Superlative
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In grammar, the superlative of an adjective or adverb indicates that a member of a set of at least three or more, transcends the other members in being of a particular quality or having certain properties. For example, if Laurence is 38, Luke is 34, and Jaw is 40, Jaw is the oldest of the three, because his age transcends those of Laurence and Luke in one direction, while Luke is the youngest because his age transcends those of Laurence and Jaw in the other direction. If Megan, who is 41, and Rob, who is 31, join the group, Megan now becomes the oldest and Rob the youngest.
Some believe that if a group contains only two members, use of the superlative is ungrammatical: if the group contained only Luke and Laurence, Luke would be "the younger", while Laurence would be "the older". Technically this would be correct. This belief is the result of a time-honoured rule of prescriptive grammars, however it should be noted that it is generally considered grammatically incorrect to use "the youngest" and "the oldest" in such cases.
Indeed, the superlative occasionlly is used to refer to a group of one or two, but only in a colloquial, and not grammatically correct manner.
For example, in an offer for auction to the "highest bidder" in which only one bid is received, no rule of English grammar would negate the sale.¹ In this instance it is clear that the sale of the goods would proceed, but the bidding probably should be phrased differently.
In English, the superlative and the comparative are created by inflecting adjectives or adverbs. The structure of a superlative consists normally of the positive stem of the adjective or adverb, plus the suffix -est, or (especially in longer words) the modifier "most" or "least" before the adjective or adverb. It always has the definite article and is completed by "of" or other preposition plus one or more nouns of entities that it surpasses to the highest or greatest degree, such as in "he is the tallest of/in the class", or "the town is the most beautiful town in the country".
Mention should be made also of the elative, which is not an actual separate inflection but the intensified degree of adverbs and adjectives. Adjectives at the elative do not refer to other objects, like a superlative does; e.g. "she is very beautiful"; "she is most beautiful" (intensification in this case means "very beautiful indeed").
Superlatives in other Languages
In contrast to English, in the grammars of most romance languages the elative and the superlative are joined into the same degree (superlative), which can be of two kinds: comparative (e.g. "the most beautiful") and absolute (e.g. "very beautiful").
French: The superlative is created from the comparative by inserting the definitive article (la, le, or les) before "plus" or "moins" and the adjective determining the noun. For instance: Elle est la plus belle femme -> (she is the most beautiful woman); Cette ville est la moins chère de France - > (this town is the cheapest in France).
Spanish: Either use más and the adjective, or modify the adjective by adding ísimo, ísima, ísimos or ísimas, depending on the gender or number.
See also
References
- Language Log, May 30, 2005. On superlative of groups of one or two.de:Superlativ
es:Superlativo eo:Superlativo gl:Superlativo simple:Superlative fi:Superlatiivi sv:Superlativ