By Far The Best: Modifying Superlatives

1 Section 1. The Best — But By How Much?

You already know how to say something is ‘the best’, ‘the most expensive’, or ‘the worst’. But here is an interesting question: how much better is ‘the best’? Is the difference huge, or is it very small?

Think about this: two restaurants both have good food. One is slightly better. You could say it is ‘just about the best in the city’ — meaning it is at the top, but only just. Now imagine a restaurant that is dramatically better than every other one. You would say it is by far the best. The difference is enormous.

We can also describe small differences. If something is almost the cheapest option — but not quite — we can say it is ‘more or less the cheapest’ or ‘just about the cheapest’. These two phrases mean nearly the same thing: the gap is small.

This idea will feel familiar. You have already used ‘much’, ‘far’, and ‘a lot’ to modify comparative adjectives — for example, ‘much better’ or ‘a lot more expensive’. Now you are doing the same thing with superlatives. The logic is the same; only the structure changes.

2 Section 2. Modifying Superlatives: The Guide

We use modifiers before superlative adjectives to show how big or small the difference is. There are two groups: one for big differences and one for small differences. The modifier goes directly before the superlative phrase.

3 Section 3. The Product Review Meeting

The product team at Crestline Technology had spent three weeks testing five new software tools. Now it was time to present the results.

‘Let’s start with cost,’ said Sam, the project lead. ‘Tool A is by far the most expensive — it costs almost three times more than the others. That’s a problem for the budget.’

Alex, the data analyst, nodded. ‘Tool B and Tool C are more or less the cheapest. There’s almost no difference in price between them — maybe five euros per month.’

‘What about performance?’ asked Jordan from the development team.

‘Tool C is by far the fastest,’ Sam replied. ‘The test results were not even close. But Tool D is just about the most reliable — Tool E is slightly more stable in our tests, but only barely.’

Jordan leaned forward. ‘So Tool C is by far the best performer, but Tool D is just about the most dependable option we have?’

‘Exactly,’ said Sam. ‘It’s not a simple decision. The best tool depends on what matters most to the team.’

They agreed to run one final test before making a recommendation.

4 Section 4. Writing Practice

Now it is your turn. Use what you have studied to write your own short comparison.

5 Recap: What You Have Learned

Well done. Here is a quick summary of the key ideas from this page.

When you use a superlative adjective, you can add a modifier to show how big or small the difference is. Use by far when the gap is very large — ‘It is by far the most popular.’ Use just about or more or less when the gap is very small — ‘It is just about the cheapest’ or ‘It is more or less the closest.’

Remember: the modifier always comes before ‘the’, not after the adjective. This small detail makes a big difference to how natural your English sounds.