Comparatives and Superlatives

In English we have two ways to compare: we add -er (tall → taller) or we put more in front (more expensive). French has only one way, and it is wonderfully regular. You sandwich the plain adjective between two little words:

• plus … que = more … than (superiority)
• moins … que = less … than (inferiority)
• aussi … que = as … as (equality)

There is never an '-er' ending in French. You do not change the adjective itself to make it "bigger" — you simply add plus in front. Saying grander or plus grander is wrong; the correct form is plus grand (more tall = taller).

French	Word-for-word	Natural English
Marie est plus grande que Paul.	Marie is more tall than Paul	Marie is taller than Paul.
Le train est moins cher que l'avion.	The train is less expensive than the plane	The train is less expensive than the plane.
Mon frère est aussi sportif que moi.	My brother is as sporty as me	My brother is as sporty as me.
Cette ville est plus belle que Londres.	This town is more beautiful than London	This town is more beautiful than London.

The 'than' word is always que (which becomes qu' before a vowel): *plus grand **qu'*Anne (taller than Anne). Don't reach for de here — que is the comparison word.

Worked mini-example. You want to say "The cat is smaller than the dog." Start with the adjective petit (small). The subject is le chat (the cat), which is masculine singular, so the adjective stays petit. Wrap it: Le chat est plus petit que le chien. (pronounced luh sha eh plü puh-TEE kuh luh shyan). Done — no ending changes, just plus … que.

The little words plus, moins, aussi and que never change. But the adjective in the middle behaves like any French adjective: it must agree in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) with the noun it describes.

Take grand (big/tall). Its four forms are:

Form	Spelling	Used with
Masculine singular	grand	a masculine, singular noun
Feminine singular	grande	a feminine, singular noun
Masculine plural	grands	a masculine, plural noun
Feminine plural	grandes	a feminine, plural noun

Now watch the agreement happen inside the comparative:

French	English	Why this form
Paul est plus grand que Marie.	Paul is taller than Marie.	grand — Paul is masculine singular
Marie est plus grande que Paul.	Marie is taller than Paul.	grande — Marie is feminine singular
Les garçons sont plus grands que les filles.	The boys are taller than the girls.	grands — masculine plural
Les filles sont plus grandes que les garçons.	The girls are taller than the boys.	grandes — feminine plural

The agreement follows the FIRST noun (the subject) — the one being described — not the thing it is compared to. In Marie est plus grande que Paul, the adjective agrees with Marie (feminine), even though Paul is masculine.

Worked mini-example. "The girls are less tired than the boys." Adjective: fatigué (tired). The subject les filles is feminine plural, so the adjective becomes fatiguées. Wrap it: Les filles sont moins fatiguées que les garçons. The ending -ées shows feminine plural agreement with les filles.

The superlative is how we say the biggest, the most expensive, the least interesting — picking out the top or bottom of a group. In French it is beautifully simple: take the comparative and add the definite article (le, la, les) in front.

• le / la / les plus + adjective = the most … (the …-est)
• le / la / les moins + adjective = the least …

The article still agrees with the noun, exactly like the adjective does:

French	English
C'est le plus grand garçon.	He is the tallest boy.
C'est la plus grande ville.	It is the biggest town.
Ce sont les plus grands bâtiments.	They are the tallest buildings.
C'est le moins cher des hôtels.	It is the least expensive of the hotels.

Position — this is the part beginners must learn carefully. Most short French adjectives that come after the noun keep that position in the superlative, and you then repeat the article:

• un livre intéressant (an interesting book) → le livre le plus intéressant (the most interesting book). Notice le … le plus — the article appears twice.
• une voiture rapide (a fast car) → la voiture la plus rapide (the fastest car).

Adjectives that naturally come before the noun (like grand, petit, bon, jeune, beau) put the superlative before the noun and use the article once:

• le plus grand garçon (the tallest boy) — article once, before.
• la plus petite maison (the smallest house).

To say "the …-est in/of a group", French uses de (not dans): le plus grand bâtiment de la ville — the tallest building in the town.

Worked mini-example. "It is the most beautiful town in France." Beau/belle (beautiful) comes before the noun and is irregular: feminine belle. Ville (town) is feminine. So: C'est la plus belle ville de France. Note de France for "in France", and belle agreeing with the feminine ville.

Just like English has the irregular good → better → best (not gooder), French has irregulars too. For 0520 you must know two.

1. bon (good) → meilleur (better) → le meilleur (the best). Bon is an adjective (it describes a noun). You never say plus bon. The comparative is meilleur, and because it is an adjective it agrees:

Form	Comparative (better)	Superlative (the best)
Masculine singular	meilleur	le meilleur
Feminine singular	meilleure	la meilleure
Masculine plural	meilleurs	les meilleurs
Feminine plural	meilleures	les meilleures

• Ce livre est meilleur que l'autre. — This book is better than the other.
• Cette pizza est meilleure que la pizza d'hier. — This pizza is better than yesterday's.
• C'est le meilleur restaurant de la ville. — It's the best restaurant in town.

2. bien (well) → mieux (better) → le mieux (the best). Bien is an adverb (it describes a verb/action — how something is done). Its comparative is mieux, and like all adverbs it never changes:

• Elle chante mieux que moi. — She sings better than me.
• Il joue mieux au foot maintenant. — He plays football better now.
• C'est elle qui danse le mieux. — She is the one who dances the best.

How to choose: if 'better' is describing a noun (a better book, a better team), use meilleur. If it's describing a verb/action (sings better, works better), use mieux. English uses the same word "better" for both, which is exactly why this is tested so often.

(For completeness: mauvais (bad) → pire or plus mauvais — both are accepted at this level. Mal (badly) → plus mal / pis. You mainly need meilleur and mieux securely.)

Worked mini-example. "My sister cooks better, and she makes a better cake." First clause describes the action cook → adverb → mieux: Ma sœur cuisine mieux. Second clause describes the noun cake (gâteau, masculine) → adjective → meilleur: …et elle fait un meilleur gâteau. Full sentence: Ma sœur cuisine mieux, et elle fait un meilleur gâteau.

So far we have compared qualities (taller, more beautiful). You also need to compare quantities (more books, less money) and actions (runs faster, works harder). The frame barely changes.

Comparing quantities of a noun — use de. To say more / less / as much of a noun, use:

• plus de + noun = more …
• moins de + noun = less / fewer …
• autant de + noun = as much / as many …

French	English
J'ai plus de livres que toi.	I have more books than you.
Il y a moins de voitures en ville.	There are fewer cars in town.
Elle a **autant d'**argent que moi.	She has as much money as me.

Notice the de (which becomes d' before a vowel, as in autant d'argent). Don't use que directly after plus/moins when a noun follows — you need plus de livres, not plus livres.

Comparing actions — adverbs. With a verb, compare the adverb using the same plus / moins / aussi … que:

French	English
Il court plus vite que moi.	He runs faster than me.
Tu travailles moins que ton frère.	You work less than your brother.
Elle parle aussi lentement que le prof.	She speaks as slowly as the teacher.

Adverbs never agree, so there is no ending to worry about: plus vite stays plus vite whoever is running. The superlative of an adverb uses le (always le, never la/les, because adverbs have no gender): C'est lui qui court le plus vite. — He's the one who runs the fastest.

Remember the two irregular adverbs from the last section live here too: bien → mieux (well → better) and the everyday beaucoup → plus (much → more), peu → moins (little → less).

Worked mini-example. "I read more books but I read more slowly than you." Quantity of a noun → plus de livres. Action → adverb lentement (slowly) → plus lentement. Result: Je lis plus de livres, mais je lis plus lentement que toi. Note plus de before the noun livres, and plus before the adverb lentement.