the most useful tool in the toolbox.
Это самый полезный инструмент в наборе инструментов.
The tool is explicitly ranked against the other tools in the toolbox.
Use superlative adjectives with the correct form and comparison group.
Common mistakes include omitting the, confusing comparative and superlative forms, using more with -est adjectives, confusing most and least, and choosing the wrong preposition after a superlative.
She is the tallest person in the room.
Она самый высокий человек в комнате.
Use the superlative "tallest", not the comparative "taller", when comparing one person with the whole group.
This is the most expensive option.
Это самый дорогой вариант.
Use "most expensive", not "expensivest".
He is the best player on the team.
Он лучший игрок в команде.
Use the irregular superlative "best", not "goodest".
This is the worst traffic I have seen all week.
Это самая ужасная пробка, которую я видел всю неделю.
Use the irregular superlative "worst", not "baddest" in standard formal usage.
She is the happiest person here.
Она самый счастливый человек здесь.
"Happy" becomes "happiest"; do not use "most happiest".
This is the most interesting book in the library.
Это самая интересная книга в библиотеке.
Use "most interesting", not "interestinger" or "interestinest".
He is the tallest student in the class.
Он самый высокий студент в классе.
Use "in the class" when identifying the comparison group as a category.
She is one of the best doctors in the hospital.
Она одна из лучших врачей в больнице.
After "one of the", use the superlative followed by a plural noun.