A superlative singles out one thing as the extreme of a group — the tallest, the cheapest, the most boring — or simply pumps a quality up to the maximum — gorgeous, exhausted, super cheap. Brazilian Portuguese splits this work into two clearly different systems: the relative superlative (one item compared against a set) and the absolute superlative (a quality cranked to the top with no comparison at all). English blurs these together with "the most" and "very," but in Portuguese they have separate machinery, and choosing the wrong one is one of the most common learner errors. This page shows you how to build both at the sentence level.
Relative superlative: o/a mais ... de
The relative superlative names the top (or bottom) member of a group. The frame is fixed:
definite article + (noun) + mais/menos + adjective + de + the set
The single hardest thing for English speakers is the final preposition. English uses in ("the tallest in the class," "the best restaurant in town"), but Portuguese uses de. There is no logical reason; it is simply how the language marks the reference set. If you say em here, every Brazilian will understand you, but it will instantly mark you as a foreigner.
O Pedro é o mais alto da turma.
Pedro is the tallest in the class.
Essa é a praia mais bonita do litoral.
This is the most beautiful beach on the coast.
Foi o dia menos produtivo da semana inteira.
It was the least productive day of the whole week.
Notice the article carries gender and number: o mais alto, a mais alta, os mais altos, as mais altas. The article also contracts with de in the set phrase — de + a = da, de + o = do, de + os = dos — which is why you get da turma, do litoral, da semana.
When the noun is already clear from context, you can drop it and let the article stand alone:
De todos os filmes que vi esse ano, esse foi o melhor.
Of all the movies I saw this year, this was the best.
Irregular relative superlatives
Four adjectives don't use mais/menos; they have their own superlative forms, which double as comparatives. You simply add the article:
| Adjective | Comparative | Relative superlative | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| bom (good) | melhor | o melhor | the best |
| ruim / mau (bad) | pior | o pior | the worst |
| grande (big) | maior | o maior | the biggest |
| pequeno (small) | menor | o menor | the smallest |
Esse é o melhor açaí da cidade, sem dúvida.
This is the best açaí in the city, no question.
Foi a pior decisão da minha vida.
It was the worst decision of my life.
O maior problema do projeto é o prazo.
The biggest problem with the project is the deadline.
Saying o mais bom or o mais ruim is wrong in standard usage — use o melhor and o pior. (You will occasionally hear mais ruim in very casual regional speech, but treat it as nonstandard and avoid it in writing.)
Absolute superlative: cranking the quality to the max
The absolute superlative does not compare anything. It just says a quality is present to an extreme degree — English "extremely," "incredibly," "super," or an emphatic "so." Portuguese has several ways to do this.
muito + adjective (the everyday default)
O show ontem foi muito bom, todo mundo amou.
The show yesterday was really good, everyone loved it.
This is the neutral, all-purpose option. It is correct in every register and is what you will use most of the time in speech.
The -íssimo suffix (emphatic, slightly elevated)
Adding -íssimo / -íssima to the adjective means "extremely ~." Note the obligatory accent on the í — it is part of the spelling, not optional. To form it, drop the final vowel and add -íssimo:
| Adjective | Absolute superlative | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| lindo | lindíssimo | gorgeous |
| caro | caríssimo | incredibly expensive |
| chato | chatíssimo | extremely boring/annoying |
| difícil | dificílimo | extremely hard |
| fácil | facílimo | extremely easy |
| bom | boníssimo / ótimo | excellent |
A few are irregular: fácil → facílimo, difícil → dificílimo (the -il drops to -ílimo); bom has the learned form boníssimo but in practice Brazilians say ótimo. Adjectives ending in -z or -m adjust: feliz → felicíssimo, comum → comuníssimo.
A vista do apartamento é lindíssima, dá pra ver o mar inteiro.
The view from the apartment is gorgeous, you can see the whole sea.
A prova foi dificílima, acho que ninguém terminou.
The exam was extremely hard, I don't think anyone finished.
Esse restaurante é bom, mas é caríssimo.
This restaurant is good, but it's incredibly expensive.
The -íssimo form sounds a touch more emphatic and expressive than muito — it conveys real feeling. It is common in both speech and writing, and it agrees in gender and number like any adjective: lindíssima, lindíssimos, caríssimas.
Colloquial intensifiers: super-, mega-, mó
In casual Brazilian speech, the most frequent way to maximize an adjective is with the prefixes super- and mega- (and, in some regions, the slang word mó). These are very common but distinctly (informal) — keep them out of formal writing.
O filme foi superlegal, vai gostar com certeza.
The movie was super cool, you'll definitely like it.
A festa tava mega cheia, mal dava pra andar.
The party was mega crowded, you could barely walk.
Foi mó perrengue chegar aqui, o trânsito tava impossível.
It was a huge hassle getting here, the traffic was impossible. (regional: Southeast slang)
Super and mega attach to almost any adjective and even some nouns (superfome = super hungry). Mó (a clipping of maior) is (regional: Southeast, especially Rio/São Paulo) and very casual — recognize it, but don't lean on it.
Putting it together
In a real sentence you often combine these systems. You might use a relative superlative for the ranking and an absolute one for the emotion:
É o melhor brigadeiro da cidade, sério, é boníssimo.
It's the best brigadeiro in the city, seriously, it's excellent.
Esse é o trajeto mais curto, mas é perigosíssimo à noite.
This is the shortest route, but it's extremely dangerous at night.
Common Mistakes
❌ É o melhor restaurante na cidade.
Incorrect — uses 'na' (em + a) for the set
✅ É o melhor restaurante da cidade.
It's the best restaurant in the city.
The set after a relative superlative is always de, never em. English "in the city" maps to da cidade.
❌ Esse é o mais bom de todos.
Incorrect — 'bom' has an irregular superlative
✅ Esse é o melhor de todos.
This is the best of all.
Never combine mais with bom, ruim, grande, or pequeno. Use melhor, pior, maior, menor.
❌ A casa é muito lindíssima.
Incorrect — doubles the intensifier
✅ A casa é lindíssima.
The house is gorgeous.
-íssimo already means "very/extremely," so adding muito is redundant. Pick one.
❌ A vista é o mais bonita da cidade.
Incorrect — article doesn't agree with feminine 'vista'
✅ A vista é a mais bonita da cidade.
The view is the most beautiful in the city.
The article in the relative superlative agrees in gender and number with the noun: a mais bonita, not o mais bonita.
❌ O presidente fez um discurso super importante. (in a news report)
Stylistically wrong — 'super' is colloquial in a formal text
✅ O presidente fez um discurso importantíssimo.
The president gave an extremely important speech.
Super- and mega- are fine in chat and speech, but in news, essays, or formal writing, use -íssimo or muito.
Key Takeaways
- Relative = one item vs. a group → o/a mais ... de (set marked by de, never em).
- Absolute = quality maxed out, no comparison → muito, -íssimo, or colloquial super-/mega-.
- Memorize the four irregulars: melhor, pior, maior, menor — never mais bom, etc.
- -íssimo always keeps the accented í and agrees in gender/number; don't stack it with muito.
- super-, mega-, and mó are everyday speech but (informal) — avoid in formal writing.
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- Comparison SentencesA2 — How Brazilian Portuguese compares things at the sentence level — 'mais/menos (do) que', 'tão/tanto... quanto', irregular 'melhor/pior', and the correlative 'quanto mais... melhor'.
- Comparison StructuresA2 — How Brazilian Portuguese forms comparatives and superlatives with mais/menos ... (do) que, tão ... quanto, and the four irregular comparatives.
- Relative Superlative (O Mais ... De)A2 — The Brazilian Portuguese relative superlative — definite article + mais/menos + adjective + DE + a set — picks out the most or least of a group, with irregulars like o melhor and o pior.
- Absolute Superlative (-íssimo)A2 — The Brazilian Portuguese absolute superlative means 'extremely' — built synthetically with -íssimo (lindíssimo, facílimo), analytically with muito, or colloquially with super-/mega- and pra caramba.
- Comparative and Superlative of AdverbsB1 — Comparing how actions are done in Brazilian Portuguese — mais/menos...(do) que, tão...quanto, the irregular melhor/pior, and the -íssimo intensifier on adverbs.