superlative + prepositional phrase ‘the most natural thing in the world’

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

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