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America's extremes: superlative adjectives with -est and the most

A2 students learn superlative adjectives in this ESL lesson plan on America's extremes, from Death Valley to Alaska.

Grammar
The + -est and its spelling (the hottest, the driest), the most and the least for longer adjectives, the irregular the best and the worst, and in + place.
Topic
Death Valley, which the NPS calls the hottest place on Earth, Denali and Utqiagvik in Alaska, with words such as sweat, shade, peak and polar night.
Activities
A post to read, a ranger dialogue and a voice message to hear, self-checking drills, a chat about the hottest and coldest months at home, and open boxes on the best and the worst.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Hot, cold, high, low!

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: America's extremesVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and chooseChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: America's extremes

    • Look at the photo: Badwater BasinPictureUnlock
    • Read Nora's postReal-life documentTry it
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the right answerQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: hello, Death Valley!

    • Listen to Marco and Ranger DanaListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the right answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to Grandpa's challengeListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: the hottest, the most famous

    • Study the scheme: superlativesGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the right wordsChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: the + -est or the mostFill in the gapsTry it
    • Fill in the table: superlativesFill in the tableUnlock
    • Choose the right sentenceQuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: the best and the worst

    • Choose the right replies: a chat with NoraChatTry it
    • Open a box and answer: the best and the worstOpen the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: a day in the desertDrag and dropUnlock
    • Sort the words: the …-est or the most …?Sort into columnsUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: superlativesFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Put the words in the right orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Choose the right sentence: superlativesQuizUnlock
    • Choose the right words: Brooke's commentChoose the optionUnlock

29 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Vocabulary

10 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+7 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • shade
  • sea level
  • salt flat
  • peak
  • dog team
  • polar night
  • midnight sun

Grammar: superlatives with the + -est, the most and the least

Superlative adjectives name number one in a group, one step on from the comparative: hotter than becomes the hottest. America's records give them real work, from Death Valley, the hottest place on Earth in the NPS's words, to the highest peak in North America. Learners build the + -est and the most forms, spell them, learn the irregular ones and follow them with in and a place.

Superlatives: the hottest, the most famous, the best

Use a superlative for number one in a group: the hottest place, the highest peak, the best photo.

Two things or number one?

A comparative sets two things side by side with than: Death Valley is hotter than Utqiagvik. A superlative names number one in a group, always with the: Denali is the highest peak in North America.

Two things: comparative + than

  • Death Valley is hotter than Utqiagvik.
  • Denali is higher than a skyscraper!

Number one in a group: the + superlative

  • The NPS says Death Valley is the hottest place on Earth.
  • Denali is the highest peak in North America.

Short adjectives: the + -est

Most short adjectives add -est: the highest, the coldest. The spelling follows the comparative: a final -e adds -st (the largest), consonant + y becomes -iest (the driest, the funniest), and one vowel + one consonant doubles the last letter (the hottest, the biggest), except w: the lowest.

RuleAdjectiveSuperlative
most adjectives: + -esthigh, low, cold, oldthe highest, the lowest, the coldest, the oldest
ends in -e: + -stlarge, nicethe largest, the nicest
ends in a consonant + y: y → -iestdry, funny, hungry, happythe driest, the funniest, the hungriest, the happiest
ends in one vowel + one consonant: double the last letter (not w: the lowest)hot, bigthe hottest, the biggest

Long adjectives: the most and the least

Longer adjectives take the most instead of -est: the most famous, the most beautiful, the most interesting. The least is the opposite, the bottom of the group: Monday is the least crowded day at the museum. An -est form never takes most as well: the most hottest is wrong.

AdjectiveSuperlativeExample
famousthe most famousBiscuit is the most famous star on our channel!
beautifulthe most beautifulFor me, Badwater is the most beautiful place in the park.
interestingthe most interestingUtqiagvik is the most interesting city on our list.
comfortablethe least comfortable (the opposite of the most)The Toaster has the least comfortable beds in America!

The best, the worst, the farthest

Good, bad and far stay irregular in the superlative: better, the best; worse, the worst; farther, the farthest. The furthest is also correct for distance, while the goodest and the most far are wrong.

AdjectiveComparativeSuperlative
goodbetterthe best
badworsethe worst
farfartherthe farthest

In North America, on Earth

A place or a group after a superlative usually takes in: the highest peak in North America, the funniest person in my family, not of North America. A few take another little word: on Earth, on our street, at school.

in + a place

After a superlative, a place or a group usually takes in: the highest peak in North America, the funniest person in my family. (Not: of North America.) Some places take another little word: on Earth, on our channel, on our street, at school.

From Death Valley to Alaska

  • Utqiagvik is the northernmost city in the US: no US city is farther north.
  • Marco has the biggest hat in the park!
  • Biscuit has the coolest seat in Death Valley: the truck!
  • Nora's photo is the best, but Marco's photo is the funniest.

Common mistakes

  • It's the most hottest day!

    It's the hottest day!

    a short adjective: -est only, no most

  • It's the hotest and the dryest place.

    It's the hottest and the driest place.

    spelling: hot → hottest, dry → driest

  • Denali is highest peak of North America.

    Denali is the highest peak in North America.

    always the; in + a place, not of

  • Grandpa's map is the more interesting thing in the truck.

    Grandpa's map is the most interesting thing in the truck.

    number one in a group: the most (the more is for two things)

More lessons on this grammar: Comparatives and superlatives lessons and exercises

Try the superlatives exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 16 auto-checked exercises
  • 4 games
  • 1 real-life document
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • name number one in a group with the + -est: Denali is the highest peak in North America.
  • use the most and the least with longer adjectives: the most beautiful park, the least crowded day
  • spell -est forms and use the irregular ones: the driest, the biggest, the largest, the best, the worst
  • answer questions about their town and family in a chat: July is the hottest month in my town. My brother is the funniest.

Lesson 14 is the second lesson of City or country?, unit 4 of English A2.1 · Then and Now. It turns the comparatives of A2.1 lessons 10 and 13 (hotter than, more beautiful than, better) into superlatives; lesson 15 then compares with as … as, and A2.2 lesson 3 adds I've ever: the longest cave I've ever seen. America's records give every form a fact to state, from 134°F at Furnace Creek in 1913 to Denali's 20,310 feet.

The warm-up wheel asks about heat, snow and mountains, and ten word cards with pictures and audio run from sweat and survive to polar night and midnight sun. Nora's post on America's extremes covers Death Valley's 134°F record from 1913, Badwater Basin at 282 feet below sea level, Denali and Utqiagvik. Students then hear Marco talk with a park ranger in Death Valley (an AI-voiced dialogue) and a voice message with Grandpa's challenge. After the scheme come four self-checking drills, among them a three-column table: adjective, comparative, superlative. In the speaking chapter, students reply to Nora about the hottest and coldest months where they live, then open boxes about the best and the worst.

All eight homework exercises check themselves: a word match, an anagram, desert words to drag into gaps, adjectives to sort into the …-est or the most, a superlative gap-fill, sentences to unjumble, a quiz on the right sentence and a viewer's comment with options to choose.

Grammar:
superlatives · the + -est · the most / the least · the best, the worst, the farthest · in + place
Topic:
Death Valley · Denali · Utqiagvik · America's extremes · national parks · the Lower 48

Teaching tips

  • Line up three volunteers by height and build the forms on the board: tall, taller than, the tallest in the class. Then repeat with things on a desk: big, bigger, the biggest.
  • Let students guess the records before the post: the hottest place on Earth, the highest peak in North America, the northernmost city in the US. The post answers all three.
  • Give each spelling rule a corner of the board, -est, -st, -iest and a doubled letter, and have students sort hot, dry, large, cold and funny before the gap-fill.
  • Run the open boxes as a class survey: each student answers one question, such as the hottest month or the best food in town, and the class reports the most popular answer.

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The whole course: English A2.1 · Then and Now

32 lessons for adults at A2 in simple American English, from the past simple to going to, should and might. Eight units tell stories of journeys, American firsts, food, places, sports, music, neighbors and dreams. Pictures and definitions replace translations, and the practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Amazing journeys

    the past simple, regular and irregular verbs, negatives, prepositions of movement

    1. Lesson 1Around the world in 72 daysThe past simple of regular verbs
    2. Lesson 2The first drive across AmericaIrregular verbs in the past simple
    3. Lesson 3Get your kicks on Route 66Past simple negatives with didn't
    4. Lesson 4She walked 2,000 miles in sneakersPrepositions of movement

  2. Unit 2 American firsts

    was and were, past questions and short answers, ago and in, could for past ability

    1. Lesson 5The first American woman in spaceWas, were, there was and there were
    2. Lesson 6A real bug in the computerPast simple questions with did
    3. Lesson 7“Mr. Watson, come here”Wh- questions in the past simple
    4. Lesson 8Twelve seconds in the airCould and couldn't for past ability

  3. Unit 3 American food

    countable and uncountable nouns, comparatives, ordering food, a few and a little

    1. Lesson 9The first chocolate chip cookieCountable and uncountable nouns in a recipe
    2. Lesson 10Is a jalapeño hotter than a habanero?Comparatives of short adjectives
    3. Lesson 11Two eggs, sunny side up!Offers and orders with would like
    4. Lesson 12Cooking for twenty on ThanksgivingA few, a little and a lot of

  4. Unit 4 City or country?

    comparatives with more and less, superlatives, as … as, too and enough

    1. Lesson 13The island with no carsComparatives with more and less, plus better, worse and farther
    2. Lesson 14 · you're hereAmerica's extremesSuperlatives with the + -est, the most and the least
    3. Lesson 15San Francisco or Yosemite? You choose!As … as for the same, not as … as for less
    4. Lesson 16A park on an old railroadToo, enough and not … enough

  5. Unit 5 Game on

    play, go and do with sports, going to, adverbs of manner, reflexive pronouns

    1. Lesson 17Basketball started with peach baskets?Play, go and do with sports
    2. Lesson 18What's going to happen at LA 2028?Be going to for plans and predictions
    3. Lesson 19Pickleball: a game from a backyardAdverbs of manner
    4. Lesson 20Be brave and tryReflexive pronouns and each other

  6. Unit 6 Music and nights out

    love, enjoy and hate + -ing, the present continuous for plans, suggestions, to for purpose

    1. Lesson 21Where jazz was bornGerunds after love, like, enjoy, hate and don't mind
    2. Lesson 22Music on every streetThe present continuous for future arrangements
    3. Lesson 23A night on BroadwaySuggestions with Let's, Why don't we and How about
    4. Lesson 24An orchestra for every kidThe infinitive of purpose and to or for

  7. Unit 7 Neighbors and community

    much and many, should, something and everyone, because and so

    1. Lesson 25Everybody cleans up!Much and many with nouns you can and can't count
    2. Lesson 26Good neighbors shovel snowShould and shouldn't + the base verb
    3. Lesson 27Take a book, leave a bookIndefinite pronouns with some-, any-, no- and every-
    4. Lesson 28A bench for making friendsBecause for reasons, so for results

  8. Unit 8 Plans and dreams

    verb + to, the present continuous vs going to, might, when, before and after

    1. Lesson 29Never give up: from farm fields to spaceVerb + to + the base form
    2. Lesson 30Across America by trainGoing to and the present continuous for the future
    3. Lesson 31Open in the year 6939Might and might not for possibility
    4. Lesson 32A college graduate at 95Time clauses with when, before and after

Questions about this lesson

What's the difference between comparative and superlative adjectives?
Comparatives compare two things; superlatives name number one: Death Valley is hotter than Utqiagvik. Denali is the highest peak in North America. A comparative takes -er or more plus than, while a superlative takes the plus -est or most: bigger than, the biggest; more famous than, the most famous. A fill-in table in America's extremes, an A2 lesson on edio.ai, lines up all three forms, from hot to the hottest.
When do you use superlatives?
Use a superlative for the top or the bottom of a group: the one thing with the most, or the least, of a quality. July is the hottest month in my town. My brother is the funniest person in our family. The group often follows in, or the context makes it clear: This photo is the best. The chat in America's extremes on edio.ai asks for answers just like these.
How do you form superlative adjectives?
Short adjectives take the + -est, longer ones the most: the coldest, the most famous. Spelling changes as in the comparative: large, the largest; dry, the driest; hot, the hottest. The main irregular ones are the best, the worst and the farthest. For the opposite of the most, use the least: the least comfortable. The gap-fill in America's extremes, an A2 lesson on edio.ai, gives only the adjective, so learners pick the form.
What is the superlative of far?
The superlative of far is the farthest or the furthest: The restroom is the farthest building from our tent. Both work for distance, and American English leans toward farthest; only furthest also stretches to ideas and degree, as in the furthest thing from my mind. The most far and the farest are wrong. A gap in America's extremes, an A2 lesson on edio.ai, accepts both right forms.
What are the irregular superlatives?
The main irregular superlatives are the best, the worst and the farthest, from good, bad and far; many and much give the most, and little gives the least. It's the best travel channel in America! He tells the worst jokes! They never take -est or most on top: the goodest and the most best are wrong. Learn them with their comparatives: good, better, the best.
Is it "the most hottest" or "the hottest"?
It's the hottest, because -est and most never go together: July is the hottest month in my town. Short adjectives take -est (the coldest), longer ones take the most (the most amazing), and mixing the two gives errors like the most coldest or the amazingest. Spelling matters too: hottest doubles the t, so the hotest is wrong.
Do you use "in" or "of" after a superlative?
With a place or a group like a family or a class, use in after a superlative: the highest peak in North America, the funniest person in my family. Some places take another word: on Earth, on our street, at school. Of goes with a plural group or a period of time: the tallest of my friends, the hottest day of the year. So it's the biggest sandwiches in the world, not of the world.
What words do you need to describe extreme places?
For extreme places, you need words for heat, height and the dark: sweat, shade and thermometer for hot days; salt flat and sea level for a desert valley; peak and dog team for snowy mountains; and polar night and midnight sun for the far north. Superlatives pull it together: the hottest, the driest, the lowest point, the highest peak. Below sea level means lower than the ocean, as at Badwater Basin, 282 feet down.
How do I teach superlatives to A2 students?
Build superlatives on comparatives students already know: hot, hotter, the hottest, three forms in a row on the board. Then show the long-adjective version with the most, the spelling rules, and the irregular the best and the worst. Real records make the step meaningful: the hottest place, the highest peak, the northernmost city. Finish with questions about the class itself, such as who lives the farthest from school.
What's a good game for practicing superlatives?
An open-the-box round of best-and-worst questions works well: What's the hottest month in your town? Who's the funniest person in your class? What's the worst weather for you? Whoever opens a box answers with a superlative and one more sentence. A spin-the-wheel warm-up about heat, snow and mountains can open the class, and in this lesson's homework, an anagram and a sort into the …-est or the most keep the practice going.
What's good homework for practicing superlatives?
Good homework makes students choose the form for each adjective themselves: a gap-fill such as Death Valley is the largest national park in the Lower 48, a sort into the …-est or the most, and sentences to put in order. In America's extremes, an A2 lesson on edio.ai, eight homework exercises like these check themselves, ending with a viewer's comment full of superlatives to choose.
Are there interactive exercises for superlatives?
Yes: self-checking drills and chats give learners instant feedback on every superlative. This page plays four parts of America's extremes, an A2 lesson on edio.ai, and none needs an account: Nora's post on America's extremes, Marco's talk with a park ranger in Death Valley, a gap-fill that asks for the + -est or the most, and a chat with Nora about the hottest and coldest months at home. The rest of the lesson is locked.
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