Superlatives with ÍSIMO in Spanish – Learn and Practice

Welcome 😊 to our grammar lesson on Spanish superlatives with -ísimo (and other similar endings).

In Spanish, we can use certain endings to express an adjective to an extreme degree, making it a superlative adjective.

For example, look at this transformation:

• grande = big
• grandísimo = very very big, extremely big

Most adjectives form their superlative by adding -ísimo, but some of them add slightly different endings.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to form these superlatives and use them in sentences.

You will also find a Quiz and an Exercise to practice. Let’s start!

Endings for superlatives

-ísimo

Most adjectives form their superlative by adding -ísimo.

• If the adjective ends in a consonant, simply add -ísimo at the end. Pay attention to possible consonant transformations, such as z becoming c :

Base Form	Superlative
débil weak	debilísimo
fácil easy	facilísimo
difícil difficult	dificilísimo
feliz happy	felicísimo

• If the adjective ends in a vowel, first remove that vowel, then add -ísimo. Again, pay attention to possible consonant transformations:

Base Form	Superlative
barato cheap	baratísimo
caro expensive	carísimo
grande big	grandísimo
guapo handsome	guapísimo
viejo old	viejísimo
blanco white	blanquísimo
largo long	larguísimo
fresco fresh	fresquísimo
rico rich/tasty	riquísimo

-císimo

Adjectives whose masculine singular form ends in -n or -or, usually form their superlative by adding -císimo:

Base Form	Superlative
joven young	jovencísimo
mayor old	mayorcísimo
hablador talkative	habladorcísimo
inferior inferior	inferiorcísimo
superior superior	superiorcísimo

-bilísimo

Adjectives ending in -ble form their superlative by replacing -ble for -bilísimo:

Base Form	Superlative
amable nice	amabilísimo
agradable nice	agradabilísimo
notable prominent	notabilísimo
rentable profitable	rentabilísimo
miserable miserable	miserabilísimo
estable stable	estabilísimo
probable probable, likely	probabilísimo

-érrimo

Some adjectives whose last syllable contains the letter r, add the ending -érrimo in the following way:

Base Form	Superlative
libre free	libérrimo
célebre famous	celebérrimo
acre bitter	acérrimo
salubre healthy	salubérrimo

Superlatives with an irregular stem

Some adjectives have a change in the stem when they form the superlative, apart from adding an ending.

Examples:

Base Form	Superlative
fuerte strong	fortísimo
sabio wise	sapientísimo
antiguo old	antiquísimo
fiel loyal	fidelísimo
ardiente ardent	ardentísimo
caliente hot	calentísimo
pobre poor	paupérrimo

Accent marks

All superlatives have an accent mark on the ending.

If the original adjective already had an accent mark, it loses it in the superlative form.

For example, “fácil” becomes “facilísimo“, losing its original accent mark.

Feminine and plural forms

When we use a superlative adjective in a sentence, we need to match its gender and number to the noun it is connected with.

For example, the superlative of “grande” is “grandísimo“. But when we use it in sentences, we must match the gender and number of the noun, resulting in 4 possible forms:

masculine singular	grandísimo
feminine singular	grandísima
masculine plural	grandísimos
feminine plural	grandísimas

Example Sentences

The following sentences include superlatives. Notice how they match the gender and number of the noun:

El coche es carísimo.
The car is extremely expensive.

Mi perra es grandísima.
My female dog is extremely big.

Los estudiantes son amabilísimos.
The students are extremely nice.

Las chicas son celebérrimas.
The girls are extremely famous.

Practice

Quiz

Take this short Quiz about superlatives:

Exercise

Fill the gaps with the superlatives of the adjectives in brackets. Click on the gray spaces to see the solutions:

1) Tengo una bicicleta buenísima . (bueno)
I have a very very good bike.

2) Mis padres son riquísimos . (rico)
My parents are super rich.

3) Ellos tienen un coche grandísimo y carísimo . (grande, caro)
They have an extremely big and expensive car.

4) Clara es jovencísima . (joven)
Clara is super young.

5) Tu amiga es amabilísima . (amable)
Your friend is extremely nice. (female friend)

6) El panadero hace dulces sabrosísimos . (sabroso)
The baker makes super tasty sweets.

Another type of superlative: with “más” and “menos”

There is another grammar construction in Spanish we also call superlative. It is when we express that something is “the most ___” or “the least ___”.

We explain that in a separate lesson: Spanish superlatives with “más” and “menos”