A Foundation Course in Reading German, 2017a

Offline Textbook | A Foundation Course in Reading German
https://courses.dcs.wisc.edu/wp/readinggerman/print-entire-textbook/
Page 63 of 151
12/8/2017
Das ist das älteste Buch in unserer Bibliothek.
That is the oldest book in our library.
German uses this superlative form in a different way when the adjective is not
modifying a noun:
Der Mercedes ist am teuersten.
The Mercedes is the most expensive.
This form is always am (contraction of an + dem, see your dictionary) followed by
the superlative form of the adjective plus the grammatically appropriate adjective
ending –en.
Unit: 6: Conjunctions, comparatives
5. Adjectives as Adverbs
In English, we generally differentiate adverbs and adjectives by adding the ending
–ly to adjectives to form adverbs (for example: “hot”, “hotly”). In German, there is
no such visible difference when a word is used either as an adverb or as an
adjective. (Recall, however, Recognizing Adverbs vs. Adjectives in Unit 4.) This
applies even for comparative and superlative adjectives. In all cases you can tell
from the context which meaning is being used.
Das Kind liest gut.
The child reads well.
Er läuft schneller.
He runs more quickly.
Sie läuft am schnellsten.
She runs fastest.
There are a few commonly used superlative words that are used only as adverbs
such as höchst (highly), äußerst (extremely), and meistens (mostly). For instance,
Dieses Buch ist höchst interessant.
This book is (highly / most) interesting.