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Cette tour est la plus haute de la ville.

Cette tour est la plus haute de la ville.
This tower is the tallest in the city.
From Lesson 119:Superlative adjectives (le plus, le moins)·French

Questions & Answers about Cette tour est la plus haute de la ville.

Why does the sentence use de la ville instead of dans la ville for 'in the city'?
When using a superlative like 'the tallest' or 'the best', French uses the preposition de (meaning 'of') instead of dans (meaning 'in') to describe the place. You are literally saying this tower is the tallest 'of' the city.
Why is it la plus haute instead of le plus haut?
In French, the superlative must agree in gender and number with the noun it describes. Because tour (tower) is a feminine noun, you must use the feminine article la and add an e to make the adjective feminine, resulting in haute.
Wait, I thought tour was masculine, like in le Tour de France?
The word tour is tricky because its meaning changes depending on its gender. When it is feminine (la tour), it means a physical building or tower. When it is masculine (le tour), it means a turn, a walk, or a circuit (which is why the famous bike race is le Tour de France).
Why do we use cette at the beginning of the sentence?
Cette is the feminine form of the demonstrative adjective, meaning 'this' or 'that'. Since we know tour is feminine in this context, we use cette instead of the masculine forms ce or cet.

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