It was the chewiest and probably most unusual food I've ever eaten.
So far, I reckon the best day of my life has probably been when my kids were born.
Hello and welcome to Learning English Grammar.
I'm Pippa.
And I'm Neil.
We've just heard Beth and Phil using superlatives.
We heard chewiest, most unusual and the best.
And these types of words are what we're looking at today.
Yes, superlatives can be adjectives or adverbs and we use them to compare actions, things or people with a group of other things.
We'll learn how to make regular superlatives and irregular ones too.
You can read along with this podcast using the transcript on our website bbclearningenglish.com.
So, Pippa, what's the most amazing place you've ever visited?
I think the most amazing place I've ever visited is South Africa.
It was absolutely incredible and just very surprising.
Lots of different things within one country, which I enjoyed.
How about you?
I think...
The most extraordinary place I've ever been is Bangladesh.
It was so colourful and vivid and there were so many interesting things to see just around you.
It was amazing.
Great.
OK.
Well, I gave Beth and Phil some questions to answer together, and all the questions had superlatives in them.
As you listen, pay attention to the adjectives.
When do you hear the ending est, like strongest, and when do you hear the word most?
OK, Phil, your first question is, what's the furthest you've ever travelled in one day?
It's got to be on a plane.
And I think the furthest I've travelled is flying from London, in England, to Cordoba in Argentina, via Toronto and Santiago in Chile.
That must be thousands and thousands of kilometres.
So, Beth, what's the most unusual food you've ever eaten?
Oh...
I had an emu burger once and it was the chewiest and probably most unusual food I've ever eaten.
It is not common to eat emu in the UK.
Okay, Phil, next one.
What is the most expensive thing you've ever bought?
Oh, this is easy.
Most expensive thing I've ever bought is a house.
They're not cheap.
So Beth, who do you think is the least likely to win a running race between me, you and Georgie?
What a question.
I think I'm the least likely to win the race, which is a shame.
So, I heard some adjectives ending in –est, like chewiest and furthest.
And we heard the word most – most unusual and most expensive.
Here to tell us all about how to use superlatives is our grammar guru, Georgie.
Hello.
I've come to teach our listeners about superlatives.
Great.
Can you start by telling us what's the difference between the est ending and the word most?
I can.
It all depends on the number of syllables in the adjective.
We add est for most one-syllable words like oldest and tallest, and for most two-syllable words that end in y like chewiest, prettiest and happiest.
And it was the chewiest and probably most unusual food I've ever eaten.
We add the most before adjectives that have three or more syllables.
For example, the most unusual and the most expensive.
And we also add the most before some two-syllable adjectives, like useful, the most useful.
So, when do we use the word the?
Because we heard that a lot.
The furthest.
The most expensive.
We always use the word the before a superlative.
If you say something is just most expensive, this is wrong because it's missing the word the.
But there is one exception.
Listen to Beth talking about eating emu again.
It was the chewiest and probably most unusual food I've ever eaten.
Ah, Beth used two superlatives in a row – the two-iest and most unusual – and she didn't use the before the second adjective – most unusual.
Exactly.
When we use two or more superlatives in a row, we need the before the first adjective, but the others don't need the word the.
Right, so I could say I made the simplest, best, most delicious meal ever last night.
You could, Neil.
What meal did you make?
Beans on toast.
Delicious, Neil.
Now, what about irregular superlatives, Georgie?
There are just a few and there are three that are the most common.
The superlatives for bad and good are the worst and the best.
So far, I reckon the best day of my life has probably been when my kids were born.
And the superlative for far is the furthest.
What's the furthest you've ever travelled in one day?
We also heard the least likely.
What can you tell us about that?
The least means the smallest, less than anything or anyone else.
We often use it with the adverb likely.
Beth said that she was the least likely to win the running race.
But we can also use it before other verbs.
If you don't have as much homework as everyone else, you could say you're the least busy.
Or maybe you see a bad film that you think is the least interesting thing you've ever watched.
I think I'm the least likely to win the race.
Well, thanks, Georgie.
That might be the most wonderful grammar explanation I've ever heard.
Yeah, it was the best.
You guys are the greatest.
Bye, Georgie.
Goodbye.
OK, Neil, we're going to play a game to practice this grammar.
I'm going to ask you a question and you need to answer it using a superlative.
You can play along at home by thinking about your own answer using superlatives.
Are you ready, Neil?
I am.
What's the spiciest food you've ever eaten?
Oh, I once had a spicy sausage salad in Laos and it was terrifying.
It was the hottest thing I've ever eaten.
OK, another question.
What do you think was the worst subject at school, the subject you liked the least?
Oh, well, definitely maths.
I hated maths.
I liked maths the least.
OK, finally, tell us the most interesting fact you know, Neil.
OK, here's one about languages.
Did you know that the Basque language is unrelated to any other European language?
I did not know that.
That's fascinating.
Can you answer the questions we've heard in this episode?
We'd love to hear from you.
Send an email to learningenglish at bbc.co.uk.
That's it for this episode.
We've learned that we always need to use the word the with superlatives, unless we use more than one together.
And we've learned that Pippa thinks South Africa is the most interesting place she's ever visited.
We'll be back next week to learn some more grammar tips.
Why not test what you've learned in this episode with the worksheet on our website bbclearningenglishcom?
And if you enjoyed learning about superlatives, you might enjoy our other grammar episodes in this series.
Check them out.
Goodbye for now.
Bye.
