Comparatives with Nouns and Verbs

Comparatives are used to compare two people, two objects or two situations. They vary according to their use in the sentence. They are used with nouns, adjectives, verbs or adverbs. In this lesson, we will show you how to use comparatives with nouns and verbs.

Comparatives with nouns

A. Comparatives of superiority and inferiority

When we want to express superiority with nouns we use “plus de +noun+ que”. When we want to express inferiority with nouns we use “moins de + noun + que”. There are many types of comparison with nouns:

1. Comparisons between subjects

J’ai plus d’argent que toi.
I have more money than you do.

Elle a eu moins de chance que moi.
She was not as lucky as I was.

La bibliothèque de son école a moins de livres que la nôtre.
His school library has less books than ours.

2. Comparisons between two verb complements

Maurice a plus de garçons que de filles dans sa classe.
Maurice has more boys than girls in his classroom.

Le tremblement de terre a fait plus de peur que de mal.
The earthquake caused more fright than real harm.

3. Comparison of nouns over a period of time

On dirait que tu as plus de boutons qu’hier.
It looks like you have more pimples than yesterday.

Je fais plus de sport qu’avant.
I work out more than I did before.

Remember: Sometimes “que” is implied.