/ instituut voor de Nederlandse taal / Taalportaal
bibliography glossary about
  • Dutch1
  • Frisian
  • Saterfrisian
  • Afrikaans
Show all
    Use of the definite article with the superlative
    quickinfo

    The superlative adjective phrase is preceded by a definite article when used in a predicative, attributive or adverbial construction. An example of the predicative use:

    1
    Hulle invloed in my lewe is die groot·ste.
    their influence in my life be.PRS the great·SUPL
    Their influence in my life is the greatest.

    An attributive construction:

    2
    Die twee is die groot·ste maats.
    the two be.PRS the great·SUPL buddies
    The two are biggest buddies.

    An example of an adverbial construction:

    3
    Van almal lag sy die hard·ste.
    of everybody laughs she the loud·SUPL
    Of everybody, she is laughing (the) loudest.

    Omission of the article is ungrammatical in such cases:

    4
    *Hulle invloed in my lewe is groot·ste.
    their influence in my life be.PRS great·SUPL
    They have a big influence on my life
    5
    *een van interessant·ste persoonlikhede
    one of interesting·SUPL personalities
    one of the most interesting personalities
    6
    *Sy lag hard·ste van almal.
    she laugh loud·SUPL of all
    She laughs the loudest of all.
    readmore

    The superlative adjective requires the definite article in three instances. Firstly, when the adjective is used in the predicative position:

    7
    Sy is eenvoudig die beste.
    she be.PRS simply the best
    She is simply the best.

    Secondly, when the adjective occurs in the attributive position:

    8
    die slim·ste ding om te doen
    the clever·SUPL thing for.COMP PTCL.INF do.INF
    the cleverest thing to do

    Thirdly, when the adjective occurs in the adverbial position:

    9
    Hy weet die beste.
    he know the good·SUPL
    He knows best.

    The superlative, in any of these three positions, can also be followed by a prepositional phrase, as in this example:

    10
    Die olifant is die slim·ste van alle grootwild.
    the elephant be.PRS the clever·SUPL of all big.game
    The elephant is the cleverest of all big game.

    In the case of the attribute above, this example, one could argue that the definite article is required because of the presence of the noun (ding thing). Furthermore, when used predicatively, as in beste best and slimste cleverest in examples (9) and (10) above, the adjective has apparently undergone nominalisation, in which case the definite article remains a requirement. However, no such requirement applies when the positive (as in example (11) or comparative forms of the adjective – as in examples (12) and (13) – are used in comparable sentences:

    11
    Olifante doen slim dinge.
    elephants do clever things
    12
    Ons moet slimmer (slim·er) planne maak.
    we must.AUX.MOD clever·CMPR plans make
    We have to make cleverer plans.
    13
    Kospryse het vinnig·er gestyg.
    food.prices have.AUX fast·CMPR escalated
    Food prices have escalated faster.

    The article is compulsory in the case of superlatives in the attributive and predicative positions, as in the examples above, and cannot be omitted in the adverbial position, as below:

    14
    *Kospryse het vinnig·ste gestyg.
    food.prices have.AUX fast·SUPL escalated
    Food prices have escalated fastest.

    However, irregular superlatives which are frequent and which seem to have undergone some meaning specialisation, may occur without article, as in the case of meeste most, which is hardly distinguishable from the adverb meestal mostly:

    15
    Hulle praat meestal Portugees.
    They speak mostly Portuguese.
    16
    Sy praat meeste oor haarself.
    she talk much·SUPL about herself
    She talks mostly about herself.
    17
    Die polisie was eerste op die toneel.
    The police be.PRT first on the scene.

    The last example involves the form eerste first, which is both the superlative of eers earlier and the ordinal form of the numeral een one. Ordinals can generally occur without the article:

    18
    Lewis Hamilton was tweede.
    Lewis Hamilton be.PRT second
    Lewis Hamilton was second.

    Finally, within the paradigm of determiners, in the attributive position, the definite article can also be replaced by a possessive pronoun, as in these examples:

    19
    Van Niekerk is ons vinnig·ste atleet.
    Van Niekerk be.PRS our fast·SUPL athlete
    Van Niekerk is our fastest athlete.
    20
    Chad swem op sy vinnig·ste.
    Chad swim on his fast·SUPL
    Chad is swimming at his fastest.
    References
      About this article
      Author(s): Ernst Kotzé, Adri Breed
      Category: Afrikaans Syntax
      Keywords: superlative APdefinite articlepossessive pronounpredicativeattributiveadverbial position
      Version: 1.0, May 2020
      Version history:
      version editor(s) date remarks
      1.0 Ernst Kotzé, Adri Breed May 2020
      This is a beta version.
      printreport errorcite
      Jump to:
      X