To compare things using in French, you will use comparative and superlative phrases to express superiority (+), inferiority (-), or equality (=).
French comparatives enable you to compare two or more things and state which one is superior, inferior, or equal.
Le Sahara est plus grand que le désert de Gobi.
The Sahara desert is larger than the Gobi desert.
Le Mont Blanc est moins haut que l’Everest.
Mont-Blanc is less high than Everest.
Le mois de janvier est aussi long que le mois de mars.
January is as long as March.
French superlatives enable you to compare an item in a group and make it stand out as “the most” or “the least.”
Le mandarin est la langue la plus parlée dans le monde.
Mandarin is the most spoken language in the world.
In this post, we’ll review the different comparatives and superlatives used with adjectives in French, along with how to say “worse than” and “the worst” and “better than” and “the best.”
C’est le pire film que j’aie jamais vu !
It is the worst movie I have ever seen!
Let’s dive in!
Use French comparative adjectives to compare two or more items based on their quality. You can state which item is superior, inferior, or equal.
French comparative adjectives often are used with the word que(than). Here are some rules to remember:
If you use pronouns after que, use the French stressed pronouns: moi, toi, lui/elle, nous, vous, and eux/elles.
Que turns into qu' in front of a or a .
To express superiority with French adjectives, use the comparative phrase plus + adjective + que. With this structure, you can describe something as “more ___ than” something else. Take a look:
plus
adjective
que
Le bus est plus grand que la voiture.
The bus is bigger than the car.
The adjectives agree in and gender in French with the first item they compare. In the example above, bus is masculine and voiture is feminine. Because bus was mentioned first, we form the agreement between the adjective and this first noun (le bus), meaning grand is masculine and singular in French.
Pronounce the -s in plus as a "z" in front of a vowel, but don't pronounce it at all in front of a .
Elle est plus drôle et plus intéressante que lui.
She is funnier and more clever than he is.
To express superiority with French adjectives, use the comparative phrase moins + adjective + que. With this structure, you can describe something as “less ___ than” something else. Take a look:
moins
adjective
que
Marcher est moins fatigant que courir.
Walking is less tiring than running.
When comparing two actions, like in the example above, the adjective (fatigant) must be masculine and singular. Just consider these verbs like masculine nouns!
To express equality with French adjectives, use the comparative phrase aussi + adjective + que to say that two items are the same (“as___as”) in a quality.
aussi
adjective
que
Un ours est aussi lourd qu'un panda.
A bear is as heavy as a panda.
Use superlative adjectives in French to make something or someone stand out in a category. The item you compare is then ranked at the top (the most) or the bottom (the least). Let’s have a look at the structure!
To express “the most ___” in French, use the phrase le/la/les plus + adjective. If you want to specify what category something or someone is “the most ___” in, you can also add the de + this category after the adjective.
le/la/les plus
adjective
(de + category)
Cette pièce est la plus douliette de la maison.
This room is the coziest in the house.
⤷ Notice: la pièce is feminine singular, so the superlative will be feminine singular (la)
C’est la pièce la plus douliette de la maison.
It is the coziest room in the house.
To express “the least ___” in French, use the phrase le/la/les moins + adjective. Just like with “the most,” you can add the preposition de followed by the category to specify.
le/la/les moins
adjective
(de + category)
C’est le restaurant le moins cher du quartier.
It is the cheapest restaurant in the neighborhood.
⤷ Notice: quartier is masculine, so use: de + le = du
Most French adjectives go after the . However, there is a small group that is placed before the noun, such as petit(small), grand(big), and jeune(young). In these cases, the adjective will still come before the noun, but like other superlatives, it will be placed after le plus(the most).
Check out our post about the position of French adjectives to learn more!
le plus
adjective
noun
C'est le plus petit restaurant du quartier.
It is the smallest restaurant in the neighborhood.
La baleine bleue est le plus grand animal de la planète.
The blue whale is the biggest animal on the planet.
Sometimes, when it is obvious, you don’t need to add the category.
When you want to express something like “the funniest ever!” you’ll need to replace “ever” with a whole sentence, usually: que j’aie jamais + past participle in French
C’est le film le plus bizarre que j’aie jamais vu !
This is the weirdest movie I’ve ever seen!
Did you notice how j’aie jamais + past participle uses the French present subjunctive for the avoir (aie)? With this structure, jamais is not a negation and can be translated as "at any point in my life." We usually use the subjunctive after a superlative like “the most” or “the least.”
The superlatives meilleur(better, best) and pire(worse, worst) are the superlative forms of the adjectives bon(good) and mauvais(bad). In English, these adjectives have irregular comparative and superlative forms too: good → better/best; bad → worse/worst. Let’s check out how these forms work in the comparative and superlative.
To express someone or something is better or the best use: meilleur
bon(good) | ||
|---|---|---|
(+) | meilleur better | le meilleur the best |
(-) | moins bon less good | le moins bon the least good |
The comparative is meilleur que(better than):
Ton gâteau est meilleur que le mien.
Your cake is better than mine.
The superlative is le meilleur de(the best of):
C’est la meilleure boulangerie de la ville !
It is the best bakery in town!
Meilleur comes from bon. Like how in English you would not say “more good,” in French, you can’t say ❌ plus bon. Also, bon is one of these adjectives that come before the noun, and with the superlative you preserve this order. Compare the following sentences we saw above:
C’est le restaurant le moins cher du quartier.
It is the cheapest restaurant in the neighborhood.
vs.
C’est la meilleure boulangerie de la ville !
It is the best bakery in town!
With meilleur, the superlative la meilleure(the best) comes before the noun la boulangerie(bakery), whereas the superlative expression le moins cher(the cheapest) comes after the noun le restaurant(restaurant).
To express someone or something is worse or the worst:
mauvais(bad) | ||
|---|---|---|
(+) | pire/plus mauvais worse | le pire/plus mauvais the worst |
(-) | moins mauvais less bad | le moins mauvais the least bad |
For the comparative you can use: plus mauvais que or pire que(worse than)
Cette représentation est pire que la première.
This performance is worse than the first.
OR
Cette représentation est plus mauvaise que la première.
This performance is worse than the first.
To form the superlative use: le pire de(the worst of)
C’est le pire fromage de la liste.
It is the worst cheese on the menu.
The phrases plus mauvais que and pire (worse than) as well as le plus mauvais de and le pire de(the worst of) can be used interchangeably.
Meilleur(best, better) is an adjective (modifying a noun: person, thing, place, idea, etc.) whereas mieux(best, better) is a French comparative adverb (modifying an action). Because of this, they are used differently:
C’est le meilleur danseur de la classe.
He’s the best dancer in the class.
Eli danse le mieux.
Eli dances the best.
When you use c'est, you may use either meilleur when talking about food or mieux when talking about anything else.
Un café, c’est bon, et avec un croissant, c’est meilleur !
A cup of coffee, it’s nice, with a croissant it’s better!
Être bilingue, c’est bien, être trilingue, c’est encore mieux !
Speaking two languages is a good thing, speaking three is even better!
When using comparative and superlative adjectives in French, remember the following tips.
plus + adjective + que to express superiority (+)
moins + adjective + que to express inferiority (-)
aussi + adjective + que to express equality (=)
noun + le plus + adjective (+ de category) to express the highest (+++)
noun + le moins + adjective (+ de category) to express the lowest (---)
Remember that the adjectives beau, joli, petit, grand, gros, nouveau, jeune and vieux go before the noun.
Remember the irregular forms of…
bon:
❌ plus bon → ✅ meilleur
❌ le plus bon → ✅le meilleur
bien:
❌ plus bien → ✅ mieux
❌ le plus bien → ✅le mieux
Use c'est meilleur for food and c'est mieux for anything but food.
And, don't forget to check out our activities to practice French comparative and superlative adjectives!
