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ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > query on superlative adjectives
query on superlative adjectives
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NanG
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query on superlative adjectives
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Hi everyone!
My questions are:
1- a- the most evil or b- the evilest?? ( short adjective)
2- a- the most friendly or b- the friendliest?? ( long adjective)
I think the correct options are the first ones (a) but in the case of n�1 it is just because it "sounds ok" to me.
Is there an explanation why?
What do you think?
Thanks in advance and warmest hugs!! =)
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27 Oct 2010
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sulekra
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It doesn �t matter how long or short an adjective is, but how many syllables it has. Only one syllable adjectives add -est, except ones ending in -ow or -y.
Evil is two syllables so the only grammatically correct option is the most evil.
Friendly is two syllables too, but ends in -y, so it turns into friendliest.
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27 Oct 2010
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yanogator
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Yes, that �s the "rule", but I think more people in the US would say "the evilest" than "the most evil".
Bruce |
27 Oct 2010
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MoodyMoody
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vanogator, perhaps in casual American English people would say "the evilest," but I �m with NanG and sulekra: "the most evil" sounds better to me. |
27 Oct 2010
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scampi
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Very interesting. I would say the evilest and the friendliest. I was taught that when the word has two syllables that some took "the most" form but not all of them. I would always say and have always heard evilest and friendliest. |
27 Oct 2010
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fierysea
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Both friendliest and evilest have dictionary entries. Nevertheless, the most evil AND the most friendly are probably more common. If you google these two and the other two, you�ll see the difference... The most evil gets 103.000.000 results and the most friendly gets 443.000.000 (the other two only get 671.000 and 872.000). Sometimes both constructions are possible. Another example is the adjective quiet. Again, I would use the most quiet just because it�s easier to pronounce. And if you google both options, this one has a lot more results. :)
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28 Oct 2010
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SueThom
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I would definitely say "most evil" and can �t think if I �ve ever heard "evilest". It sounds rather odd to me.
However, I ran them through a corpus (Corpus of Contemporary American English) and it listed 2 instances of "evilest" versus 48 of "most evil". "Friendliest" had 137 entries and "most friendly" had 38.
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28 Oct 2010
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