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Study in the app →English · CEFR Band 1 (A1) · Chapter 41
The elephant is the biggest animal
Dialogue
At the zoo
- Emma Minsu, look at that elephant. It's huge!
- Minsu Wow! The elephant is the most big animal here!
- Emma Yes! But short adjectives take "-est", not "most". Say "the biggest animal".
- Minsu Ah, I see. "The elephant is the biggest animal here."
- Emma Exactly! So which animal is the most dangerous?
- Minsu The tiger is the most dangerous! But I like the monkeys the best.
Dialogue
Mountains or the sea?
- Jack Emma, do you prefer the mountains or the sea?
- Emma I love the sea the most. But the mountains are beautiful too.
- Jack True. Mount Fuji is the most famous mountain in Japan. And it's very tall.
- Emma Really? I think the Nile is the longest river in the world.
- Jack You're right! Nature has the biggest and the most beautiful places.
- Emma Yes! Let's plan a trip. I want to see the tallest trees and the smallest birds.
Vocabulary
| 汉字 | Pinyin | POS | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| animal | n. | animal | |
| elephant | n. | elephant | |
| rabbit | n. | rabbit | |
| bird | n. | bird | |
| monkey | n. | monkey | |
| tiger | n. | tiger | |
| mountain | n. | mountain | |
| sea | n. | sea | |
| river | n. | river | |
| tree | n. | tree | |
| nature | n. | nature | |
| strong | adj. | strong |
Grammar
The superlative: the biggest, the most beautiful The superlative: the biggest, the most beautiful
In ch26 you learned the comparative to compare two things: "She is taller than me". The superlative picks out the number one of a whole group — "the tallest of all". There are two ways to make it. SHORT adjectives (one syllable) add "-est" and take "the": big → "the biggest", tall → "the tallest", fast → "the fastest", small → "the smallest". If a short adjective ends in "-y", change y → i: happy → "the happiest". LONG adjectives (two or more syllables) use "the most": "the most dangerous", "the most beautiful", "the most expensive". Always put "the" before a superlative, and you can add "in" or "of" for the group: "the tallest boy IN the class", "the biggest OF all the animals". Note: Korean marks every superlative with one word (제일 / 가장), so Korean speakers often use "most" with a short adjective: "the most big" ✗. A short adjective takes "-est": "the biggest" ✓.
In ch26 you learned the comparative to compare two things: "She is taller than me". The superlative picks out the number one of a whole group — "the tallest of all". There are two ways to make it. SHORT adjectives (one syllable) add "-est" and take "the": big → "the biggest", tall → "the tallest", fast → "the fastest", small → "the smallest". If a short adjective ends in "-y", change y → i: happy → "the happiest". LONG adjectives (two or more syllables) use "the most": "the most dangerous", "the most beautiful", "the most expensive". Always put "the" before a superlative, and you can add "in" or "of" for the group: "the tallest boy IN the class", "the biggest OF all the animals". Note: Korean marks every superlative with one word (제일 / 가장), so Korean speakers often use "most" with a short adjective: "the most big" ✗. A short adjective takes "-est": "the biggest" ✓.
- The elephant is the biggest animal. The elephant is the biggest animal.
- The tiger is the most dangerous. The tiger is the most dangerous.
- This bird is the smallest. This bird is the smallest.
- Mount Everest is the highest mountain. Mount Everest is the highest mountain.
- He is the tallest boy in the class. He is the tallest boy in the class.
pronunciation
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