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Key points about comparatives and superlatives in French

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  • To compare two nouns in French, use plus 鈥 que (more 鈥 than), moins 鈥 que (less 鈥 than) or aussi 鈥 que (as 鈥 as).

  • in sentences must agree with the first that is being compared.

  • To say 鈥榖etter than鈥, use meilleur que, and to say 鈥榳orse than鈥, use pire que.

  • Higher Tier - Superlatives are used to say that something is 'the most' or 'least' (+ adjective).

  • Higher Tier - Superlatives in French are le plus (the most) and le moins (the least) followed by an adjective, or le meilleur (the best) and le pire (the worst).

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Comparing nouns

To compare two nouns, use the comparatives plus 鈥 que (more 鈥 than), moins 鈥 que (less 鈥 than) or aussi 鈥 que (as 鈥 as), like in the image below.

plus (more) + adjective + que (than)

For example:

  • Mon chat est plus grand que ton chien. 鈥 My cat is bigger than your dog.

  • Le v茅lo est moins rapide que la voiture. 鈥 The bike is less fast than the car.

  • Les maisons sont aussi belles que les appartements. 鈥 The houses are as beautiful as the apartments.

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Remember

Adjectives need to agree with the first noun that is being compared. For example:

Ma s艙ur est plus intelligente que moi. 鈥 My sister is more intelligent than me.

厂舱耻谤 (sister) is feminine and singular, so intelligente needs an e at the end.

Irregular comparatives

鈥楤etter鈥 and 鈥榳orse鈥 are irregular comparatives:

bon (good) 鈫 meilleur (better)

mauvais (bad) 鈫 pire (worse)

For example:

Mes notes sont meilleures que l鈥檃nn茅e derni猫re. 鈥 My grades are better than last year.

Le temps 茅tait pire qu鈥檈n Alg茅rie. 鈥 The weather was worse than in Algeria.

Using comparatives - Mini quiz

Icon representing a multiple-choice question with answers A, B and C

Translate this sentence into French:

Books are as interesting as TV.

Translate this sentence into French:

Vegetables are better for your health than hamburgers.

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Quiz - Comparing nouns in French

Practise what you've learned about comparing nouns in French with this quiz.

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Higher Tier - Superlatives

Use superlatives to say something is 'the most 鈥' or 'the least 鈥' eg interesting, the biggest/smallest or the best/worst.

Use the definite article, (le/la/les) then plus or moins.

The adjective must still agree with the noun.

For example, the superlatives of 颈苍迟茅谤别蝉蝉补苍迟 are:

Masculine singularFeminine singularMasculine pluralFeminine plural
le plus 颈苍迟茅谤别蝉蝉补苍迟la plus 颈苍迟茅谤别蝉蝉补苍迟eles plus 颈苍迟茅谤别蝉蝉补苍迟sles plus 颈苍迟茅谤别蝉蝉补苍迟es
le moins 颈苍迟茅谤别蝉蝉补苍迟la moins 颈苍迟茅谤别蝉蝉补苍迟eles moins 颈苍迟茅谤别蝉蝉补苍迟sles moins 颈苍迟茅谤别蝉蝉补苍迟es

Irregular superlatives

鈥楤est鈥 and 鈥榳orst鈥 are irregular superlatives in French.

Masculine singularFeminine singularMasculine pluralFeminine plural
bestle meilleurla meilleureles meilleursles meilleures
worstle pirela pireles piresles pires

For example:

Elle est la meilleure joueuse de foot dans notre coll猫ge. 鈥 She鈥檚 the best football player in our school.

C鈥櫭﹖ait le pire moment de l鈥檃nn茅e. 鈥 It was the worst time of the year.

Ce sont les meilleures amies au monde. 鈥 They are the best friends (female) in the world.

Using superlatives - Mini quiz

Icon representing a multiple-choice question with answers A, B and C

Translate this sentence into English:

Il est le gar莽on le plus intelligent de la classe.

Translate this sentence into English:

C鈥檈st la meilleure ville au monde.

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Higher Tier - Quiz - Using superlatives in French

Practise what you've learned about using superlatives in French with this quiz for Higher Tier.

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Now you鈥檝e learned about comparatives and superlatives, why not explore indefinite and negative adjectives in French?

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