To say something is "the most" or "the least" within a group—like the oldest city or the tallest building—Portuguese uses the relative superlative.
Forming the Superlative
Instead of adding a suffix like "-est" as in English, Portuguese uses the words mais (most) and menos (least) placed right after the noun.
The basic structure is:
- Definite Article (o, a, os, as) + Noun
- mais / menos
- Adjective
- de (of/in)
- Adjective
- mais / menos
When identifying the group or place, the preposition de (of/in) will contract with the definite article that follows it. For example, de + o mundo (the world) becomes do mundo.
| This is the oldest hotel in the world. | Este é o hotel mais antigo do mundo. |
| Which is the longest river in the world? | Qual é o rio mais longo do mundo? |
The definite article at the beginning of the phrase must always match the gender and number of the noun you are describing.
| The richest woman in the country is going to buy that building. | A mulher mais rica do país vai comprar aquele prédio. |
| We used to live in the poorest city on the continent. | Nós vivíamos na cidade mais pobre do continente. |
The Least
To describe the lowest extreme of a group (the least), simply swap out mais for menos. The rest of the sentence structure remains exactly the same.
| The least famous actor in the group used to write the best texts. | O ator menos famoso do grupo escrevia os melhores textos. |