The Superlative

The Superlative
Superlatives express ultimate superiority or inferiority, claiming that one thing is the
most or the least of all. There are two types of French superlatives:
1. Superiority:
Use le plus just before the adjective to express the idea of “the most” or “the best.”
C’est le plus beau magasin.
“It’s the most beautiful store.”
Ils aiment les voitures les plus rapides.
“They like the fastest cars.”
Notice that rapides is placed after the noun and that beau is placed before. This is
because the principle of adjective placement is still applied when dealing with
superlatives.
Moreover, le plus became les plus in order to agree with voitures, which was plural in
that sentence.
2. Inferiority:
To express inferiority, use le moins just before the adjective to express the idea “the
least.”
Nous avons acheté nos vêtements dans le magasin le moins cher.
“We bought our clothes in the least expensive store.”
Only definite articles can be used with superlatives, like in English. In the above
examples, we used le and not un with magasin.
Mieux and Meilleur
To express the idea that someone or something is the best above all, simply add a
definite article (le, la, les) before meilleur and then the noun. Remember that meilleur
will change in spelling to agree in number and in gender with the noun it describes.
Ce sont les meilleurs joueurs de base-ball.
“They are the best baseball players.”
C'est la meilleure cuisinière.
“She is the best cook.”
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The Superlative
To express the idea that someone does something the best out of everyone, use le
mieux.
C'est elle qui cuisine le mieux.
“She is the one who cooks the best.”
Qui danse le mieux ?
“Who dances the best?”
The Superlative
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