This phrase let’s us say things like, “Out of all my school subjects, I like history the most”. This piece of grammar or sentence structure is practically guaranteed to come up on the JLPT N5 examination.
【Group】の
But first let’s just look at a few examples of 一番 on its own. It means “number one” but used with an adjective it turns it into a superlative.
| 一番 |
| The fastest/earliest. |
| 一番かしこい。 |
| The cleverest. |
| 一番 |
| The most expensive. |
Using the structure above we can come up with the following sentences.
| Out of my classmates, Yumiko is the cleverest. |
| Of all my school subjects I like mathematics the best. |
| The coldest winter in memory. |
Note that 中 is a kanji you will see often. It means “middle” and the reading on its own is なか.