A Guide to French Comparatives and Superlatives
Learning how to compare people, places, ideas, or actions is essential in any language, and French is no exception. Whether you want to say “Paris is more expensive than Rouen” or “This is the best idea”, French comparatives and superlatives give you the tools to express comparisons clearly and accurately.
What Are Comparatives and Superlatives?
Comparatives compare two elements. Example: This road is longer than that one. → Cette route est plus longue que celle-là.
Superlatives express the highest or lowest degree within a group. Example: He is the fastest runner on the team. → Il est le coureur le plus rapide de l’équipe. French uses specific structures to express these ideas.
French Comparatives
There are three types of comparative:
- superiority (more … than)
- inferiority (less … than)
- equality (as … as)
The basic structure is: plus / moins / aussi + adjective + que
Remember the adjective must agree with the noun it describes.
Superiority — more … than
Structure: plus … que
Example: Cette maison est plus lumineuse que la nôtre. → This house is brighter than ours.
Inferiority — less … than
Structure: moins … que
Example: Mon sac est moins lourd que le tien. → My bag is less heavy than yours.
Equality — as … as
a) With adjectives: aussi … que
Example: Paul est aussi créatif que son frère. → Paul is as creative as his brother.
b) With verbs or quantities: autant … que
Example: Je voyage autant que mes amis. → I travel as much as my friends.
French Superlatives
Superlatives are used to show the highest or lowest degree of a quality, indicating that something is the most or least within a group. Superlative adverbs also express this idea of absolute superiority or inferiority. In French, le plus is used to show superiority, the equivalent of “the most” or “-est.” To express inferiority, meaning “the least,” French uses le moins.
👉Important Notes:
- Unlike comparatives, French superlatives always require a definite article.
Example: Il est le plus grand → He is the tallest. - Superlatives are most commonly used with adjectives, but they can also modify adverbs, verbs, and nouns. The structure changes slightly depending on the part of speech being compared, which is summarized in the chart below.
Structures:
- Superiority: le / la / les plus … → the most
- Inferiority: le / la / les moins … → the least
There are four categories of superlatives:
- With Adjectives
Two possible structures: le / la / les + plus/moins + adjective + noun
C’est la plage la plus propre de la région. → It is the cleanest beach in the region.
le / la / les + noun + le / la / les + plus/moins + adjective
C’est le restaurant le plus accueillant du quartier. → It is the most welcoming restaurant in the neighbourhood.
- With Adverbs
Structure: le / la / les + plus/moins + adverb
Example: Elle court le plus rapidement. → She runs the fastest.
- With Nouns
Structure: le / la / les + plus/moins + de + noun
Example: Notre équipe a le plus de victoires cette année. → Our team has the most victories this year.
- With Verbs
Structure: verb + le / la / les + plus/moins
Example: Il étudie le plus. → He studies the most.
French Superlative Constructions
| Superlatives with… | Required Word Order | Example |
| Adjectives | le / la / les + plus/moins + adjective + noun | C’est le livre le plus intéressant du monde. |
| le / la / les + noun + le / la / les + plus/moins + adjective | Nous avons acheté la voiture la moins chère. | |
| Adverbs | le / la / les + plus/moins + adverb | Il comprend nos idées le mieux. |
| Nouns | le / la / les + plus/moins + de + noun | Elle a le plus de talent. |
| Verbs | verb + le / la / les + plus/moins | Il travaille le plus. |
Irregular Comparative & Superlative Forms
While many French comparatives and superlatives follow regular patterns using plus, moins, and aussi, some commonly used words do not fit these rules. Instead, they have irregular forms that must be learned separately. These irregular forms often appear in everyday language, especially with words like bon (good), bien (well), and mauvais (bad).
Bon (good) in Comparatives and Superlatives: The French adjective bon behaves irregularly when used in comparative and superlative forms, much like the English word “good.” Just as English does not allow forms like “gooder” or “more good,” French avoids plus bon. Instead, the comparative of bon is “meilleur”, meaning “better.”
Forms:
- meilleur (masculine singular)
- meilleure (feminine singular)
- meilleurs (masculine plural)
- meilleures (feminine plural)
Example: Mes idées sont meilleures que les tiennes. → My ideas are better than yours.
The same principle applies to the superlative. Since English does not say “the goodest,” French also avoids le plus bon. The correct superlative form is le meilleur, meaning “the best.”
Forms:
- le meilleur (masculine singular)
- la meilleure (feminine singular)
- les meilleurs (masculine plural)
- les meilleures (feminine plural)
Example: Son idée est la meilleure. → His idea is the best.
Note: Bon is irregular only in the superior comparative and superlative. For expressions of inferiority, it follows regular patterns.
Leur proposition est moins bonne. → Their proposal is less good.
Bien in Comparatives and Superlatives: The French adverb bien also has irregular forms when used to compare actions, similar to the English word “well.” Just as English does not say “well-er” or “more well,” French avoids plus bien when expressing superiority. Instead, the comparative form of bien is mieux, meaning “better.”
Example: Elle joue mieux du piano maintenant. → She plays the piano better now.
The superlative form follows the same pattern. Since English uses “the best” rather than “the wellest,” French also uses a special form: le mieux, meaning “the best.”
Example: Parmi nous, c’est lui qui chante le mieux. → Among us, he is the one who sings the best.
💡 Quick tips: Like bon, the adverb bien is irregular only in the superior comparative and superlative. To express inferiority, French uses the regular pattern moins bien.
Example: Cette idée est meilleure que la précédente. → This idea is better than the previous one.
Mauvais in Comparatives and Superlatives: The adjective mauvais (bad) can form comparatives and superlatives in both regular and irregular ways, much like English uses “worse” and “worst” instead of “more bad” or “the baddest.” In French, the comparative of mauvais can be expressed in two ways: the regular form plus mauvais, or the irregular form pire, both of which mean “worse.”
Comparative forms:
- plus mauvais (masculine singular)
- plus mauvaise (feminine singular)
- plus mauvaises (feminine plural)
- pire (singular)
- pires (plural)
Example: Sa réponse est pire / plus mauvaise que la mienne. → His answer is worse than mine.
The superlative can also follow two patterns. The regular form is le plus mauvais, while the irregular form is le pire, both meaning the worst.
Superlative forms (regular):
- le plus mauvais
- la plus mauvaise
- les plus mauvais
- les plus mauvaises
Superlative forms (irregular):
- le pire
- la pire
- les pires
Example: C’est la pire idée de la réunion. → It is the worst idea in the meeting.
💡 Quick tips: While pire and le pire are often preferred for emphasis, both regular and irregular forms are correct, and mauvais remains regular when forming expressions of inferiority.
French irregular comparative and superlative forms are actually very similar to English because both languages avoid awkward expressions like “more good,” “more well,” or “more bad.” Instead, they use special words that change completely.
