What is “Superlativo” in Italian
In Italian, the superlativo (superlative) is a grammatical form that is used to express the highest degree of a quality, either in an absolute sense or in comparison to others. Based on this distinction, you can find two types of superlatives in Italian:
- Superlativo Relativo(Relative Superlative): used to indicate that something has the most or least of a quality in general or compared to a group. It is formed with the definite article followed by più (most)/meno (least), and the adjective.
Luca è il più alto (della classe).
Luca is the tallest (in the class).
- Superlativo Assoluto (Absolute Superlative): it expresses an extreme degree of a quality without comparison to others. It is formed by adding the suffix -issimo to the adjective’s stem.
Questo film è bellissimo.
This movie is very beautiful.
In this article, I will focus on the second type of superlativo. I will show you how to form it, when to use it, and how.
Superlativo Assoluto
How to Form “Superlativo Assoluto” in Italian
In the previous section I already mentioned how to form the Italian superlativo assoluto, but you should know that there actually exist two ways to form it. In linguistics, they are called the synthetic form and the analytic form.
- Analytic form: obtained by simply removing the last letter from the adjective and adding the suffix –issimo.
Notice that, since you are dealing with an adjective, the suffix -issimo must change according to the gender and the number of the noun you are referring to, therefore resulting in:
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine | -issimo | -issimi |
| Feminine | -issima | -issime |
Let me show you some examples: conosciuto -> conosciutissim*; elegante -> elegantissim*; alto -> altissim*
- Synthetic form: obtained by adding an adverb before the adjective. These adverbs can be molto (very), davvero (really), decisamente (definitely), estremamente (extremely), etc.
Il russo è una lingua davvero difficile.
Russian is a really difficult language.
Siamo state estremamente fortunate a trovare questa offerta
We were extremely lucky to find his offer.
Bonus form! You can also create superlativo assoluto in Italian by adding a prefix to the adjective, without even a space. These prefixes can be: super-, arci-, ultra-, stra-, iper-, etc. This structure is used in informal and spoken language.
Quel film è strabello!
That movie is super good!
Sono arcistufa dei suoi rimproveri.
I am so fed up with his reprimands.
Notice that all these forms are absolutely interchangeable!
“Superlativo Assoluto”: Irregularities
Irregular Forms
As for the superlativo relativo, some adjectives have two forms of the superlativo assoluto: one is regular, as we saw until now, while the other is irregular. Let me show you what these forms are:
| Adjective | Regular Superlativo Assoluto | Irregular Superlativo Assoluto | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buono | Buonissimo | Ottimo | Excellent |
| Cattivo | Cattivissimo | Pessimo | Terrible |
| Grande | Grandissimo | Massimo | Maximum |
| Piccolo | Piccolissimo | Minimo | Minimal |
Questa lasagna è ottima.
This lasagna is excellent.
In questo bar il caffè è pessimo.
Coffee is really bad in this café.
Exceptions
There are some adjectives with which you cannot use the comparative or superlative forms of adjectives. These are adjectives that do not allow a grade or level of intensity, such as:
- Geographical or ethnical adjectives: italiano (Italian), francese (French), cinese (Chinese)
- Altered words: namely those that have suffixes like –etto, –one, –ino, –etto etc.
- Adjectives that already indicate an extreme quality: straordinario (extraordinary), magnifico (wonderful), terribile (terrible), etc.
