Making comparisons with adverbs: plus... que, aussi... que, moins... que : French language revision

Comparing using adverbs (she wears it more elegantly) is different from comparing actions or things.

Look at these examples:

Elle marche plus lentement que moi.
She walks more slowly than I.

Il parle plus vite que toi.
He speaks faster than you.
He speaks more quickly than you.

Je chante aussi bien que ma tante.
I sing as well as my aunt.

Sandra s'habille moins élégamment que lui.
Sandra dresses less elegantly than he.

Germaine est allée se coucher plus tôt que Simon.
Germaine went to bed earlier than Simon.

Note that to compare adverbs (nicely, quickly, slowly ...), you use comparative words as follows:

English	French
more [adverb] than [adverb]-er than	plus [adverbe] que
less [adverb] than	moins [adverbe] que
as [adverb] as	aussi [adverbe] que

ATTENTION:
With adverbs, you NEVER agree.
You won't say ''Elle marche plus lentemente que moi.''

Whereas in English, you will need to use a subject pronoun after than (... than I (do), you (do), he/she (does)...), in French you will once again use the stress pronoun after que (... que moi, toi, lui/elle, nous, vous, eux/elles). You will also never repeat the verb with (do/am/have) afterwards.

Je cours plus vite que tu fais toi.
I run faster than you do.

See also other Comparative structures:

Plus... plus..., moins... moins... = the more...the more..., the less...the less... (comparisons with phrases)
Better and better, worse and worse = de mieux en mieux, de pire en pire (comparisons)
De plus en plus and de moins en moins = more and more and less and less (comparisons with adjectives, adverbs, verbs)
De plus en plus de and de moins en moins de = more and more and less and less (comparisons of nouns)
Making comparisons with adjectives: plus... que, aussi... que, moins... que
Making comparisons with nouns: plus de... que, moins de... que, autant de... que
Making comparisons with verbs: plus que, autant que, moins que

And for Superlative forms, see:

Le, la, les plus and le, la, les moins = the most and the least (superlatives of adjectives)
Meilleur, mieux, pire / plus mauvais, plus mal = better, best, worse and worst (irregular comparatives and superlatives)
Le plus and le moins = the most and the least (superlative of adverbs)

Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Adverbe

Comparatif

Examples and resources

Je chante aussi bien que ma tante.
I sing as well as my aunt.

Luc court moins rapidement que Françoise
Luke runs less quickly than Françoise

Il parle plus vite que toi.
He speaks faster than you.
He speaks more quickly than you.

Germaine est allée se coucher plus tôt que Simon.
Germaine went to bed earlier than Simon.

Sandra s'habille moins élégamment que lui.
Sandra dresses less elegantly than he.

Elle marche plus lentement que moi.
She walks more slowly than I.

Q&A

David

Kwiziq community member

15 July 2018

3 replies

Carefully

In a quiz I was asked to translate "My aunt drives as carefully as my uncle" and I responsed with "Ma tante conduit aussi prudemment que mon oncle". Why did Kwiziq mark this wrong and want "document"? Aren't both of these equally valid translations?

And this lesson does not even use the word doucement, which might have indicated that Kwiziq perferred that word.

Searching on the web provides thousands of instances of "conduire prudemment" with the meaning of carefully.

David

Kwiziq community member

15 July 2018

15/07/18

Pardon the typo. Document should have been doucement.

Alan

Kwiziq community member

16 July 2018

16/07/18

I guess you missed the hint below the question:

HINT: doucement = carefully

David

Kwiziq community member

16 July 2018

16/07/18

Ok. It is hard to get back to see it since that must be 100 quizzes ago but if it is there I must have missed it so I apologize.

It would be so nice if one could get the question and answer displayed on the same screen as one is composig the post to the discussion.

Cécile

Kwiziq language super star

8 July 2018

8/07/18

Hi Ann,

It depends what you mean -

Normally 'près' expresses a physical proximity (in space) whereas 'proche' is used more to express an emotional, mental closeness.

"On peut être près de quelqu'un sans en être proche!" (You can be near to someone without being close!)

You can say 'plus près de' if you are comparing two things and it will be followed by 'que'. e.g.

Versailles est plus près de Paris que de Nantes.

or using 'plus proche de':

"Je suis plus proche de son frère que de lui" = "I am closer to his brother than to him."

Hope this helps!

Jim

Kwiziq community member

3 January 2018

3/01/18

I've visited the page referred to in your question and there is a single test question at the very end of the lesson. Others have made a similar observation and again I couldn't see a problem which leads me to think that it might be to do with the device that you are using. I'm using a PC running Windows 10 and the lessons with mini test questions appear every time.

Rowen

Kwiziq language super star

3 January 2018

3/01/18

Hi Neil, the micro kwizzes have been removed in places - I'm sorry it came as a bit of a surprise that they aren't there as before - they've been taken off wherever the lessons are viewed from within the context of a study list. The rationale behind this is to encourage kwizzing against study lists for a more individually tailored and effective learning process. We are updating these with a view to re-integrating the kwik kwizzes asap, but want to modify them first for more effective results. If you have any questions about this, do send us an email and I'll be happy to explain in more detail.