Comparatives and superlatives
Comparatives
Adjectives and adverbs can be used to compare things or people with each other, eg John is taller than Peter → Peter is smaller than Henri → Henri is as tall as Sarah.
The comparative is used when expressing terms such as: more... (than), less... (than) or as… (as).
The words in French are:
- plus… (que) → more... (than)
- moins… (que) → less... (than)
- aussi… (que) → as... (as)
An adjective or adverb needs to come after plus, moins or aussi:
- Yohan est plus grand que Pierre - Yohan is taller than Pierre
- Pierre est moins grand que Yohan - Pierre is less tall (shorter) than Yohan
- Bruno est aussi grand que Damien - Bruno is as tall as Damien
Irregular adjectives in the comparative form
There is also a specific adjective for better and worse:
| Adjective | Masc. sing. | Fem. sing. | Masc. plur. | Fem. plur. | English |
| bon | meilleur | meilleure | meilleurs | meilleures | better |
| mauvais | pire | pire | pires | pires | worse |
| Adjective | bon |
|---|---|
| Masc. sing. | meilleur |
| Fem. sing. | meilleure |
| Masc. plur. | meilleurs |
| Fem. plur. | meilleures |
| English | better |
| Adjective | mauvais |
|---|---|
| Masc. sing. | pire |
| Fem. sing. | pire |
| Masc. plur. | pires |
| Fem. plur. | pires |
| English | worse |
Here are a few examples:
- cette tarte est meilleure que l’autre - this pie is better than the other one
- ce café est mauvais, mais l’autre est encore pire ! - this coffee is awful, but the other one is even worse!
To make a negative comparison use aussi - meaning as, for example:
- il est plus rapide que Simon, mais il n’est pas aussi rapide que Mathieu - he is faster than Simon, but he’s not as fast as Mathieu
