Which superlative expressions are academic?

While superlative expressions such as ‘Pizza is the most delicious food’ are more commonly used in informal speech than in academic writing, there are still a wide variety of expressions that may be useful for those requiring the English language for academic purposes. This fifth and final chapter about comparatives and superlatives therefore aims to provide some of the most helpful superlative expressions for the reader, outlining also a short list of common academic adjectives and adverbs. Before turning to these words and expressions however, there are three considerations omitted from Chapter 4 that should be discussed here.

1. Negating Superlative Expressions

We already know that an adjective or adverb may by used to create superlative expressions either by adding the suffix ‘-est’ or by preceding that word with ‘most’. Such constructions allow for positive comparisons in which the property being described is at one end of the spectrum, but how do we describe the opposite end? There are two simple rules to follow here:

i) use the word ‘least’ instead of ‘most’:

“She’s the least athletic person on the team.”

ii) use an adjective or adverb that demonstrates the opposite meaning:

“She’s the least slow person in the race.” X

“She’s the fastest person in the race.”

2. Pre-modifying Superlative Expressions

While you may have noticed that the definite article ‘the’ is necessary in superlative constructions that precede a noun, if there’s no noun present or if the expression follows a linking verb (such as ‘be’, ‘look’, ‘seem’ or ‘taste’) then the article ‘the’ may be omitted from the construction. Possessive adjectives such as ‘my’, ‘his’ or ‘their’ may also be used in place of ‘the’, as is normal for determiners: