Practice Makes Perfect

Comparatives and superlatives

Comparison of adjectives and adverbs

In French, comparisons of adjectives and adverbs can take three forms, plus... que (more . . . 

than), moins... que (less . . . than), aussi... que (as . . . as). For example:

Ce modèle est plus récent que le mien. 

This model is more recent than mine.

New York est plus grand que San Francisco.  New York is bigger than San Francisco.

Marc est moins riche que Paul. 

Mark is less rich than Paul.

Luc est aussi célèbre que Bertrand. 

Luc is as famous as Bertrand.

Comparison of nouns

To compare quantities, use the following expressions. Note the use of de (d’) with expressions of 

quantity:

Elle a plus de temps que Valérie. 

She has more time than Valérie.

Il a moins de chance que toi. 

He is less lucky than you are.

Elle a autant de jouets que toi. 

She has as many toys as you do.

Irregular comparatives

Some comparatives have irregular forms.

Ce livre est bon. 

This book is good.

Ce livre-ci est meilleur que ce livre-là. 

This book is better than that book.

Il se porte bien. 

He’s feeling well.

Il se porte mieux qu’avant. 

He is feeling better than before.

La situation économique est mauvaise. 

The economic situation is bad.

La situation économique est pire qu’avant. 

The economic situation is worse than before.

Cela n’a pas le moindre intérêt. 

That does not have the slightest interest.

Superlatives

To express the ideas of the most, the least, the best, the worst, etc., one uses the superlative. To form 

the superlative in French, simply precede the comparative form by the definite article. Note that 

before naming a group or entity, the superlative is followed by de 1 the definite article. 

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5/29/18   9:29 AM

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 Adjectives