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When you want to talk about extremes—like the tallest skyscraper or the most impressive tower—you need the superlative. Let's look at how to form it in French.

### The superlative

To express "the most" or "the least", you simply use a definite article (**le**, **la**, or **les**) followed by **plus** (more) or **moins** (less), and then the adjective.

The article you use must agree in gender and number with the noun you are describing.

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### Placement with nouns

When a superlative directly modifies a noun, its placement depends on where the adjective usually goes.

For adjectives that come *after* the noun, you must state the noun with its article, and then **repeat the definite article** before **plus** or **moins**.

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If the adjective normally comes *before* the noun (like **beau** for beauty), the superlative also goes before the noun, and you only need one article. Notice the contrast between the two adjectives here:

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### Saying "in" a place

In English, we say a building is the tallest "in" the city. After a superlative, French uses the preposition **de** (of) instead.

Remember that **de** combines with **le** to become **du**, and with **les** to become **des**.

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### Putting it all together

Now you are ready to compare architecture using both extremes!

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Superlative adjectives (le plus, le moins)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Singular 'to be' and indefinite articles (je suis un...)

Singular definite articles (le, la, l')

Identifying vs. describing (c'est vs. il est)

Feminine adjective agreement (+e)

Plural pronouns and 'to be' (nous sommes, vous êtes)

Formal and informal you (tu vs. vous)

Plural nouns and indefinite articles (des... -s)

Plural definite articles (les)

Plural adjective agreement (+s)

Stressed pronouns (moi, toi, lui)

The verb "to have" singular (j'ai, tu as, il a)

The verb "to have" plural (nous avons, vous avez, ils ont)

There is / there are (il y a)

Basic verbal negation (ne... pas)

Negating "there is" (il n'y a pas de)

Regular -er verbs singular (je parle, tu parles, il parle)

Regular -er verbs plural (nous parlons, vous parlez, ils parlent)

The verb "to be called" (s'appeler)

Yes/no questions with intonation (Tu parles ?)

Yes/no questions with "Est-ce que" (Est-ce que tu parles ?)

Informal questions (qui, que, quoi)

Standard questions (est-ce que)

Singular possessives (mon, ton, son)

Plural possessives (notre, votre, leur)

Demonstrative adjectives (ce, cet, cette, ces)

Adjective placement

Numbers 1 to 20

Numbers 21 to 100

Age and physical states (avoir)

The verb to go (aller)

The preposition to/at (à, au, aux)

Question word for location (où)

Prepositions for cities and countries (à, en, au, aux)

The verb to come (venir)

The preposition from/of (de, du, des)

Question word for origin (d'où)

The verb to do/make (faire)

Days of the week (lundi, mardi)

Telling time (il est... heure)

Question words for time (quand, à quelle heure)

The verb to take or have (prendre)

The verb to drink (boire)

Partitive articles (du, de la, de l')

Zero quantity (pas de)

Expressions of quantity (un peu de, beaucoup de)

Asking how much or how many (combien, combien de)

Very vs. a lot (très, beaucoup)

The verb to want (vouloir)

Polite requests (je voudrais)

The verb to be able to (pouvoir)

Obligation (devoir)

General obligation (il faut)

Why and because (pourquoi, parce que)

Expressing purpose (pour)

Reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nous, vous)

Daily routine verbs (se lever, s'habiller)

Adverbs of frequency (parfois, rarement)

Never (ne... jamais)

Regular -ir verbs (choisir, finir)

Regular -re verbs (attendre, répondre)

Irregular -ir verbs (sortir, partir, dormir)

Informal 'we' (on)

The imperative mood

Direct object pronouns (le, la, les, l')

The near future (aller + infinitive)

The recent past (venir de + infinitive)

The passé composé with avoir

Irregular past participles (eu, été, fait, pris, vu)

The passé composé with être

The negative passé composé (ne ... pas)

Saying goodbye

Please, sorry and thank you

Which / what (quel)

The indefinite adjective (tout, tous)

Irregular feminine adjectives (-euse, -ve)

Double consonant adjectives (-enne, -ette)

Feminine adjective endings (-ère, -trice)

Irregular plurals (-x)

Plurals ending in -al (-aux)

Present tense stem changes (e to è)

Accent stem changes (é to è)

Double consonant verbs (appeler, jeter)

Verbs ending in -yer (payer, envoyer)

Irregular communication verbs (dire, lire)

Irregular action verbs (écrire, mettre)

Question	Answer
the tower	la tour
high, tall	haut
This tower is the tallest in the city.	Cette tour est la plus haute de la ville.
the skyscraper	le gratte-ciel
This skyscraper is the tallest.	Ce gratte-ciel est le plus haut.
impressive	impressionnant
I admired the most impressive tower.	J'ai admiré la tour la plus impressionnante.
It is the least impressive monument in the country.	C'est le monument le moins impressionnant du pays.
wide	large
low	bas
The widest building is also the lowest.	Le bâtiment le plus large est aussi le plus bas.
These old castles have the lowest towers.	Ces vieux châteaux ont les tours les plus basses.
narrow	étroit
It is the narrowest street in the neighborhood.	C'est la rue la plus étroite du quartier.
This bridge is the least narrow.	Ce pont est le moins étroit.
I visited the least modern skyscraper a year ago.	J'ai visité le gratte-ciel le moins moderne il y a un an.
the architecture (f)	l'architecture
We studied the most impressive architecture two years ago.	Nous avons étudié l'architecture la plus impressionnante il y a deux ans.
the view	la vue
The widest balcony offers the most magnificent view.	Le balcon le plus large offre la vue la plus magnifique.
This tower is the least tall.	Cette tour est la moins haute.
the structure	la structure
It is the tallest structure with the most beautiful architecture.	C'est la structure la plus haute avec la plus belle architecture.
This skyscraper is the narrowest structure, but it has the most impressive view.	Ce gratte-ciel est la structure la plus étroite, mais il a la vue la plus impressionnante.

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