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Aquí el personal es simpatiquísimo.

Aquí el personal es simpatiquísimo.
The staff here is extremely nice.
From Lesson 78:Adjective intensification (-ísimo)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Aquí el personal es simpatiquísimo.

Why is it spelled simpatiquísimo with a "qu" instead of a "c"?
The base word is simpático. If you just dropped the "o" and added -ísimo, it would be spelled "simpaticísimo". In Spanish, a "c" before an "i" makes a soft "s" sound. To keep the hard "k" sound from simpático, the "c" changes to "qu".
Why does simpatiquísimo have an accent mark? Did it keep the one from simpático?
It actually got a brand new one! When you add the -ísimo or -ísima suffix to intensify an adjective, the accent mark always goes on the first "i" of the suffix. The original accent mark on the "a" in simpático disappears because the spoken stress shifts to the end of the word.
Does simpático mean "sympathetic"?
No, it's a common false friend! Simpático is used to describe someone who is nice, friendly, or pleasant to be around. If you want to describe someone as sympathetic or understanding, you would use a word like comprensivo.
The word "staff" refers to multiple people, so why do we use the singular verb es?
In Spanish, words like el personal (the staff), la familia (the family), and la gente (the people) are singular nouns, even though they represent a group. Because the noun is singular, you must use the singular verb es and the singular adjective simpatiquísimo.

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