Superlatives recognition

A superlative adjective marks the top of the scale: "tallest", "highest", "bravest", or with emphasis "very high", "most brave". Latin signals it with the ending -issimus (feminine -issima, neuter -issimum) added to the adjective stem. Once you know this ending, the most emphatic words in a passage light up.

Plain	Superlative	Meaning
altus (high)	altissimus	highest, very high
longus (long)	longissimus	longest
clarus (famous)	clarissimus	most famous
fortis (brave)	fortissimus	bravest

Examples:

• Mons altissimus est. = The mountain is the highest.
• Cicero clarissimus orator erat. = Cicero was a most famous speaker.
• Miles fortissimus laudatur. = The bravest soldier is praised.

A couple of adjectives whose stem ends in -r double the r instead: pulcher (beautiful) gives pulcherrimus (most beautiful), and facilis (easy) gives facillimus (easiest). These are worth memorizing as they come up.

For English speakers: the trap is choosing between "the ...est" and "very ...". English forces you to pick, and Latin leaves it open: altissimus can be "the highest" (a real comparison of several) or simply "very high" (strong praise with nothing compared). Let the context decide. Do not look for a separate "most" or "very": the whole meaning sits in the -issimus ending.