adverbial N3 common politewritten
最も — most (the superlative)
最も ・ もっとも
Meaning
- most / the most ~ — the superlative degree, formal and writing-leaning
Key sentence
富士山は日本で最も高い山だ。
Mt. Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan.
Usage
Formal/written superlative, placed before the adjective it raises. In everyday speech 一番 is the natural choice.
Examples
これが最も重要な点です。
This is the most important point.
一年で最も寒い時期だ。
It's the coldest time of the year.
Easily confused with
Notes
- Homograph caution: 最も 'most' is unrelated to もっとも (尤も) meaning 'reasonable / quite right,' or the conjunction もっとも 'although, that said.'
See 最も in real sentences
Jengo shows 最も the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar.