”I am more good-looking than my co-workers. In fact, I’m the most good-looking person in our workplace!”

That’s right. You can’t!

In grammar, we use comparatives to compare superiority, inferiority, or equality between two or more things (I am more good-looking than my co-workers). For the superlatives, we use it to talk about the extremes (I am the most good-looking person ever!)

French comparatives and superlatives, just like in English,  can occur both in adjectives and adverbs. For this lesson, we’ve divided the topic into two: adjectives and adverbs. I suggest that before you dive into this topic, you should do a quick review of the adjectives and adverbs first. 

PART 1. Comparatives and Superlatives of Adjectives

Before we talk about the French comparatives and superlatives, let’s do a quick review of what it means in the English language, and let’s work our way from there.

For single or double syllable words, we usually just add -er at the end of the word, with a few variations in spelling. Examples: lovelier, cuter, slower or bigger.

For longer words with three syllables or more, we put more or less before the noun. Examples: more important, less beautiful, more enticing, less submissive.

The rule on when to use -est or most and least is the same as that of the comparative adjectives. Examples: loveliest, cutest, slowest, biggest, most important, least beautiful, most enticing, least submissive.

Now that we’ve gotten the English definitions out of the way, let’s move on to French. Here are some tips and rules in using comparative adjectives: 

1. Use the French word plus which means ‘more’.

Cette question est plus facile. (This question is easier.)

Cette veste est plus chère. (This jacket is more expensive.)

2. Use the word moins which means ‘less’.

Cette veste est moins chère. (This jacket is less expensive.)

un projet moins compliqué. (a less complicated plan.)

3. Use the word que which means ‘than’ when introducing the other person or thing you are comparing your subject with.

Elle est plus petite que moi. (She’s smaller than me.)

Cette question est plus facile que la premiere. (This question is easier than the first one.)

4. Use the word aussi paired with que to say your subject is similar to this other thing. In English, we use this to say, (subject) is as (adjective) as (subject 2).

Il est aussi inquiet que moi. (He’s as worried as me.)

Cette ville n’est pas aussi grande que Bordeaux. (This town isn’t as big as Bordeaux.)

 

 

For superlative adjectives, here are the things you should remember:

1. You can use plus to mean ‘most’ depending on the form of the adjective you’re using.

Masculine singular adjectives — le plus

Feminine singular adjectives — la plus

Plural adjectives (masculine and feminine) — les plus

le guide le plus utile (the most useful guidebook)

la question la plus facile (the easiest question)

les plus grands hôtels  (the biggest hotels)

les plus petites voitures (the smallest cars)

2. You can use moins to mean ‘least’ depending on the form of the adjective you’re using.

Masculine singular adjectives — le moins

Feminine singular adjectives — la moins

Plural adjectives (masculine and feminine) — les moins

le guide le moins utile (the least useful guidebook)

la question la moins facile (the least easy or the hardest question)

les mois les moins agréables  (the least pleasant months)

les moins belles photos (the least attractive photos)

 

As always, there are those irregular adjectives that are too hard-headed to conform with the rest. These are the irregular comparative and superlative adjectives.

In English we also have irregulars such as good, better and best. We don’t say gooder or goodest, we use better and best. This is the same thing with French. Word such as bon, mauvais and petit don’t follow the rules.

bon (good)
 | meilleur (better) | le meilleur (the best)
mauvais (bad) | pire/ plus mauvais (worse) | le pire / le plus mauvais (the worst)
petit (small) | moindre / plus petit (smaller) | le moindre / le plus petit (the smallest)