Breakdown of Le chapitre suivant est plus intéressant.
Questions & Answers about Le chapitre suivant est plus intéressant.
In French, every noun has a grammatical gender, masculine or feminine.
- chapitre is a masculine noun, so it takes the masculine definite article le.
- If it were feminine, it would be la (for example: la page, la phrase).
You simply have to learn the gender with each noun:
- un chapitre / le chapitre (masculine)
- une page / la page (feminine)
In French, most adjectives normally come after the noun, unlike English.
- le chapitre suivant = “the following chapter”
- Literally: “the chapter following”
Some very common adjectives come before the noun (often remembered with the acronym BANGS: beauty, age, number, goodness, size), like grand, petit, premier, bon, etc.
But suivant is not one of those; it usually follows the noun it describes:
- la page suivante – the following page
- la question suivante – the next question
Both are often translated as “the next chapter”, but there can be a nuance:
le chapitre suivant
- Very concrete, often means “the one that comes immediately after this one” in a sequence.
- Common in books, manuals, exercises: Passez au chapitre suivant.
le prochain chapitre
- Often means “the next chapter (from now on / in the future)”.
- Can sound slightly more “forward-looking” or planning-oriented:
- Dans le prochain chapitre, nous parlerons de… – In the next chapter, we will talk about…
In many contexts, especially with books, they can be used almost interchangeably, and the difference is subtle.
Yes, Le prochain chapitre est plus intéressant is perfectly correct.
- Both Le chapitre suivant est plus intéressant and Le prochain chapitre est plus intéressant sound natural.
- In a bookish context, chapitre suivant is particularly common when you’re moving step by step through the text.
- prochain chapitre may sound a bit more like “the next chapter we’ll get to” rather than “the one that directly follows this one,” but in practice people often use them freely.
Adjectives in French must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.
- chapitre is masculine singular.
- So the adjective must also be masculine singular: suivant.
Compare with a feminine noun:
- la page suivante (page = feminine → suivante)
- la leçon suivante (lesson = feminine → suivante)
And plural:
- les chapitres suivants – the following chapters
- les pages suivantes – the following pages
The full comparative structure in French is:
- plus + adjective + que + [thing compared]
- Ce chapitre est plus intéressant que le précédent.
– This chapter is more interesting than the previous one.
- Ce chapitre est plus intéressant que le précédent.
In your sentence, Le chapitre suivant est plus intéressant, the comparison is implicit:
- From context, it probably means “more interesting than this one” or “more interesting than the previous chapter,” but that part is left unsaid.
- French allows this when it’s very clear what you’re comparing to. English does it too sometimes:
- “The next chapter is more interesting” (we understand: than this one).
In French, adverbs like plus, très, assez, etc. that modify an adjective normally come before the adjective:
- plus intéressant – more interesting
- très intéressant – very interesting
- assez intéressant – quite/fairly interesting
You don’t say intéressant plus; that order would be incorrect in standard French.
You have to make all the relevant words agree in number (plural):
- Le chapitre suivant est plus intéressant.
→ singular: masculine singular article, noun, adjective, verb.
Plural version:
- Les chapitres suivants sont plus intéressants.
- Les (plural article)
- chapitres (noun + -s)
- suivants (adjective + -s)
- sont (plural of est)
- intéressants (adjective + -s)
Yes, they’re different types of words and used in different places in the sentence:
suivant(e) – adjective: “following / next”
- Comes with a noun:
- le chapitre suivant – the following chapter
- la question suivante – the following question
- Comes with a noun:
ensuite – adverb: “then / next / afterwards”
- Stands alone, modifies the verb or sentence:
- Nous lirons ce chapitre, ensuite nous ferons un exercice.
– We’ll read this chapter, then we’ll do an exercise.
- Nous lirons ce chapitre, ensuite nous ferons un exercice.
- Stands alone, modifies the verb or sentence:
après – preposition or adverb: “after / afterwards”
- With a noun: après le chapitre – after the chapter
- Alone in spoken French: On verra ça après. – We’ll see that later/afterwards.
So in your sentence, you need the adjective form because you’re describing a noun (chapitre): therefore suivant, not ensuite or après.
Approximate pronunciation in IPA:
[lə ʃapitʁə sɥivɑ̃ ɛ ply(z) ɛ̃teʁesɑ̃]
Broken down:
- Le – [lə] (like “le” in “lemon”, but very short)
- chapitre – [ʃa-pitʁ(ə)]
- ch = [ʃ] as in “sh”
- final -e often very weak or almost silent in fluent speech
- suivant – [sɥi-vɑ̃]
- ui = [ɥi] (a bit like “wee” but with rounded lips at the start)
- -an(t) = nasal [ɑ̃]; the final t is silent
- est – [ɛ] (like “eh”)
- plus – usually [ply] in everyday speech here; in careful speech many speakers make a liaison and say [plyz] before intéressant
- intéressant – [ɛ̃-te-ʁe-sɑ̃]
- in = nasal [ɛ̃]
- final t is silent
A natural version (with liaison) often sounds like:
Le chapitre suivant est plu[z]intéressant.
French has some irregular comparatives, mainly:
- bon → meilleur (better)
- mauvais → pire / plus mauvais (worse)
- bien → mieux (better, as an adverb)
But intéressant is a regular adjective, so you form the comparative with plus:
- intéressant → plus intéressant – more interesting
- intéressant → moins intéressant – less interesting
You don’t say “meilleur intéressant”; that would be incorrect.