leg-

In Hungarian, the superlative degree ('the best', 'the fastest') is formed by taking the comparative form of a word and adding the prefix leg- to the front.

1. The Formula:
Adjective: gyors (fast)
Comparative: gyorsabb (faster)
Superlative: leggyorsabb (fastest)

2. Key Rules:

• Prefix Stability: The prefix leg- never changes. It does not follow vowel harmony.
• Linking Vowels: If the adjective ends in a consonant, a linking vowel (usually -a- or -e-) is added before the -bb suffix (e.g., magas → legmagasabb). An important exception is the irregular adjective nagy (big), which takes an -o- linking vowel (legnagyobb).
• Vowel Lengthening: If the adjective ends in -a or -e, these vowels must lengthen to -á or -é before the comparative suffix is added (e.g., ritka → legritkább). This follows the rule of stem-final vowel lengthening.
• Other Vowels: If the adjective ends in -i, -ó, -ő, -u, -ú, -ü, or -ű, the -bb suffix is usually added directly without any linking vowel or stem changes (e.g., olcsó → legolcsóbb, szomorú → legszomorúbb). However, there are important exceptions like hosszú (long), könnyű (easy/light), and lassú (slow), which drop their final vowel and take a linking vowel (leghosszabb, legkönnyebb, leglassabb).
• Vowel Shortening & Dropping: Some adjectives undergo stem changes before the comparative suffix. For example, vowel-shortening stems shorten their long vowel (e.g., nehéz → legnehezebb), and vowel-dropping stems lose their last internal vowel (e.g., bátor → legbátrabb).
• Irregular Stems & Exceptions: The superlative is usually built on the comparative stem. If an adjective has an irregular comparative, the superlative follows it. Common irregulars include: jó → jobb → legjobb (good/better/best), sok → több → legtöbb (many/more/most), kicsi → kisebb → legkisebb (small/smaller/smallest), and szép → szebb → legszebb (beautiful/more beautiful/most beautiful). However, directional, locational, and temporal adjectives (like alsó - lower, első - first) add the leg- prefix directly to the base word without the -bb suffix (e.g., legalsó, legelső).
• Mandatory Article: When using a superlative adjective to describe a noun, you must almost always include the definite article a or az.
• Contextual Usage: To express 'the best among' or 'the best of', use the postposition között or közül (e.g., A fiúk közül a legmagasabb - The tallest among the boys). To express 'the best in', use standard case suffixes (e.g., A leggyorsabb a világon - The fastest in the world).
• Suffix Order: Superlatives can take plural and case suffixes. These are always added after the comparative suffix (e.g., a legnagyobbak - the biggest ones, a legnagyobban - in the biggest one). Note: In legnagyobban, the spelling simplifies from legnagyobb + ban because Hungarian orthography rules state that three identical consonants simplify to two.
• Adverbs: This pattern also works for adverb formation. For example: gyorsan (quickly) → gyorsabban (more quickly) → leggyorsabban (most quickly). Note that to express 'the most' when modifying a verb, Hungarian uses legjobban (literally 'the best'), e.g., Ezt szeretem a legjobban (I like this the most).

3. Emphatic Form:
If you want to say 'the very most,' you can use the double prefix legesleg- (e.g., legeslegjobb - the very best).