JLPT N5 · Adjectives and comparing · 29 of 60

The most: いちばん

～がいちばん ~ ga ichiban The most

いちばん (number one) before an adjective means "the most": 富士山がいちばん高いです, Mt Fuji is the highest. The adjective does not change.

Level: JLPT N5, beginner
Type: Adjectives and comparing
English links: superlatives, articles, in and of

What it means

いちばん means "number one". Put it before an adjective and it means "the most": いちばん高い (the highest), いちばん好き (like best). The adjective stays the same.

To name the group, use の中で (among) or で: クラスの中で (in the class), 日本で (in Japan). The winner takes が.

Questions use a question word + が: 何がいちばん好きですか (What do you like best?). A question word cannot take は, so が is the only choice here.

How to build it

Pattern	How it works
Group の中で + A がいちばん + adjective + です group no naka de + A ga ichiban + adjective + desu	A is the most ... in the group.
Group で + 何 / 誰 / どこ / いつがいちばん + adjective + ですか group de + nani / dare / doko / itsu ga ichiban + adjective + desu ka	Which one is the most ...?
いちばん + adjective + noun ichiban + adjective + noun	いちばん高い山 (the highest mountain).

Examples

クラスの中で田中さんがいちばん背が高いです。 kurasu no naka de tanaka-san ga ichiban se ga takai desu. Tanaka is the tallest in the class.
日本でいちばん高い山は富士山です。 nihon de ichiban takai yama wa fujisan desu. The highest mountain in Japan is Mt Fuji.
スポーツの中で何がいちばん好きですか。 supootsu no naka de nani ga ichiban suki desu ka. Which sport do you like best?
サッカーがいちばん好きです。 sakkaa ga ichiban suki desu. I like soccer best.
一年でいつがいちばん忙しいですか。 ichinen de itsu ga ichiban isogashii desu ka. When are you busiest in the year?

How English says it

English changes the adjective and adds "the": "the tallest", "the most difficult". Short adjectives take "-est"; long ones take "the most". Good and bad are irregular: the best, the worst.

The group follows with "in" for places and groups ("in Japan", "in the class") and "of" for a set of things ("of all the sports").

For likes, English says "like ... best" or "like ... the most".

Why it can make English hard

いちばん does the whole job in Japanese, so students often drop "the" or forget "-est".
で and の中で both become "in" or "of" in English. Choosing between them is a guess for many learners.
Students who learn "most" and "-est" together may double them: "the most highest".

Mistakes you will hear

Tanaka is tallest in class. Tanaka is the tallest in the class. No articles in Japanese, so both "the"s go missing.
Mt Fuji is the most high mountain in Japan. Mt Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan. Short adjectives take "-est", not "most".
Mt Fuji is the highest mountain of Japan. Mt Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan. Use "in" for a place.

In the classroom

Run a class survey: "What is the best season? Who is the tallest? What is the most popular game?" Students report the results in full sentences.
Teach the set together: big, bigger, the biggest. A three-column table on the board makes the pattern clear.
Ask students to rank three things, like school lunches or anime, and explain: "Curry is the best. Ramen is better than udon."

Practice

Try each one, then open it to check.

1. Fill the gap: 家族の中で父＿いちばん背が高いです。 (My father is the tallest in my family.)

Answer: が

The winner of the comparison takes が.
2. Translate: 何の科目がいちばん好きですか。

Answer: What subject do you like best?

"Like best" is the usual English for いちばん好き.
3. A student writes "Summer is most hot season." Fix it.

Answer: Summer is the hottest season.

"Hot" is short, so "-est". The superlative needs "the".
4. A student writes "Math is the most good subject." Fix it.

Answer: Math is the best subject.

"Good" is irregular: good, better, best.