The Best Most Super Superlatives in German
In this post we want to look at expressing yourself with superlatives in German. In English, superlatives are written with est on the end, e.g. easiest, strongest, tallest etc.
In German, you add ste or este to the simple form of the adjective. Adjectives that end in -t, -tz, -z, -sch, -ss, –ß, au and eu are the ones that would use este, the rest would use ste. If the adjective is describing something plural, you add an -n to the end.
Lets look at some examples of Superlatives in German:
Das ist das schnellste Auto (schnell) – That is the fastest car
Ich habe die neuesten Schuhe (neu) – I have the newest shoes
Sie ist die schönste Frau (schön) – She is the most beautiful woman
This is of course not the end of the story with superlatives in German. Word order can affect how the superlative is formed. Consider the following example:
Q- Who is the fastest man?
A- He is the fastest man or
A- That man is the fastest
In this example, the superlative in English is written the same the fastest. This isn’t the case with superlatives in German. Here is the same example in German:
A- Er ist der schnellste Mann
A- Dieser Mann ist am schnellsten
This form of superlative is constructed with am before the adjective followed by -sten or -esten at the end and is used when the adjective appears at the end of the sentence.
Some more examples:
Marys Katze ist süß aber meine Katze ist am süßesten – Marys cat is cute but my cat is the cutest
Ich habe drei Tanten und Lisa ist am kleinsten – I have three aunts and Lisa is the smallest
In Hannover war es heute kalt, aber in München war es am kältesten – It was cold today in Hannover but in Munich it was the coldest.
And what about the Cases?
The ending of a superlative will change according to the case. But don’t panic. The rules for the endings are pretty straight forward.
| Nominative | Accusative | Dative | Genetive (posessive) | |
| der | -e | -en | -en | -en |
| die | -e | -e | -en | -en |
| das | -e | -e | -en | -en |
| plural (der/die/das) | -en | -en | -en | -en |
Here are some example sentences for every case:
Nominative:
Er ist der schönste Mann der Welt. – He is the most beautiful man in the world.
Sie ist die schönste Frau der Welt. – She is the most beautiful woman in the world.
Das ist das schnellste Auto der Welt. – This is the fastest car in the world.
Sie sind die schönsten Männer der Welt. – These are the most beautiful men in the world.
Accusative:
Ich sehe den schönsten Mann der Welt. – I see the most beautiful man in the world.
Ich sehe die schönste Frau der Welt. – I see the most beautiful woman in the world.
Ich sehe das schönste Haus der Welt. – I see the most beautiful house in the world.
Ich sehe die schönsten Frauen der Welt. – I see the most beautiful women in the world.
Dative:
Ich gab dem ältesten Mann einen Apfel. – I gave the oldest man an apple.
Ich gab der ältesten Frau einen Apfel. – I gave the oldest woman an apple.
Ich gab dem schönsten Mädchen einen Kuss. – I gave the most beautiful girl a kiss.
Ich gab den jüngsten Kindern einen Apfel. – I gave the youngest kids an apple.
Genitive:
Das Auto des jüngsten Lehrers ist schwarz. – The car of the youngest teacher is black.
Das Auto der jüngsten Lehrerin ist rot. – The car of the youngest teacher (female) is red.
Das Kleid des jüngsten Mädchens ist blau. – The dress of the youngest girl is blue.
Die Häuser der reichsten Männer sind in L.A. – The houses of the richest men are in L.A.
Here are some adjectives and both their superlatives in German:
alt (old) – am ältesten or der/die/das älteste
groß (tall/big) – am größten or der/die/das größte
jung (young) – am jüngsten or der/die/das jüngste
klein (small) – am kleinsten or der/die/das kleinste
klug (clever) – am klügsten or der/die/das klügste
langsam (slow) -am langsamsten or der/die/das langsamste
nett (nice) – am nettesten or der/die/das netteste
schnell (fast) – am schnellsten or der/die/das schnellste
schön (beautiful) – am schönsten or der/die/das schönste
You may also want to brush up on How to use German Adjectives.