A superlative names the one that is more than all the others: the tallest, the most beautiful. Because there is only one, it takes the. On 142 lines from a novel with an -est word, the or a possessive stands before it 127 times. With most the same test is right on only 40 of 122, and the reason is a second meaning of the word.
Core ideas
Three ideas.
The tallest girl is one girl. The same thing is one thing. When only one can fit the word, you point to it with the. A possessive, such as her or our, points to it as well: her youngest sister. The scan counts both.
The rule is right on every one of the 69 lines with same. It is right on 127 of 142 with an -est word. With next it is right on 49 of 72, because next is often a time word that stands alone: next week.
The most beautiful names the one. A most agreeable man does not: most there means very, and the small word before it is a. In the novel, a most before an adjective, a word such as kind or tall that describes a noun, is written 45 times, and the most 37 times.
The material
Choose the first word in the lab and read the lines marked not the rule. They are not mistakes in the novel.
Take a word that names the one that is more than all the others: tallest, youngest, greatest. Because only one thing can be the tallest, the small word before it is the. The same is true of same, which names the one that is no different.
The lab holds 405 lines from the novel, each with one of four words in the middle: an -est word, same, next or most before an adjective. The scan reads the word directly before it.
Counted on this page, the rule is right on 127 of the 142 lines with an -est word: 93 with the and 34 with a possessive, such as her or our. For same it is right on 69 of 69. That is the strongest rule in this course.
Next is weaker: 49 of 72, or 68.1%. The reason is not a different meaning but a different use. Next week is a time, and it stands alone; next to names a place; and in when they next met the word is not before a noun at all.
The 15 lines that do not fit are of four kinds. In the two youngest and the best and safest, the is there and the scan, which reads one word, does not see it. In it would be wisest there is no noun to point to. In dearest Lizzy the word is a name. So the rule is nearly right, and the misses are lines it cannot read.
Choose most. Now the rule is right on 40 of 122 lines, which is 32.8%. Look at the column: the small word before most is the 37 times, a possessive 3 times, and a or an 45 times. The other 37 have no small word at all.
The 45 are the lesson. A most delightful evening and a most excellent ball do not name the best evening or the best ball. Most means very, and the small word is the one you use before any adjective and noun. Fifteen of the 37 others follow was, been, am, is, be or seemed: she was most kind. There too most means very.
Ask what the word is doing. If it picks the one from a group, use the. If it means very, use the small word you would use without it. The page can count the word before, but it cannot read meaning, so the second step is yours.
The lines are from 1813. The meaning of very for most is old and formal, and is less common now. The lab cannot say how much less.
Interactive
Every superlative, same, next and most in the novel, and the word before it
Method
Five questions.
The tallest of the girls picks one. If nothing is being compared, the word is not a superlative.
Then put the before it, or a possessive such as her or Darcy’s. Same takes the on all 69 printed lines.
If it is the highest of a group, use the most: the most beautiful of the sisters. If it means very, use a most or no small word: a most agreeable man, she was most kind.
With a noun the plain form is the next day. As a time word it stands alone: next week, next year.
The two youngest has the one word earlier, and the best and safest has it once for both. The lab shows the word directly before, so such lines count as misses.
Of the 142 lines with an -est word, 15 do not have the or a possessive directly before it. They are four kinds.
None of the four is a break in the rule. Four lines have a number between (the two youngest) and three have one the for two words joined by and (the best and safest): in these seven the or a possessive is there, but the scan reads one word only. Two stand alone after be (it would be wisest). Six are a way of calling someone, in a letter or in speech (dearest Lizzy, dearest, loveliest Elizabeth), with no my in front.
The same is true of next. Of its 23 other lines, seven are a time that stands alone (next week, next year), four are next to, which names a place, eight have next on its own after a verb (when they next met), and four have the a word or two earlier (the very next day, the two next). And one of its four possessives is a false hit: the scan reads her in congratulate her as a possessive because the line has no full stop, and Next to being married begins a new sentence.
You should be able to read the word before each of the printed words, state the score of the rule for each, sort the lines it misses into kinds, and name the sense of most that takes a and not the.
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