am -(e)sten Forms
The superlative marks the single most extreme case out of a whole group: in the predicate position, it's always built with am plus the adjective plus -(e)sten.
One more step past the comparative
Where the comparative just adds -er, the superlative wraps the adjective in am ... -(e)sten, and reuses the exact same umlaut and irregular stems the comparative already has.
Er ist schneller.
Er ist am schnellsten.
schneller compares two things; am schnellsten says he beats everyone.
am + Adjective + -(e)sten
Adjectives whose stem already ends in d, t, s, ß, z, or sch insert an extra -e- before -sten, purely so the word stays pronounceable.
| Base | Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|---|
| schnell | schneller | am schnellsten |
| klein | kleiner | am kleinsten |
| alt | älter | am ältesten |
| heiß | heißer | am heißesten |
| kurz | kürzer | am kürzesten |
alt, heiß, and kurz all need the extra -e-; schnell and klein don't.
Same Irregulars as the Comparative
Every adjective with an irregular comparative carries that same irregularity into the superlative.
See It In a Sentence
The full am ... -(e)sten phrase is highlighted below as one unit.
Von allen Städten hier ist Berlin am größten.
Of all the cities here, Berlin is the biggest.
Otto mag seine Katze am liebsten von allen Tieren.
Otto likes his cat the most out of all animals.
Dieser Tag war am heißesten im ganzen Sommer.
This day was the hottest of the whole summer.
A Common Mix-Up
Don't drop the -e- before -sten on stems ending in d, t, s, ß, z, or sch: am kürzsten is unpronounceable and wrong; it has to be am kürzesten. If in doubt, say the word out loud: German only skips the -e- when the ending already flows naturally.