We use superlatives in Brazilian Portuguese to express that something is “the most” or “the least” in respect to a certain quality (e.g. “the most/least tall”). There are two types of superlatives in Brazilian Portuguese: relative superlatives and absolute superlatives.
Relative superlatives describe something with the most or least of a quality in a group. They are formed using o mais meaning the most or o menos meaning the least.
Ele é o menino mais alto da escola.Translation: He is the tallest boy in school.Absolute superlatives describe something as displaying a quality very intensely. These are formed by adding -íssimo meaning very:
Ele é altíssimo.Translation: He is very tall.
A few superlatives also have irregular forms.
In this post, we will review how to form both relative and absolute superlatives, along with a few cases of irregular superlatives and informal ways to use the superlative. Eager to learn more? Keep reading this post!
How to use ‘mais’ and ‘menos’ in Brazilian Portuguese superlatives?
We use o mais meaning the most and o menos meaning the least, to form relative superlative adjectives, which describe a noun with the greatest or smallest amount of a quality within a particular group. These two phrases follow the same general structure:
In a complete sentence, the noun will often come before the verb, so we drop it from within the superlative phrase, to avoid repetition:
- nounsuperlative phraseEste restaurante é o (restaurante) mais caro da cidade.Translation: This restaurant is the most expensive (restaurant) in the city.Esta rua é a (restaurante) menos bonita da cidade.Translation: This restaurant is the most expensive (restaurant) in the city.This street is the least beautiful (street) in the city.
Did you notice that you can use a superlative to select a whole group of nouns with the most or least of a quality? If you want to talk about one member of such a group, use the structure below:
um dos/das + plural noun
adjective
What are absolute superlatives in Brazilian Portuguese?
An absolute superlative in Brazilian Portuguese describes nouns as having an extreme amount of some quality, without comparing it to any particular group. It is roughly parallel to saying that something is “very” + adjective in English. There are two ways to form absolute superlatives in Brazilian Portuguese:
using the suffix -íssimo/a
A sua casa é lindíssima!Translation: Your house is very beautiful!using an adverb of intensity, like muito
A sua casa é muito linda!Translation: Your house is very beautiful!
There is very little difference in meaning between the two options. For example:
| Adjective | Adjective + -íssimo | Adverb of intensity + adjective |
|---|---|---|
inteligente Translation: intelligent | inteligentíssimo Translation: very intelligent | muito inteligent Translation: very intelligent |
alto Translation: tall | altíssimo Translation: very tall | muito alto Translation: very tall |
triste Translation: sad | tristíssimo Translation: very sad | muito triste Translation: very sad |
feliz Translation: happy | felicíssimo Translation: very happy | muito feliz Translation: very happy |
How to use the ending ‘-íssimo’ in Brazilian Portuguese?
We use the ending -íssimo/a to form a one-word, absolute superlative adjective, with the meaning “very” + adjective: inteligentíssimo, altíssimo, tristíssimo. This ending needs to agree with the noun being described:
inteligentíssimo → masculine singular
inteligentíssima → feminine singular
inteligentíssimos → masculine plural
inteligentíssimas → feminine plural
The process of adding this suffix is also slightly different, depending on whether the adjective ends in a consonant or in a vowel.
Adjectives ending in a vowel
If the adjective ends in a vowel, drop it before adding -íssimo:
- lindo → lindíssimoTranslation: beautiful → very beautiful
- divertido → divertidíssimoTranslation: funny → very funny
Adjectives ending in a consonant
If the adjective ends in a consonant, you can just add -íssimo to the end of the adjective:
- original → originalíssimoTranslation: original → very original
- vulgar → vulgaríssimoTranslation: vulgar → very vulgar
How to use adverbs of intensity in superlatives?
You can also form an absolute superlative by placing an adverb of intensity, most often muito meaning very before the adjective. For example:
Several other adverbs of intensity can also be used, without much change in meaning. For example:
In more casual speech, you may hear adverbs of intensity like hiper meaning hyper, super meaning super, ultra meaning ultra, or mega meaning mega.
What are the irregular superlatives in Brazilian Portuguese?
The adjectives bom meaning good, mau/ruim meaning bad, grande meaning big, and pequeno meaning small have irregular relative and absolute superlative forms in Brazilian Portuguese. Take a look at the table below to the seem the irregular relative and absolute superlative forms for these adjectives:
| Adjective | Irregular relative superlative | Irregular absolute superlative |
|---|---|---|
bom Translation: good | melhor, melhores Translation: best | ótimo Translation: great |
mau, ruim Translation: bad | pior, piores Translation: worst | péssimo Translation: terrible |
grande Translation: big | maior, maiores Translation: biggest | máximo Translation: maximum |
pequeno Translation: small | menor, menores Translation: smallest | mínimo Translation: minimum |
These irregular superlatives (both types) are typically used before the noun they describe:
In summary
In this post, we reviewed how to use the superlative in Brazilian Portuguese. We saw that there are two kinds of superlatives: relative superlatives and absolute superlatives.
Relative superlatives are used to describe a noun with the “most” or “least” of a quality
o mais meaning the most / o menos meaning the least
irregular forms: melhor meaning best, pior meaning worst, maior meaning biggest, menor meaning smallest
Absolute superlatives are used to describe a noun with a lot of a quality (like “very” + adjective)
adjective + -íssimo meaning the most, e.g. lindíssimo meaning very beautiful
adverb of intensity + adjective, e.g. muito lindo meaning very beautiful
irregular forms: ótimo meaning great, péssimo meaning terrible, máximo meaning giant, mínimo meaning tiny
Are you ready to practice using the superlative in Brazilian Portuguese with these activities?
:quality(80))
:quality(75))
:quality(75))
:quality(75))
:quality(75))
:quality(75))