ترین

Choosing from a Group

Level 3

بزرگ‌ترین خانه means the biggest house. A basic attributive superlative comes before its noun, unlike an ordinary adjective joined after it.

How It Works

Change adjective placement. Compare خانهٔ بزرگ, “a big house,” with بزرگ‌ترین خانه, “the biggest house.” The ordinary adjective follows the noun; this basic superlative precedes it.

To name the group, بزرگ‌ترین خانهٔ این شهر means “the biggest house in this city.” The noun خانه carries its own link to the group phrase. Do not put an ezafe between بزرگ‌ترین and خانه in this ordinary attributive construction.

خوب has common superlative بهترین. Learn that form directly, as in بهترین دوستِ من, “my best friend.” The adjective does not change for grammatical gender.

Superlatives can also appear in other constructions, including phrases referring to “the best ones” or a partitive group. This entry teaches the basic superlative-before-noun phrase, rather than claiming every ـترین form must always have the same words after it.

A superlative compares within a contextually understood group. It is not evidence that something has the highest quality in every possible setting.

Examples (4)

  1. بزرگ‌ترین خانه

    the biggest house

    The superlative precedes its noun without an intervening ezafe.

  2. بزرگ‌ترین خانهٔ این شهر

    the biggest house in this city

    خانه links to the specified group through ezafe.

  3. سارا بهترین دوستِ من است.

    Sara is my best friend.

    بهترین is the common superlative of خوب.

  4. این کوتاه‌ترین راه است.

    This is the shortest route.

    The route is highest in the relevant comparative degree: shortest.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

ترینLevel 3Choosing from a Group

Learn This First

Put a basic attributive ـترین form before its noun, and use the noun’s ezafe for a following owner or comparison group.