Superlatives ESL Games, Activities & Worksheets
Superlative Exchange
ESL Superlative Adjectives Activity - Grammar and Speaking: Gap-fill, Asking and Answering Questions, Controlled and Freer Practice - Group and Pair Work
Here is an enjoyable superlatives activity to help students practice forming and using superlative adjectives to complete, ask, and answer conversation questions...
Superlative Fact Finder
ESL Superlative Adjectives Game - Grammar: Gap-fill, Guessing - Pair Work
In this rewarding superlative adjectives game, students guess superlative adjectives in sentences about facts. In pairs, one student begins by guessing the missing superlative adjective in the first fact. Their partner listens and tells the student if they...
Superlatives Showdown
ESL Superlative Adjectives Game - Grammar: Sentence Completion, Guessing - Pair Work
In this entertaining superlatives game, students guess how a partner would complete various superlative sentences. First, students read each superlative sentence and complete it with information that is true for them, writing their answers in the...
Let's Learn Superlatives
ESL Superlative Adjectives Worksheet - Grammar Exercises: Forming Words, Gap-fill, Matching, Error Correction, Sentence Completion
Here is a productive superlatives worksheet to help students learn and practice superlative adjectives and sentence structure. First, students write the superlative...
Superlative Crocodile Races
ESL Superlatives Game - Grammar: Following Instructions - Group Work
In this energizing superlatives game, students perform tasks related to superlatives. Mark boats on the floor using coloured tape. Make each boat just long and wide enough for each team to stand in. Tell the students that they are in crocodile-infested...
Superlative Family Fortunes
ESL Superlatives Game - Vocabulary: Guessing - Group Work
Here is a free superlatives game to play in class based on the TV show 'Family Fortunes'. The aim of the game is to guess the top five answers in a superlative category. One student from each team comes to the front of the class. Pick a card at...
Superlative Olympics
ESL Superlatives Game - Grammar: Writing Sentences - Group Work
In this engaging superlative adjectives game, students take part in competitions and write sentences using superlative forms about the results. Tell the students that they are going to take part in a Superlative Olympics. There are ten competitions to enter...
Superlatives Survey
ESL Superlatives Activity - Grammar and Speaking: Reading and Answering Questions, Sentence Completion, Controlled and Freer Practice
In this insightful superlatives activity, students practice forming and using superlative adjectives by conducting a class survey and reporting the results...
Famous Four Superlatives
ESL Superlatives Activity - Grammar, Reading and Speaking: Answering Comprehension Questions, Information Gap, Discussion, Freer Practice - Group Work
In this productive superlative adjectives activity, students find out information about four famous people in history and then ask and answer questions...
Superlative Media
ESL Superlative Adjectives Activity - Grammar and Speaking: Sentence Completion, Discussion - Group Work
In this memorable superlative adjectives activity, students practice forming and using superlative adjectives to express and discuss personal opinions about music, TV, film, and the Internet. Students begin...
Superlative Strips
ESL Superlative Adjectives Activity - Speaking: Forming, Asking and Answering Questions, Discussion, Freer Practice - Group Work
In this useful superlative adjectives activity, students practice forming and using superlative adjectives in questions and answers about personal...
Superlatives Board Game
ESL Superlatives Board Game - Speaking: Impromptu Speech, Freer Practice - Group Work
In this free superlatives board game, students practice using superlative adjectives accurately in spontaneous speech while discussing personal experiences and opinions. In groups, students...
Superlatives Practice
ESL Superlatives Worksheet - Grammar Exercises: Categorizing, Gap-fill, Unscrambling, Writing Sentences
This comprehensive superlative adjectives worksheet helps students to practice superlative adjectives and sentence structure. To begin, students categorize adjectives and write them in their superlative...
The Best in Town
ESL Superlatives Activity - Speaking: Forming, Asking and Answering Questions, Communicative Practice - Group Work
In this interesting superlatives speaking activity, students ask and answer superlative questions about their town or city. In groups, students take turns picking up a card and making a superlative...
By Far the Most
ESL Superlatives Game - Grammar: Forming True or False Sentences, Guessing, Freer Practice - Pair Work
In this fun superlatives game, students form true or false superlative sentences with 'by far' to make superlative adjectives sound stronger. In pairs, players take turns choosing an adjective square from...
The Superlative Chain Game
ESL Superlative Adjectives Game - Grammar: Matching, Forming Sentences, Freer Practice - Group Work
In this creative superlative adjectives game, students play dominoes by making superlative sentences about something unique using the structure superlative adjective + noun + that-clause. The first player...
Understanding Superlatives
Superlatives are adjective forms that express the highest or lowest degree of a quality within a group, using 'the' plus -est for short adjectives or 'the most' and 'the least' before longer ones. Students who choose the wrong form, writing 'most fast' instead of 'fastest' for example, or who omit 'the' before the superlative, produce sentences that mark them as beginners even when the rest of their language is strong.
This page covers superlatives across A1-A2, A2, B1, and B2 levels, with sixteen resources including games, worksheets, surveys, and speaking activities, two of which are available as free downloads.
The table below shows how superlative forms are built depending on the type of adjective.
| Adjective Type | Rule | Superlative Form | Example Sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Short (one syllable) | add -est | the + adjective + -est | 'Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world.' |
| Short ending in -e | add -st | the + adjective + -st | 'Russia is the largest country in the world.' |
| Short ending in consonant-vowel-consonant | double final consonant + -est | the + doubled consonant + -est | 'The blue whale is the biggest animal on Earth.' |
| Two syllables ending in -y | change -y to -iest | the + adjective + -iest | 'She is the happiest person I know.' |
| Long (two or more syllables) | the most + adjective | the most + adjective | 'He is the most famous actor in the film.' |
| Long (negative) | the least + adjective | the least + adjective | 'This is the least expensive option on the menu.' |
| Irregular | must be memorized | the best / the worst / the farthest | 'That was the best meal I have ever had.' |
When to Use Superlatives
Making Recommendations: Superlatives are the natural choice when a speaker wants to steer someone toward one option above all others, since they signal a definitive judgment rather than a mild preference, for example 'This is the friendliest hotel in the area, so I would definitely book it.'
Expressing Strong Opinions: When a speaker wants to state a firm personal view in conversation, superlatives carry more conviction than comparative forms, making the speaker's position immediately clear to the listener, for example 'In my opinion, jazz is the most interesting genre of music.'
Reporting Records and Extreme Facts: Writers use superlatives to highlight record-breaking or extreme data in informational contexts, where stating the highest or lowest value is more precise than a vague description, for example 'The Nile is the longest river in the world, stretching over 6,600 kilometers.'
3-Step Framework for Teaching Superlatives
1. Lock In the Forms with a Worksheet: Start at A2 level by taking students through the full range of forming tasks: writing superlative forms, completing gap-fill sentences, and matching adjectives to their correct superlative equivalents. The step that sharpens accuracy most is the error correction exercise, where students rewrite superlative sentences by finding and fixing the mistakes before comparing their answers with a partner.
2. Get Students Moving with a Physical Game: Once the forms are in place, bring students to their feet with a whole-class game that turns superlative ordering into a survival challenge. Teams stand inside areas marked out on the floor and race to arrange themselves in a specific superlative order, for example tallest to shortest. The rule that keeps everyone alert is that if a student steps out of the boat, that team is out of the round.
3. Push into Spontaneous Production with a Board Game: At B1 level, move students into a board game where every square demands unscripted superlative speech. When a student lands on a square, they must talk about the topic using superlatives for 30 seconds without stopping, earning one point for each superlative adjective they use. The penalty rule does the teaching: if a student forms a superlative adjective incorrectly, uses the wrong sentence structure, or stops talking before the 30 seconds are up, no points are awarded.
Common Mistakes with Superlatives
Using Superlative Instead of Comparative for Two Items: Students often use the superlative when comparing exactly two people or things, when the comparative form is the correct choice for a pair. Wrong: 'She is the tallest of the two sisters.' Correct: 'She is the taller of the two sisters.'
Spelling Error When Adding -est to Adjectives Ending in -y: Students often forget to change the -y to -i before adding -est to adjectives ending in -y, producing a misspelling that looks like a direct addition of -est to the base form. Wrong: 'That was the happyest day of my life.' Correct: 'That was the happiest day of my life.'
Common Questions About Teaching Superlatives
What superlatives game works well at pre-intermediate level?
The Family Fortunes format gives superlatives real stakes at A2 level. In the free game Superlative Family Fortunes, teams race to name the top five answers in a superlative category. The teacher reads out a question such as 'What are the most visited countries in the world?' and teams take turns guessing, losing a lifeline for each wrong answer.
What superlatives worksheet is suitable for intermediate students?
The worksheet Superlatives Practice takes B1 students from recognition to production in a single resource. Students categorize adjectives and write them in their superlative form, then move through gap-fill sentences and unscrambling before writing their own superlative sentences from prompts independently.
What superlatives speaking activity do you recommend for pre-intermediate students?
Giving superlative questions a real answer turns practice into something students care about. The activity Superlatives Survey has each A2 student ask the question on their card to everyone in the class to find out who fits the superlative, then complete a statement such as 'Sam got up the earliest this morning.' Students report their findings at the end.
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