Absolute superlatives (-ísimo)

Taking it to the extreme: -ísimo

When something isn't just fast, but extremely fast, Spanish takes adjectives to their absolute maximum degree with the suffix -ísimo.

Drop the final vowel of an adjective and add -ísimo, -ísima, -ísimos, or -ísimas to match the gender and number of the noun it describes.

The cars are extremely fast because they reach a lot of speed.
Los vagones son rapidísimos porque alcanzan mucha velocidad.
This ride is incredibly fun and very exciting.
Esta atracción es divertidísima y muy emocionante.
We want to get on an incredibly exciting ride today.
Queremos subirnos a una atracción emocionantísima hoy.

Adjectives ending in -e (like emocionante) also drop their final vowel (emocionantísima).

Spelling changes

To keep the original pronunciation, some consonants change spelling before adding the suffix:

  • c changes to qu (loco → loquísimo)
  • g changes to gu (largo → larguísimo)
Those rollercoasters have some extremely crazy loops.
Esas montañas rusas tienen unas vueltas loquísimas.
I recommend that you do not get on that extremely long rollercoaster.
Te recomiendo que no te subas a esa montaña rusa larguísima.

Adverbs

You can also add -ísimo to adverbs to describe an action. Since adverbs don't have gender or number, the ending is always -ísimo.

Could the car be broken? It is going extremely slowly before the drop.
¿Estará roto el vagón? Va lentísimo antes de la caída.