Learn English – Definite article with the superlative degree of adverbs

adverbsdefinite-articlesdegree-of-comparison

Our rotary telephone is the least frequently used device in our house.

Ben moved most quietly as the boys walked down the darkened ally.

In the first sentence a superlative adverb is used with the (the least frequently), but in the second sentence it is used without (most quietly).
Can anyone explain the difference between the two?

Best Answer

Our rotary telephone is the least frequently used device in our house. 
Our rotary telephone is the device that is least frequently used in our house. 

In the first sentence, it is not the superlative adverb that is used with the definitive article "the".  In both versions of this sentence above, the article is a dependent of a noun.  In the original, the participial phrase "least frequently used" is another dependent of the same noun.  Moving the participial phrase into its own clause demonstrates that the article remains tied to the word "device". 

A participial phrase like this, including the superlative adverb construction, can be found standing without a visible noun to modify.  These can be understood as elliptical constructions: 

Of all the devices in our house, the rotary phone is the least frequently used [device].

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