How to Use the Superlative in French

Are you talking about the most and the least in French? Then, you need to master the superlative. 

What is the superlative?

First, when we compare 2 things, we want a comparative like “better” or “more expensive than”... However, if we are highlighting something from the rest, we are referring to the superlative. As its name suggests, it’s “super”...

Good news: the French superlative is easier than the English one. Why? Because in English, you have 2 ways to do it: the shorter and the longer version.

Let’s see it with examples:

• He is the tallest man in the room
• This is the most expensive car in the world.

As you can see, depending on the length of the adjective, you will choose the shorter or longer structure to express the superlative.

Let’s study the French superlative in the next paragraph.

How to express the superlative “most”?

There are 2 sides of the spectrum when talking about the superlative. Indeed, it can tend to the “most” or the “least”.

Let’s start with the first one.

In French, there’s just one pattern to say “the most” and it is “le plus” (don't pronounce the “s” as long as you don’t use it for the liaison aka the connection between 2 words).

Note that in French, the article differs according to its gender and number like the following:

• le plus (masculine)
• la plus ( feminine)
• les plus (plural)

Here are some examples:

• C’est le plus amusant de tous les puzzles >>> It’s the most fun of all puzzles.
• C’est la plus belle femme de la terre >>> It’s the prettiest woman on Earth.
• Ce sont les livres les plus intéressants >>> They are the most interesting books.

How to say the “least” in French

The opposite of the “most” is the “least” and once more, there’s only one version of it in French: “le moins”. Of course, don’t forget to adapt the article in the first place.

• le moins (masculine)
• la moins ( feminine)
• les moins (plural)

Some examples to show you how to do it:

• C’est le moins jeune des enfants >>> He’s the eldest of the kids.
• C’est la voiture la moins chère dans le garage >>> It’s the cheapest car in the garage.
• Ce sont les livres les moins difficiles >>> They are the least complicated books.

What are the most common superlatives?

In both languages, we can find irregular superlatives such as “best” and “worst” which are “meilleur” and “pire”.

Something essential to remember is the agreement in French.Indeed, you have to adjust the ending based on the gender and number. For the plural, simply add an “s” or in some cases and “x”.

Here are the most common superlatives in French:

• le dernier / la dernière >>> the last
• le premier / la première >>> the first
• le principal / la principale >>> the main
• le seul / la seule >>> the only
• le pire / la pire >>> the worst
• le meilleur / la meilleure >>> the best
• le plus / la plus >>> the most
• le moins / la moins >>> the least

2 different ways to express the superlative in French

At this stage, you know all about the superlatives. Time to have a look at the 2 different ways to conjugate verbs. In fact, you can either require the subjunctive or the indicative mood.

What is the difference? On one hand, the subjunctive indicates you are exaggerating because it’s subjective. On the other hand, the indicative states something true, proven, reality… 

In other words, for the subjunctive it means “it might be” since it’s your own opinion so far, opposed to the indicative where you could say that “it actually is”.

We will see clear contrast examples in the next parts.

Why use the subjunctive with the superlative?

As said, the subjunctive mood implies something that is not real or proven but more your way to judge something.

• C’est la robe la plus chère que j’aie achetée >>> It’s the most expensive dress I have bought.  

In this example, we have a subjunctive because we emphasise the fact it’s the most expensive dress. 

The truth with the indicative

Unlike the previous example, let’s have a look at the same idea but this time with the indicative:

• C’est la robe la plus chère que j’ai achetée >>> It’s the most expensive dress I have bought.

Apart from the conjugating change, the idea behind it is the fact it is true! We have checked the price of all the dresses and we can confirm it’s the most expensive dress.

Lucky you, the pronunciation is exactly the same for both cases so you don’t have to be scared! However, pay attention when you write your sentences with a superlative and ask yourself if your intention is to exaggerate and be subjective or it is true and objective what you say.

Note that in our sentence, we added an “e” to the past participle “achetée” because the object is placed before the passé composé. If we change the word order in this sentence, we will have the following:

• J’ai acheté la robe la plus chère >>> I have bought the most expensive dress.

To summarise, the structure is the same but the mood varies according to the intention.

• C’est la robe la plus chère que j’aie achetée >>> It’s the most expensive dress I have bought. (SUBJUNCTIVE)
• C’est la robe la plus chère que j’ai achetée >>> It’s the most expensive dress I have bought. (INDICATIVE)

How to express the least in French

As far as the opposite is concerned, it’s exactly the same. Apply the same rules and you have it!

When it’s subjective, use the subjunctive like this:

• C’est la clim la moins bruyante que nous ayons installée >>> It’s the least noisy air conditioning we have installed.  

In case you don’t remember how to conjugate the subjunctive with the verb “avoir”, you can read this post.

But, if it’s more than your opinion and you can prove it, then the indicative will suffice.

• C’est la clim la moins bruyante que nous avons installée >>> It’s the least noisy air conditioning we have installed.  

In a nutshell, we have a choice depending on the context.

How to use the superlative in 2 different ways in French.

In conclusion, whenever we decide to highlight someone or something from the rest, there are 2 options: the most (le plus) and the opposite: the least (le moins).

Based on the gender and number of the noun, it is imperative to adapt the article: le (masculine), la (feminine) or les (plural).

Finally, we should pick the subjunctive if the matter is subjective and if we are exaggerating. On the contrary, if what we are saying is true, objective and, proven, we can simply have the indicative.

So, which part was the most and the least interesting of the blog post?

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