relative superlatives in italian - "the most"

OK ragazzi, we've been looking at comparisons in Italian and so far we've learned how to say Frank is smarter than Sam and Sam is as smart as Vince. But how do we say Tony is the smartest kid in school? For this we use the so called relative superlative.

In English we form the relative superlative of an adjective either by placing "the most" or "the least" in front of it, or by attaching "-est" to it if it's an adjective with one syllable. "It's the most wonderful time of the year," or "It's the hottest show on Broadway."

In Italian you use the defininte article (il, la, etc.) + piu' or meno. The tricky part is where to position them. The thing to remember is that the piu' or meno always go right before the term you're describing as the most (or least). Think of them as inseparable teenie boppers in extreme puppy love. Only the "il" (or whatever article is needed - la, i, le, etc.) can change position. It can go either before the noun as usual or before the piu' or meno, whichever you prefer. Here's what I mean.

E' la ragazza piu' bella del mondo.

E' la piu' bella ragazza del mondo.

Now, whereas we usually qualify our relative superlatives in English with "in" (in the world, in school, etc.), Italian usually uses "di" (which of course contracts with articles) - del mondo, della scuola, di Toronto, etc.

And that's the long and the short of it. Wasn't that la piu' facile lesson ever!