superlative + prepositional phrase ‘the most natural thing in the world’ – English Grammar Profiler
In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 37 in the category of ADJECTIVES is defined as:
an increasing range of complex noun phrases with a superlative adjective + prepositional phrase, to talk about something unique.
*In both EGP examples the prepositional phrase that follows is either:
- of_IO my_APPGE life_NN1
- in_II our_APPGE lives_NN2
A search in COCA for:
_A _RGT _JJ _N _I _A _N
1 THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WORLD 152 2 THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN IN THE WORLD 141
3 THE MOST NATURAL THING IN THE WORLD 137
I thought it was the most natural thing in the world.
listen
She acts as if being here is the most natural thing in the world.
Heaven Sent
4 THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN MY LIFE 108 5 THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY 106
6 THE MOST POWERFUL MAN IN THE WORLD 97
7 THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR 76 8 THE MOST POWERFUL COUNTRY IN THE WORLD 73 9 THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE WORLD 55 10 THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN THE WORLD 51 11 THE MOST IMPORTANT JOB IN THE WORLD 42
12 THE MOST RELIABLE NEWS ABOUT YOUR SECURITY 42
13 THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMEN IN THE WORLD 40 14 THE MOST POWERFUL NATION IN THE WORLD 40 15 THE MOST POWERFUL PERSON IN THE WORLD 35 16 THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING IN THE WORLD 34 17 THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN MY LIFE 33 18 THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN YOUR LIFE 33 19 THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE WORLD 32
20 THE MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE IN THE WORLD 29
A search on iWeb for:
_AT _RGT _JJ _N _I
1 THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF 16690
2 THE MOST COMMON TYPE OF 11789
Oil is the most common type of energy that humans use during their life.
PELIC STUDENT EXAMPLE: Arabic, Male, level 4, writing class
*OF phrases are not really THE prepositional phrases we are looking for, but a prepositional phrase may follow an OF phrase AS SEEN ABOVE.
*This B1 grammar gets hidden by the B2 grammar.
3 THE MOST COMMON CAUSE OF 10757 4 THE MOST COMMON FORM OF 8221 5 THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF 6741 6 THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF 6586 7 THE MOST COMMON TYPES OF 5963 8 THE MOST COMMON CAUSES OF 5875
9 THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTS OF 4961
10 THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN 4605
11 THE MOST IMPORTANT THING FOR 3982
12 THE MOST RECENT VERSION OF 3847
13 THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR IN 3601
14 THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF 3497
15 THE MOST COMMON REASON FOR 2899 16 THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT 2485 17 THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF 2483 18 THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECE OF 2459 19 THE MOST COMMON SYMPTOMS OF 2423 20 THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF 2423 21 THE MOST COMMON REASONS FOR 2216 22 THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY OF 2119 23 THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO 2039 24 THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS IN 2015 25 THE MOST COMMON FORMS OF 1969 26 THE MOST CURRENT VERSION OF 1882 27 THE MOST INTERESTING PART OF 1843 28 THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF 1710 29 THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN 1684
30 THE MOST CHALLENGING PART OF 1632
31 THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN 1598 32 THE MOST POPULAR TYPE OF 1556 33 THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF 1534 34 THE MOST EXCITING PART OF 1495 35 THE MOST POPULAR TYPES OF 1482
36 THE MOST EFFICIENT USE OF 1422
37 THE MOST LIKELY CAUSE OF 1419
38 THE MOST COMMON METHOD OF 1417 39 THE MOST EFFECTIVE MEANS OF 1354 40 THE MOST IMPORTANT FEATURES OF 1322 41 THE MOST IMPORTANT PEOPLE IN 1315 42 THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECES OF 1315 43 THE MOST COMMON USE OF 1241 44 THE MOST POPULAR FORM OF 1212 45 THE MOST IMPORTANT FEATURE OF 1205 46 THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAYS OF 1194 47 THE MOST INTERESTING THING ABOUT 1189 48 THE MOST REWARDING PART OF 1178 49 THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACES IN 1165
50 THE MOST POWERFUL MAN IN 1154
B1 words:
natural, powerful, reliable, security
challenging, common, efficient, likely, method, recent