Review of the Superlative

In French, the superlative is a way to express the best, the smallest, and the most interesting.
To form the superlative you use a definite article (le, la, les) and the adverb plus or moins before
the adjective.
The superlative of an adjective agrees with the noun it modifies in gender and in number. The
superlative is placed where the usual placement of the adjective would be. This basically means
if the adjective follows the noun, the superlative will follow the noun, too. And vice versa, if the
adjective precedes the noun, then the superlative adjective will precede the noun, too.
superlative
adjective after noun

adjective before noun

le (la, les) plus (the most)

Betty est la chatte la plus
ruse du monde.

le (la, les) moins (the least)

Anna est la chen la moins
ruse du monde.

Betty is the slickest cat in the

world.
Anna est la plus gentille chen
du monde.

Anna is the least slick dog in

the world.
Betty est la moins gentille
chatte du monde.

Anna is the nicest dog in the

world.

Betty is the least nice cat in

the world.

When the superlative expression follows the noun, there will be two definite articles. For example:
Ce nest pas le chemin le plus simple.
Il prfre la voiture la moins conomique.

This is not the simplest route.

He prefers the least economical car.

Irregular Superlatives
The adjectives bon and mauvais have irregular pattern in the superlative. There are two forms for
expressing the worst: the irregular form le (la) pire and le (la) plus mauvais(e).
Lt est la meilleure saison pour visiter la Cote
dIvoire, mais la pire pour les tarifs davions.

Summer is the best time to visit the Ivory Coast,

but the worst for airfares.

The superlative of mauvais is always either le pire or le plus mauvais. But while you might say la plus
mauvaise universit or la pire universit, you may only say 'les pires ploucs,' 'les pires catastrophes,' 'les
pires crimes' etc. This is because 'plouc,' 'catastrophe,' 'crime' are already negative and it would be
redundant to use 'mauvais' or its superlative, 'le plus mauvais,' in front of them.
**This was difficult for me to understand at first but once I had the tutors explain it to me in English with
the double negative it made sense. However, I still forget when I am writing in French because I am not
thinking about it when I write it that the word itself is a negative. The easy part of this lesson for me was

figuring out which definite article to use and remembering that plus was a positive thing and that moins
was a negative.
To indicate the extent of a comparison, use de + noun
Ce pays a lhiver le plus froid dEurope.

This country has the coldest winters in Europe.

Ce sont les plus belles plages du monde.

These are the most beautiful beaches in the world.

This part of the lesson shows that the de is needed when stating a place directly. For example above when
they speak about the world and in Europe.
** This was easy for me to remember because it is so simple to place before a location or place. The only
thing I forget to so occasionally is to drop the e and add the when the word it precedes begins with a
vowel.
When comparing quantities of things you have to use the superlative + de (le plus de and le moins de).
Le is always used, regardless of noun gender. For Example:
Jaime aller au magasin qui a le plus de vetements
en laine.
Quel collier a le moins de turquoises ?

I like to go to the store that has the most wool

garments.
Which necklace has the fewest turquoises ?

** The only part of this I found difficult because I could never remember that le is always used regardless
of the gender of the noun. I always want to use the proper definite article. But I cannot.