French Comparatives and Superlatives: Rules, Examples and Common Mistakes

Comparatives say that people, things or actions are more, less or equally something compared with others: Paris est plus grand que Lyon (Paris is bigger than Lyon). Superlatives pick out the extreme in a group: le plus grand, la moins chère (the biggest, the least expensive). At B1 you use them constantly to give opinions, compare options and describe experiences, so you need the regular patterns and the irregular forms meilleur, mieux and pire.

Comparatives: the basic patterns

French builds comparatives with a word before the adjective, adverb, noun or verb, and que before the second element. The word you choose depends on what you are comparing.

Meaning	+ adjective / adverb	+ noun	+ verb
more	plus … que	plus de … que	verb + plus que
less	moins … que	moins de … que	verb + moins que
as / as much	aussi … que	autant de … que	verb + autant que

With adjectives

The adjective still agrees with the noun it describes. If you need a refresher, see our guide to French adjective agreement.

• Ma sœur est plus grande que moi. My sister is taller than me.
• Ces chaussures sont moins chères que les autres. These shoes are cheaper than the others.
• Sur ce trajet, le train est aussi rapide que l’avion. On this route, the train is as fast as the plane.

After que, use stressed pronouns: moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux, elles. Before a vowel, que becomes qu’.

• Il est plus patient qu’elle. He is more patient than her.
• Vous êtes aussi fatigués que nous. You are as tired as we are.

With adverbs

Adverbs never change form, so the comparative is simple.

• Elle parle plus lentement que son frère. She speaks more slowly than her brother.
• Je viens moins souvent qu’avant. I come less often than before.
• Tu conduis aussi prudemment que moi. You drive as carefully as I do.

With nouns

With nouns, use plus de, moins de or autant de. The de stays de (or d’) whatever the gender or number of the noun; there is no article.

• J’ai plus de travail que l’année dernière. I have more work than last year.
• Il y a moins de touristes en novembre. There are fewer tourists in November.
• Nous avons autant d’amis que vous. We have as many friends as you.

With verbs

To compare actions, put plus, moins or autant after the verb.

• Il travaille plus que moi. He works more than me.
• Je dors moins que mes colocataires. I sleep less than my flatmates.
• Elle lit autant que sa mère. She reads as much as her mother.

In compound tenses such as the passé composé, the comparative word usually goes between the auxiliary and the past participle: Elle a autant travaillé que nous. (She worked as much as we did.)

Aussi or autant?

This is the most common confusion with equality. Aussi goes with adjectives and adverbs; autant goes with nouns (autant de) and verbs.

• Il est aussi sympa que son frère. He is as nice as his brother.
• Il a autant de charme que son frère. He has as much charm as his brother.
• Il voyage autant que son frère. He travels as much as his brother.

In negative sentences you can replace aussi with si: Ce n’est pas si facile que ça. (It’s not as easy as that.)

Making comparisons stronger or gradual

To intensify a comparative, use beaucoup, bien, encore or un peu — never très.

• Ce film est beaucoup plus drôle que le premier. This film is much funnier than the first one.
• C’est encore moins cher en ligne. It’s even cheaper online.
• Les loyers sont de plus en plus chers. Rents are getting more and more expensive.
• Je sors de moins en moins. I go out less and less.

Pronunciation of plus

The word plus changes pronunciation, and this helps listeners tell meanings apart:

• Before a consonant in a comparison, the s is silent: plus grand [ply].
• Before a vowel, there is a liaison with a [z] sound: plus intéressant [plyz].
• When plus means more after a verb, the s is usually pronounced: Il travaille plus [plys].
• In the negative ne … plus (no longer), the s is silent: Je ne travaille plus [ply].

Irregular forms: bon, bien, mauvais, mal

A few very frequent words have special forms.

Base word	Comparative	Superlative
bon (adjective, good)	meilleur(e)(s)	le / la / les meilleur(e)(s)
bien (adverb, well)	mieux	le mieux
mauvais (adjective, bad)	pire / plus mauvais	le / la / les pire(s) / le plus mauvais
mal (adverb, badly)	plus mal	le plus mal

Plus bon and plus bien are always wrong. However, moins bon and aussi bon are regular and correct.

• Ce gâteau est meilleur que celui d’hier. This cake is better than yesterday’s.
• Ses résultats sont moins bons ce trimestre. His results are not as good this term.
• La situation est pire qu’avant. The situation is worse than before.
• J’ai dormi encore plus mal cette nuit. I slept even worse last night.

For mauvais, both pire and plus mauvais are correct. Pire is very common, especially for situations and abstract things; plus mauvais is often used for quality or taste. Never say plus pire: pire already means worse.

Meilleur or mieux?

Think of English good and well. Bon (good) becomes meilleur; bien (well) becomes mieux.

• Meilleur is an adjective: it describes a noun and agrees with it.

• Mieux is an adverb: it describes a verb and never changes.

• Cette pizza est meilleure que l’autre. This pizza is better than the other one.

• Elle chante mieux que moi. She sings better than me.

• Je me sens mieux aujourd’hui. I feel better today.

After c’est and impersonal expressions, French usually uses mieux when the meaning is it’s a better idea / situation: C’est mieux de partir tôt. (It’s better to leave early.) For the weather, however, you say Il fait meilleur aujourd’hui (The weather is nicer today).

Superlatives

With adjectives

The superlative is le / la / les + plus / moins + adjective. The group you are comparing with is introduced by de, never dans: le plus grand de la classe, la plus belle ville du monde.

The position of the superlative follows the normal position of the adjective:

Adjective normally…	Pattern	Example
before the noun (beau, grand, petit, bon…)	article + plus + adj + noun	la plus belle ville
after the noun (most adjectives)	article + noun + article + plus + adj	la ville la plus intéressante

When the adjective comes after the noun, you repeat the article. This feels strange to English speakers, but it is obligatory.

• C’est le plus grand musée de la ville. It’s the biggest museum in the city.
• C’est le quartier le plus animé de Paris. It’s the liveliest district in Paris.
• J’ai choisi la solution la moins chère. I chose the cheapest solution.
• Ce sont les élèves les plus motivés du lycée. They are the most motivated students in the school.

With a possessive, the possessive replaces the first article: mon plus beau souvenir (my most beautiful memory), mon souvenir le plus précieux (my most precious memory).

With adverbs

With adverbs, the article is always le, even when the subject is feminine or plural.

• C’est elle qui court le plus vite. She’s the one who runs the fastest.
• Ce sont eux qui parlent le mieux anglais. They’re the ones who speak English best.

With nouns and verbs

Use le plus de / le moins de + noun, and verb + le plus / le moins.

• C’est Marc qui a le plus d’expérience. Marc is the one with the most experience.
• C’est l’équipe qui a marqué le moins de buts. It’s the team that scored the fewest goals.
• Novembre est le mois où il pleut le plus. November is the month when it rains the most.

Superlative + relative clause

A superlative is often followed by que or qui: C’est le meilleur film que j’aie jamais vu (It’s the best film I’ve ever seen). In careful French the verb is in the subjunctive; in everyday speech the indicative (que j’ai vu) is also common. See our present subjunctive guide for the forms.

Plus que or plus de?

Before a number or quantity, more than and less than are plus de and moins de, not plus que.

• Il y avait plus de cent personnes. There were more than a hundred people.
• Ça coûte moins de vingt euros. It costs less than twenty euros.

Use plus que when you compare two things: Il gagne plus que moi. (He earns more than me.)

Common mistakes

• ✗ Il est plus bon que moi. → ✓ Il est meilleur que moi. — bon has an irregular comparative.
• ✗ Elle parle plus bien. → ✓ Elle parle mieux. — bien becomes mieux.
• ✗ Ce gâteau est mieux que l’autre. → ✓ Ce gâteau est meilleur que l’autre. — describing the quality of a noun needs the adjective.
• ✗ Elle est plus grand que son frère. → ✓ Elle est plus grande que son frère. — the adjective agrees with elle.
• ✗ J’ai plus des livres que toi. → ✓ J’ai plus de livres que toi. — quantity expressions take de with no article.
• ✗ Il est aussi riche comme son père. → ✓ Il est aussi riche que son père. — comparisons always use que.
• ✗ J’ai aussi de patience que toi. → ✓ J’ai autant de patience que toi. — use autant with nouns.
• ✗ C’est la ville plus intéressante. → ✓ C’est la ville la plus intéressante. — repeat the article after the noun.
• ✗ C’est la plus belle ville dans le monde. → ✓ C’est la plus belle ville du monde. — the superlative group takes de.
• ✗ Elle court la plus vite. → ✓ Elle court le plus vite. — with adverbs the article is always le.
• ✗ C’est très plus cher. → ✓ C’est beaucoup plus cher. — intensify comparatives with beaucoup or bien.
• ✗ C’est plus pire. → ✓ C’est pire. — pire already means worse.
• ✗ Il y avait plus que 50 personnes. → ✓ Il y avait plus de 50 personnes. — use plus de before numbers.

Quick check

Complete each sentence.

1. Ce restaurant est ___ que l’autre. (better)
2. Mes parents travaillent ___ moi. (as much as)
3. C’est la montagne la plus haute ___ Europe.
4. Elle chante ___ que sa sœur. (better)
5. Il y a ___ voitures qu’avant. (fewer)

Answers

1. meilleur
2. autant que
3. d’ (d’Europe)
4. mieux
5. moins de

Next step

Now put the rules into practice: test yourself with our B1 Comparatives and Superlatives test, paying special attention to meilleur vs mieux, aussi vs autant and the repeated article in superlatives. If agreement errors slip in, revisit the basics with the A1 Adjective Agreement test, then continue with the other French B1 tests to strengthen the rest of your intermediate grammar.