Now that you know how to compare two individuals or things, we can talk about comparing individuals or things to a whole group to which they belong. Superlatives are a way to make this comparison. Imagine that you are Goldilocks and you have come into the bears' house. If you had to compare the three beds, you would make a decision between the best one of the three. And if Goldilocks spoke Portuguese, she would say Esta é a cama mais confortável das três (This is the most comfortable bed of the three). Here is a summary of how superlatives are expressed in Portuguese.

TRACK 38

Superlatives in Portuguese

Notice that the usage of the preposition de (of) + definite article results in a contraction such as do and da (of the) in Portuguese. Although most superlatives follow the structure above, there are some irregular superlatives in Portuguese. These are o melhor (the best), o pior (the worst), o maior (the biggest), and o menor (the smallest). Now, let's see if you have mastered the art of the superlatives!

Exercise: Fill in the Superlative

Fill in the blanks with the best answer in the superlative sentences. Check your answers in Appendix C.

• O futebol é o esporte ________________________popular ________________________Brasil. (Soccer is the most popular sport in Brazil.)

• Brasília é a capital ________________________moderna ________________________América Latina. (Brasília is the most modern capital of Latin America.)

• Amália Rodrigues é a ________________________canora de Fado ________________________Portugal. (Amália Rodrigues is the best Fado singer of Portugal.)

Exercise: Write Superlative Sentences

Use the elements given and write a superlative sentence (it doesn't matter if it's not true!). For example: O Ferrari/carro/rápido/Europa > O Ferrari é o carro mais rápido da Europa.

• O MacIntosh/computador/caro/mundo

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• Conan/comediante/engraçado/Estados Unidos

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• A feijoada/comida/famosa/Brasil

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