Superlatives in French

We use superlatives in French when we want to express the extreme form of a particular quality of something or someone. In other words, when we want to say that something is 'the most/the least [adjective]' in English, we are using a superlative - but it works a little differently in French.

Let’s take a look at French superlatives with adjectives:

• Superiority: le/la/les + plus + adjective (the most + adjective)
• Inferiority: le/la/les + moins + adjective (the least + adjective)

The article and the adjective must agree in gender and number with the noun they refer to.

For masculine singular, use le plus/le moins + adjective in the masculine singular form.

Ce livre est le plus intéressant de tous. - This book is the most interesting of all.

For feminine singular, use la plus/la moins + adjective in the feminine singular form.

Ma maison est la moins grande. - My house is the smallest.

For masculine plural, use les plus/les moins + adjective in the masculine plural form.

Ce sont les ordinateurs les plus puissants. - These are the most powerful computers.

For feminine plural, use les plus/les moins + adjective in the feminine plural form.

Les instructions les plus complètes figurent dans ce document. - The most comprehensive instructions are provided in this document.

Some words take a totally different form when they become superlative.

For bon/bonne (good), we do not say le plus bon/la plus bonne. Instead we say le meilleur/la meilleure.

Anna est la meilleure athlète de l’équipe. - Anna is the best athlete in the team.

For mauvais/mauvaise, we can say le plus mauvais/la plus mauvaise, but we can also say le pire/la pire. When using pire, we don't need to use the word plus.

Examples:

Il a les plus mauvaises notes de la classe. - He has the worst grades in the class.

Ce sont les pires moments de l’histoire. - These are the worst moments in history.

For more on superlatives, check out Lesson 13 and Lesson 29.

To learn about comparatives in French, be sure to check out our blog.