"She is the worst student."

Translation: Lei è la studentessa peggiore.

[benczurp]

She is the worst student -- studentessa peggiore. But how you differentiate between "she is the worst female student" from "she is the worst overall"?
Surely you can use different solutions -- but within this framework?

[HaroldWonh]

And why not "la piu peggiore"? Isn't it possible to distinguish between "worse" and "worst"?

[cptwunderlich]

Because "peggiore" is the irregular comparative of "cattivo/a" - "bad". The regular comparative is "cattivo, più cattivo, il più cattivo and cattivissimo". Some adjectives have also an irregular form, like here, which is "cattivo - peggiore - pessimo"
See: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grado_di_comparazione#Comparativi_e_superlativi_particolari

What I don't understand is, is it "la peggior studentessa/la studentessa peggiore" and therefore "la peggiore", a "Superlativo relativo"? Why not "pessimo"/"pessima"?

[Maisie07]

I agree, the sentence asks you which is the worst, not the worse. So why is piu peggiore wrong?

[IsolaCiao]

Peggiore means worse and worst, depending on how it's used in a sentence. When we use the definite article, "la studentessa peggiore", it means the worst student.

[Maisie07]

Thanks for clarifying that :)

[ion1122]

I believe that the Duo Italian sentence here means that she is the worst of the female students, NOT that she is the worst of all the students, both male and female.

I'm not sure, but to say she is the worst of all the students, perhaps:
Lei è la peggiore degli studenti

[InezPdL]

Was wondering the same thing. Reporting....

[h0w412d]

Why "peggior" instead of "peggiore"?

[ZoranMilokanovic]

I've got the same question. When does peggioRE contract to peggioR? Many thanks.

[AaronDandr]

In this case the most correct sentence is "Lei è la studente/studentessa peggiore", the duo's sentence is the worst sentence possible and in part is wrong because in italy we don't use "lo" for a female subject

[ion1122]

I believe that the Duo Italian sentence here means that she is the worst of the female students, NOT that she is the worst of all the students, both male and female.

I'm not sure, but to say she is the worst of all the students, perhaps:
Lei è la peggiore degli studenti