We make comparisons all the time, we compare people, things and ideas … it’s natural ! But how do you say “French is more complicated than English” ? French is maybe a bit more complicated than English but it’s not that complicated, so to make comparisons in French you’ll just have to distinguish adjectives, nouns and verbs !
1) The comparative with adjectives
Words that indicate greater, equal and lesser are plus (more), aussi (as) and moins (less). Also, que/qu’ precedes the element being compared (like “than” in English).
When a pronoun is needed, as stressed pronoun follows que : moi (I, me), toi (you), lui (he, him, it), elle (she, her, it), soi (oneself), nous (we, us), vous (you), eux (they, them masculine), elles (they, them feminine). To learn more aboout stressed pronouns click here !
|
Il est (he is) |
plus grand que (taller than) |
moi (I am/me) |
| aussi grand que (as tall as) | ||
| moins grand que (less tall than / shorter than) |
|
Nous sommes (we are) |
plus gentils qu’ (nicer than) |
eux/elles (they are/them) |
| aussi gentils qu’ (as nice as) | ||
| moins gentils qu’ (less nice than) |
|
Tu es (you are) |
plus intelligent qu’ (smarter than) |
elle (she is) |
| aussi intelligent qu’ (as smart as) | ||
| moins intelligent qu’ (less smart than) |
Nous sommes plus pauvres que Bill Gates / We are poorer than Bill Gates
Je suis plus rapide que toi / I’m faster than you
Robert est plus intelligent que nous / Robert is smarter than us
2) The comparative with nouns
When you want to compare nouns you have to use de/d’ right before the noun. Also, to express an equality you have to use autant de/d’ (as many/as much) , instead of aussi.
|
J’ai (I have) |
plus de (more) |
chiens (dogs) |
que toi (than you have) |
| autant de (as many) | que toi (as you have) | ||
| moins de (fewer) | que toi (than you have) |
|
Tu as (You have) |
plus de (more) |
frères (brothers) |
que lui (than he has) |
| autant de (as many) | que lui (as he has) | ||
| moins de (fewer) | que lui (than he has) |
Je n’ai pas autant d’argent que toi / I don’t have as much money as you
Mes collègues ont moins de travail que moi / My colleagues have less work than me
Vous avez plus de temps libre que nous / You have more free time than us
3) Comparing verbs
To compare action verbs you have to use plus que (more than), autant que (as much as) and moins que (less than) after the verb. Que/Qu’ is followed by a stressed pronoun (e.g toi/you), a noun (e.g : Robert), an adverb of time (e.g : avant/before) or another verb.
|
Je parle (I talk) |
plus que (more than) |
toi (you) |
|
autant que (as much as) |
||
|
moins que (less than) |
|
Elle travaille (she works) |
plus qu’ (more than) |
avant (before) |
|
autant qu’ (as much as) |
||
|
moins qu’ (less than) |
Summary table :
| + | = | – | |
| Comparative w/ adjectives | plus (adjective) que/qu’ | aussi (adjective) que/qu’ | moins (adjective) que/qu’ |
| Comparative w/ nouns | plus de/d’ (noun) | autant de/d’ (noun) | moins de/d’ (noun) |
| Comparing verbs | (verb) plus que/qu’ | (verb) autant que/qu’ | (verb) moins que/qu’ |