How Do You Make Comparisons Using Plus que, Aussi que, and Moins que?

Learn how to make comparisons using Plus que, Aussi que, and Moins que

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Lesson Transcript

Hi everybody! Candice here. Welcome to Ask a Teacher, where I'll answer your most common French questions.

The question for this lesson is How do you compare nouns, verbs, and adjectives?

With each of these expressions, you will have to change them slightly depending on whether you are comparing nouns, verbs, or adjectives.

First, we’ll talk about plus que, meaning “more than.” Remember to pronounce the s, because we are talking about a greater quantity. If you are talking about nouns, you actually want to add de. For example, J’ai plus d’amis que toi meaning “I have more friends than you.” Notice that the de does not become des, even though amis is plural.

If de agrees with the verb, the meaning changes to ne plus, meaning “no longer”. For example, on n’est plus amis meaning “We are no longer friends.” In spoken French, people often drop the ne in negative contractions.

So remember, if you want to talk about quantity, you have to use de. For adjectives and adverbs, we put the adjective or adverb between plus and que. For example, Il est plus grand que moi. This means “He is taller than me.” Il court plus vite que moi meaning “He runs faster than me.” Simple, right?

Lastly, for verbs, we put plus que after the verb. For example, Il parle plus que moi meaning “He talks more than me.”

Moins que, meaning “less than,” follows the same pattern. For example, J’ai moins d’amis que toi meaning “I have fewer friends than you.” Remember to leave de alone and do not make it agree with the noun. For adjectives and adverbs, an example is Il est moins grand que moi meaning “He is shorter than me.” Or Il court moins vite que moi meaning“He runs slower than me.” For verbs, an example is Il parle moins que moi meaning “He talks less than I do.”

Aussi que, meaning “as much as,” is slightly different. It follows the same pattern for adjectives and adverbs. For example, Il est aussi grand que moi. means “He is as tall as I am.” Il court aussi vite que moi means “He runs as fast as me.” But for verbs and nouns, you should actually use autant que. The placement of autant que is exactly the same; it’s just a different word. So let’s take a look. J’ai autant d’amis que toi means “I have as many friends as you do.” Notice that de does not change. And now for verbs. The example is Il parle autant que moi meaning “He speaks as much as I do.”

So to sum up, pronounce the s in plus. Never make de agree with your noun. And use autant que instead of aussi que when you’re talking about nouns and verbs.