COMPARISON 01
French uses 'plus....que' ('more.....than') and 'moins.....que' ('less.....than') to form comparisons ('the comparative'), generally.
He is taller than me. |
Il est plus grand que moi. |
She is less tall than me. (ie she is smaller than I am) |
Elle est moins grand que moi. |
To say 'the most', something called 'the superlative' is used - in French this is 'le plus' (or 'la plus', or 'les plus') [and 'le moins', 'la moins' or 'les moins' for 'the least'].
He is the tallest. |
Il est le plus grand . |
She is the least tall. (ie she is the smallest) |
Elle est la moins grande. |
Of course there are 'irregular' comparatives and superlatives - but very few. Just 'good' ('bon', 'meilleur', 'le meilleur') and 'bad' ('mauvais', 'pire', 'le pire'). Note that 'meilleur' adds 'e/s' to *agree*, and that pire adds 's' to agree, where required.
a good idea |
une bonne idée |
a better idea |
une meilleure idée |
the best ideas |
les meilleures idées |
a bad man |
un mauvais homme |
a worse man |
un pire homme |
the worst men |
les pires hommes |