French Grammar Explained /
The comparative I
Let's do a little quiz to start today's lesson.
Nice! I love quizzes!
Let's start: is the Rockefeller Center taller than the Empire State Building?
No, the Rockefeller Center is smaller than the Empire State Building.
Correct! Is Berlin bigger than Madrid?
I think Berlin is bigger.
Très bien ! And, are gorillas more intelligent than chimpanzees?
I can only guess. I heard that gorillas are quite intelligent.
True! But according to biologists, chimpanzees can be quite intelligent as well. Anyway, this leads us to today's topic:
Is the Rockefeller Center taller than the Empire State Building?
Are gorillas more intelligent than chimpanzees?
How do you make a comparison in English?
You need an adjective, like tall or intelligent, and the word than.
And what happens with the adjective?
You add -er at the end like in taller and if that doesn't work, you put more in front, like more intelligent.
Bravo ! In French, the comparison is similar to the second example:
Les gorilles, sont-ils plus intelligents que les chimpanzés ?
Are gorillas more intelligent than chimpanzees?
Les gorilles, sont-ils moins intelligents que les chimpanzés ?
Are gorillas less intelligent than chimpanzees?
Ah, it's more or less! So if I make a comparison with more, I use:
plus + adjective + que
And if I say something is less than, I use:
moins + adjective + que
Parfait! These are called comparisons of superiority (more) or inferiority (less). Just watch out for the agreement of the adjective in French.
Bien sûr. In our example I have to add a final -S because les gorilles is masculine plural, right?
Excellent ! I see you're en forme today. So, let's move on to our last example. It is not guaranteed that...
...chimpanzees are as intelligent as gorillas.
I have good news for you. For the comparison of equality you only have to replace moins/plus with aussi.
So it's easier than in English?
Yes! Could you translate this sentence into French?
I'll try:
Les chimpanzés sont aussi intelligents que les gorilles.
Tu as tout compris ! You got it all!
Here's a little overview so you can start practicing:
plus
more | adjective | que
than |
moins
less | adjective | que
than |
aussi
as | adjective | que
as |