Ways to say it
| German | Note |
|---|---|
| -ster | masculine |
| -ste | feminine |
| am …-sten | adverb |
In German, the way you express "most" depends on the grammatical role. You use the various superlative suffixes to indicate that something is at the highest degree of a quality. If you want to say "the most" as an adverb, you use a specific construction. If you want to say "most" in the sense of "the majority of", you use a different phrase entirely.
Which one should you use?
There is a clear distinction between superlative adjectives and the determiner for a majority. The forms -ster and -ste are used as superlative adjective endings. In contrast, die meisten is used to mean "the majority of" or "most of" when referring to a plural noun.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
To use "most" as an adverb, German employs the construction am …-sten, where the adjective is placed between am and the suffix -sten. The adjective forms -ster and -ste are used for masculine and feminine superlative adjective endings respectively.
Did you know?
- The adverbial superlative am …-sten is actually a contraction of an dem, meaning 'at the'. Literally, instead of saying something is 'fastest', Germans say it is 'at the fastest'.
- In German, some adjectives have a 'suppletive' superlative, meaning the word changes entirely. For example, gut (good) becomes am besten (the best) rather than adding a suffix.
- German possesses a unique distinction between meist (quantity) and meistens (frequency). Using the wrong one can change a sentence from meaning 'the majority of' to meaning 'usually'.
Examples in context
- Hauptsächlich leben die Menschen in den Städten.Mostly, people live in cities.
- Die meisten Leute mögen Schokolade.Most people like chocolate.
- Fast alle Kinder spielen gerne im Park.Almost all children enjoy playing at the park.
- Die meisten von ihnen haben das Buch schon gelesen.Most of them have already read the book.
- Die meisten Menschen sind nett.Most people are nice.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “most” translations and entries -ste, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
