Question 1

How do we form the "less ... than" comparison in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

You sandwich the adjective between moins (less) and que (than). Here, the adjective is pratique (practical), so we get moins pratique que. If you wanted to say "more practical than", you would use plus pratique que.

Question 2

Why use celle-là at the end? Couldn't I just say cette again?

Accepted Answer

You cannot use cette by itself because it is a descriptive word that must always be attached to a noun (like cette manette for "this controller"). To stand in for the noun and say "that one", you need a pronoun. Since manette is feminine, we use the feminine pronoun celle-là.

Question 3

What does the -là part of celle-là mean?

Accepted Answer

The suffix -là generally means "there", so celle-là literally translates to "that one there". If you were comparing it to a controller right next to you, you might use the suffix -ci (here) to say celle-ci (this one here).

Question 4

How would this sentence change if we were comparing a masculine object, like a computer (un ordinateur)?

Accepted Answer

You would need to change the words that match the gender of the object. "This computer" is cet ordinateur, and the feminine "that one" (celle-là) changes to the masculine version, celui-là. The sentence would become: Cet ordinateur est moins pratique que celui-là.

Cette manette est moins pratique que celle-là.

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