Read about how to make the superlative here.
We use a superlative to say that a thing or person is the most of a group. When we use a superlative adjective ('the tallest student') before the noun, we generally use it with 'the'. This is because there's only one (or one group) of the thing we are talking about. There is one student who is the tallest in the class, and because it's clear to the listener which one we mean, we usually use 'the':
- She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen.
- It's the best café in London.
- John and Lisa are the most intelligent students here.
- This bowl is the biggest one.
- He's my best student.
- That's our most important goal.
- She is (the) most beautiful.
- This café is (the) best.
- John and Lisa are (the) most intelligent.
- This bowl is (the) biggest.
He is fastest swimmer.
With superlative adverbs, we can also choose to use 'the' or 'no article'.
- Luke reads (the) fastest.
- I like vanilla ice cream (the) best.
- She can speak six languages, but she speaks Spanish (the) most confidently.
- I'm most productive early in the morning [I'm more productive in the morning than I am in the afternoon or the evening].
- I'm the most productive early in the morning [I'm more productive than the other people in my office first thing in the morning].
- Julie does swimming, running and cycling. She's always most tired after cycling.
- John types most quickly when he's drunk a lot of coffee!
- Tea is˜ best when you drink it very hot.
- London is most depressing in January.
(This is an extract from my book: A and The Explained)