Le train est plus rapide que le bus.

to be

Breakdown of Le train est plus rapide que le bus.

• le bus: the bus
• rapide: fast, quick (adjective)
• plus: more

Questions & Answers about Le train est plus rapide que le bus.

Why is there le before both train and bus?

French usually needs an article before nouns much more often than English does.

So:

• le train = the train
• le bus = the bus

Even when English might say something more generally, French often still keeps the article. So this sentence is perfectly normal with le before both nouns.

Also, both train and bus are masculine nouns, so they take le in the singular.

What does est mean here, and why is it est?

Est means is.

It comes from the verb être = to be.

French uses est because the subject is le train, which is:

• third person
• singular

So:

• je suis = I am
• tu es = you are
• il/elle est = he/she/it is

Since le train is like it, est is the correct form.

How do plus and que work in this sentence?