Page 151 - Practical English Usage 3ed - Michael Swan, Oxford

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the youngest person to ...
After a superlative, an infinitive can mean the same as a relative clause. Sl1e's the youngest person ever to swim the Channel. (= ••• the youngest
person who has ever swum ...)
This structure is also common after first, last and next.
Who was the first woman to climb Everest?
The next to speak was Mrs Fenshaw.
Note that this structure is only possible in cases where the noun with the superlative (or first etc) has a subject relationship with the following verb. In other cases, infinitives cannot be used.
Is this the first time that you have stayed here? (NOT . • • theft,-s, time }'tJt' }'61t £6 stay here: time is not the subject of stay.)
the with superlatives
Nouns with superlative adjectives normally have the article the. It's the best book I've ever read.
After link verbs, superlative adjectives also usually have tile, though it is sometimes dropped in an informal style.
I'm the greatest. Which of the boys is (the) strongest?
This dictionary is (the) best.
The cannot be dropped when a superlative is used with a defining expression. Tl1is dictionary is the best 1 could find. (NOT This tiietimtttyY is best.' e6ltlti
jimJ.)
However, we do not use the with superlatives when we compare the same person or thing in different situations. Compare:
- Ofall myfriends, he's (the) nicest. (comparing different people)
He's nicest when he's with children. (NOT He's the nicest tttheir ...: we're comparing the same person in different situations.)
- She works (the) hardest in the family; her husband doesn't know what work is. (A woman is being compared with a man - the is possible.)
She works hardest when she's doing something for her family.
(NOT 8.'te WtJt'ks the hardest fIth'ten •..: - a woman's work is being compared in different situations.)
The is sometimes dropped before superlative adverbs in an informal style. Who can run (the) fastest?
For tenses after thall, see 580.
continual(ly) and continuous(ly)
Continual(ly) is generally used for things that happen repeatedly, often annoyingly.
I can't work with these continual interruptions.
She's continually taking days off.
Continuous(ly) is used for things that continue without stopping.
There has been continuous fighting on the border for the last 48 hours. I've been working almost continuously since yesterday evening.
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