Superlative adjectives in German - Higher

• Superlatives are used to compare things and show which one is the most or least of something, eg most exciting, least interesting, strongest, the best.

• A superlative adjective can come before a noun, eg the highest mountain, or after the verb to be, eg the mountain is the highest.

Superlatives can be placed before a noun using the definite article, eg der/die/das - and adding -ste or -sten depending on the gender of the noun, the case and the number. The superlative adjective must agree with the noun.

For example:

• Herr Schmidt ist der freundlichste Lehrer.
  Mr Schmidt is the friendliest teacher.

• Frau Müller ist die lustigste Lehrerin.
  Mrs Müller is the funniest teacher.

• Er hat die schmutzigsten Schuhe.
  He has the dirtiest shoes.

• Ich habe den billigsten Schlüsselanhänger als Souvenir gekauft.
  I bought the cheapest keyring as a souvenir.

Superlatives can also be placed after the verb sein to be. The word am precedes the adjective and the ending -sten is added to the adjective.

For example:

Das Mädchen ist am lustigsten.
The girl is the funniest.

Popmusik ist am besten.
Pop music is the best.

Das Flugzeug ist am schnellsten.
The aeroplane is the fastest.

Some superlative forms are irregular:

Some short, one-syllable adjectives add an umlaut in the superlative forms:

If the adjective ends in -d, -t, -s, -ß, -sch, -x and -z an additional -e is added to the superlative ending, eg -este or am -esten:

For example:

Heute ist der heißeste Tag im Sommer.
Today is the hottest day.

Ich habe das interessanteste Buch gelesen.
I read the most interesting book.