Language/French/Grammar/Comparatives-and-Superlatives

Hi French learners!

In this page, we will learn how to use the comparative and superlative adjectives in French.

This type of adjective is used to express a degree of comparison between several subjects regarding a common adjective.

Comparatives

equality

aussi petit que ...

as small as ...

superiority

plus petit que...

smaller than ...

inferiority

moins petit que...

less small than ...

Superlatives

• le plus petit / la plus petite

the smallest

• le moins petit / la moins petite

the less small

Exceptions

We will see below 2 adjectives that behave differently respect to the rule we just saw:

Adjective	Comparative of superiority	Superlative
Good – Bon/ne	Meilleur – Meilleur/e	The Best  – le/la meilleur/e
Bad – Mauvais/e	Worse – Pire	The Worst – le/la pire

Examples of comparatives and superlatives

Finally a few examples:

Example	Meaning
Il est plus grand que toi	He is taller than you
Ma voiture est la plus rapide	My car is the fastest
Tu es moins gros que lui	You're less fat than him
Elle est la plus belle du monde	She is the most beautiful in the world
Nous sommes meilleurs qu’eux	We are better than them
Ils sont pires que vous	They are worse than you
Elle est la pire	She is the worst
Tu es le meilleur de la ville	You are the best in town

Related Lessons

• Reciprocal se and cases of potential ambiguity
• How to use Be
• Changes in the stem form of some —er conjugation verbs
• on as an alternative to the English passive
• Ambiguity of reference of lui and leur
• Subject verb agreement
• The plural of compound nouns
• Subject verb agreement when subject quantifiers are present
• Plurals of nouns ending in eu, au, eau
• Conjugation group 3