As adjectival forms, they adopt the appropriate endings for gender and
number relevant to the noun which they modify. Any written accent on the
original Spanish adjective is removed.
Adjectives ending in a consonant simply attach the ending. Those ending
in a single vowel drop the vowel:
un juez liberalísimo a very liberal judge
un tren rapidísimo a very fast train
Adjectives ending in two vowels drop both of them unless they form two
syllables, in which case only the last vowel is dropped:
una superficie limpísima an extra clean surface
un paisaje feísimo an extremely ugly landscape
As a result of the above, some adjectives may also require a spelling change
according to the general norms of pronunciation and spelling, notably
those ending in -co, -go and -z:
poco poquísimo largo larguísimo feliz felicísimo
Most adjectives ending in -blechange this to -bilbefore adding -ísimo:
amable amabilísimo very friendly
Amongst the most commonly used irregular forms are: antiquísimo‘very
old’, ‘ancient’, jovencísimo ‘very young’, pésimo‘very bad’, ‘dreadful’ and
fidelísimo‘very faithful’.
Máximo ‘greatest’ and mínimo ‘least’, ‘slightest’, are used as follows: Su
máxima ambición‘her greatest ambition’, la tarifa minima‘the minimum
charge’.
Students of Portuguese should note that óptimo ‘superb’, ‘excellent’ is
usually literary in Spanish and not comparable in use with its Portuguese
equivalent.
1111
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1011
1
12111
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
20111
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
30111
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
40
41111
Superlative
constructions
275
The suffix -ísimo
This cannot be added to all adjectives. Many adopt very different forms,
especially in the literary language. For this reason, unless entirely cer-
tain, foreign students are advised to adopt other means of intensifying
an adjective, e.g. by using words such as muy, sumamente, extremada-
mente, altamente, excesivamente: Carmen es sumamente eficaz
‘Carmen is outstandingly efficient’.
Another alternative is to use prefixes such as re-and super-, see 29.2.4
and 29.2.6.
