From Bello to Bellísimo: Spanish Superlatives Made Simple

Spanish is the most beautiful language, filled with the most expressive adjectives and emotion.…

Spanish is the most beautiful language, filled with the most expressive adjectives and emotion. There are multiple synonyms in Spanish for “beautiful,” but what if even those aren’t enough? To elevate your Spanish expressions to the maximum, master the Spanish superlative. (Think: big, bigger, best.)

Superlative constructions can add depth to your vocabulary and unlock greater precision, enthusiasm, or exaggeration in your speech. They allow you to describe Spanish nouns with enthusiasm. Spanish superlatives can be factual, identifying the greatest or least of something in a group, or they can simply add flair and interest to your sentences. 

What is a superlative?

A superlative is a way of forming words and phrases that relates to the highest degree of comparison. In English, adjectives often use the suffix “-est,” or use words like “most/least/best.”

While comparatives and superlatives in Spanish are similar, using words like más (more) and menos (less), superlatives are different from comparatives because they express the most extreme degree of comparison. For instance, you could say “I love you more” in Spanish (a comparative), or you could say “I love you the most” (superlative). 

Some simple examples of Spanish superlatives are

• el instrumento más pequeño = the smallest instrument
• la opción menos cara = the least expensive option
• la mejor casa = the best house
• el café buenísimo = the very good coffee

There are two main groups of Spanish superlatives: 

1. Los superlativos relativos (relative superlatives) describe the noun relative to a larger group. 
   • Seremos la banda más famosa de Nueva York. = We will be the most famous band in New York. 

2. Los superlativos absolutos (absolute superlatives) describe the noun individually, not in a context of a group. 
   • Es una banda famosísima de Nueva York. = It’s a very famous band from New York. 

How to form a superlative in Spanish

Like many Spanish grammar rules, it’s helpful to notice patterns through authentic examples so that you can create Spanish superlatives of your own. 

How to form regular relative superlatives in Spanish

Relative superlatives in Spanish have three parts. 

1. the individual noun, including the definite article el/la/los/las (the)
   • el día más hermoso del año = the most beautiful day of the year. 

2. the word más (more) or menos (least) + adjective
   • el día más hermoso del año = the most beautiful day of the year. 

3. the group it’s being compared to, often using the preposition de (of)
   • el día más hermoso del año = the most beautiful day of the year. 
   • Hoy les mostraré los edificios más interesantes de la ciudad. = Today I will show you the most interesting buildings of the city.
   • No está claro cuál de estas mujeres es la más joven en este grupo. = It’s not clear which of these women is the youngest in this group. 
   • Es la chica más alta de la clase. = She is the tallest girl in the class. 
   • Son los alimentos menos caros del supermercado. = They’re the least expensive foods in the grocery store.

A few Spanish grammar details to keep in mind include: 

• All Spanish adjectives will agree with the noun they are modifying in both gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural).
• The contraction del occurs when de (of) precedes el (the).

If the context is already known, the third part can be dropped. 

• Esta cámara es la más pequeña. = This camera is the smallest. (of all the cameras)
• Esta casa es la más grande. = This house is the biggest. (of the houses being discussed)
• Mi hija es la más pequeña. = My daughter is the smallest. (of everyone being discussed)
• Esta computadora es la más cara. = This computer is the most expensive. (of the computers being discussed)
• Quiero la torta más grande. = I want the biggest cake. (of all the options)

Common irregular forms of Spanish superlatives

Some Spanish adjectives have irregular superlative forms and do not use más/menos.

These words precede the noun being compared to the group. 

• Los hombres están de acuerdo sobre cuál es el mejor carro. = The men agree on which is the best car. 
• Yo creo que esta es su mejor pintura. = I think that this is his best painting. 
• Mayo fue el peor mes para la fábrica. = May was the worst month for the factory. 
• Fueron las peores tormentas de la estación. = They were the worst storms of the season. 
• Es el mejor equipo del torneo. = It’s the best team in the tournament.
• Ella fue la mayor jugadora del partido. = She was the oldest player in the game.
• Son los menores niños de la escuela. = They are the youngest children in the school.

How to use popular absolute superlatives in Spanish

If a noun isn’t being compared to a group, you can use superlatives in Spanish to express an extreme or high degree of an adjective. This can be accomplished in a few ways. 

1. Use the suffixes -ísimo/ísima/ísimos/ísimas

You may alter many adjectives by replacing the ending vowel with these Spanish suffixes. If the adjective ends in a consonant, simply add the suffix in most cases. The ending suffix is determined by the gender and number of the noun being described. The RAE (Real Academia Española) also acknowledges the suffix -érrimo.

• El examen fue facilísimo. = The test was very easy. 
• Una tormenta así puede ser peligrosísima. = A storm like that can be very dangerous. 
• Son unos libros rarísimos. = They are very strange books. 
• Las pastelerías aquí son todas buenísimas. = The pastry shops here are all very good. 

In some cases a spelling change is necessary to preserve pronunciation according to Spanish spelling conventions or because it’s slightly irregular. Adjectives ending in “-n” or “-or” often use “-císimo.” 

• ¡Qué postre riquísimo! = What an extremely delicious dessert!
• ¡Cuidado! Estos son muebles antiquísimos. = Careful! These are extremely old/antique pieces of furniture. 

>>Don’t forget the upside-down exclamation mark! Learn to type it and other Spanish punctuation.

2. Use adverbs as intensifiers

Sometimes, especially to avoid an awkward amount of syllables or simply to vary your speech, it’s preferable to use other adverbs to intensify the adjective. One possible Spanish cognate is extremadamente (extremely), but here are a few more options. 

• muy (very) 
• fuertemente (strongly) 
• increíblemente (incredibly) 
• sumamente (extremely)

Many of these Spanish adverbs are interchangeable in a sentence.

• Es sumamente importante usar un casco. = It’s extremely important to use a helmet.
• Son increíblemente felices juntos. = They are incredibly happy together. 

3. Use prefixes to intensify adjectives 

These all loosely translate to “very/excessively.” Usage varies in casual speech and among generations, flowing in and out of Spanish slang and colloquial speech.  

• hiper-
• mega-
• requete-
• super-

As you upgrade your descriptions with superlatives, no te pases (don’t go overboard). Spanish has lots of beautiful words already, which can be further intensified with superlatives.

• El mundo es hipercomplejo. = The world is incredibly complex. 
• Esa camiseta es requetelinda. = That tee-shirt is super cute. 
• Tienes que cortar las papas superfinas. = You have to cut the potatoes extremely thin. 

Pronouncing superlatives correctly

The suffix “-ísimo” has an accented syllable. Because it breaks the expectation of the stress being on the penultimate (next to last) syllable, the accented “í” reminds you to stress that syllable. 

• ¡Estás guapísima! = You look so pretty! 

You can double check your pronunciation and comprehensibility of this and other Spanish exclamations with Rosetta Stone’s TruAccent speech recognition engine as you boost your ability to express yourself in Spanish. 

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