What’s the best way for students to learn English spelling?
Spelling in English is very difficult to learn. There are only 26 letters in the English alphabet, but there isn’t a one-to-one spelling/pronunciation system like there is with some other languages. For example, the /i/ sound can be spelled as “ee,” “ie,” “ei,” “ea,” or “e” in English (cheese, thief, receive, leaf, impede). Even though English spelling involves a lot of memorization, there are some patterns and rules that can help. Today, let’s focus on the spelling rules for superlative adjectives.
Here are four easy spelling rules for adding -est to the end of adjectives. For more examples and practice, check out our Spotlight lesson this week on Superlative Adjectives.
Rule 1: If the adjective ends in -e, add -st.
Use for one-syllable adjectives.
Examples:
- close > the closest
- late > the latest
- strange > the strangest
- wide > the widest
- cute > the cutest
Rule 2: If the adjective ends in a consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) pattern, double the final consonant and add -est.
Use for one-syllable adjectives.
Examples:
- big > the biggest
- hot > the hottest
- thin > the thinnest
- dim > the dimmest
- flat > the flattest
Rule 3: If the adjective ends in -y, change -y to -i and add -est.
Use for two-syllable adjectives that end in -y.
Examples:
- happy > the happiest
- silly > the silliest
- busy > the busiest
- hungry > the hungriest
- lucky > the luckiest
Rule 4: For all other cases, add -est.
Use for one-syllable adjectives.
Examples:
- calm > the calmest
- high > the highest
- brief > the briefest
- quick > the quickest
- gray > the greyest (or “grey > the greyest” outside the US)
For more practice, try our Superlative Adjectives lesson in the Grammar School section.
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