Tuesday, May 12, 2020
French Superlative Adverbs - Adverbs Superlatifs
Superlative adverbs express absolute superiority or inferiority. Superiority, the idea that something is the most ___ or the ___est, is expressed with le plus ___ in French. Inferiority, meaning that something is the least ___, is stated with le moins ___. Notes About French Superlatives Unlike comparatives, French superlatives require the definite article. For example, Il est le plus grand - Hes the tallest.Superlatives are most commonly used with adjectives, but you can also use them with adverbs, verbs, and nouns. These comparisons have slightly different constructions for each part of speech. Click in the summary table below for detailed lessons. French Superlative Constructions Superlatives with... Required word order Adjectives le plus/moins + adjective + noun or le + noun + le plus/moins + adjective Adverbs le plus/moins + adverb Nouns le plus/moins + de + noun Verbs verb + le plus/moins  Comparing With Adjectives French superlatives have three parts: definite article, superlative word (either plus or moins), and adjective. For example:Adjective: vert (green)   le plus vert (the greenest)   le moins vert (the least green)Like all adjectives, the adjectives used in superlatives have to agree with the nouns that they modify, and therefore have different forms for masculine, feminine, singular, and plural. In addition, the article that goes in front of the superlative also needs to agree with the noun.Masculine singular   le plus vert (the greenest)   le moins vert (the least green)Feminine singular   la plus verte (the greenest)   la moins verte (the least green)Masculine plural   les plus verts (the greenest)   les moins verts (the least green)Feminine plural   les plus vertes (the greenest)   les moins vertes (the least green)Note: The above is true for all adjectives except bon and mauvais, which have special superlative forms for superiority. Superlative Constructions With Adjectives 1. Adjective plus noun:When using a superlative with an adjective to modify a noun, theres one more thing you have to think about: word order. Most French adjectives follow the nouns they modify, but there are some adjectives that precede nouns, and the same is true for superlatives.a) With adjectives that follow the noun, the superlative also follows. In addition, the definite article precedes both the noun and the superlative. For example:   David est là ©tudiant le plus fier.   David is the proudest student.   Cest la voiture la moins chà ¨re.   Its the least expensive car.b) With adjectives that precede the noun, you have a choice: you can use the above construction, or you can have the superlative precede the noun. If you choose the latter, you need only one definite article.   David est le garà §on le plus jeune.   David est le plus jeune garà §on.   David is the youngest boy.   Cest la fleur la plus jolie.   Cest la plus jolie fleur.   Thats the prettiest flower.2. Adjective on its ownIf the noun that you are referring to has already been stated or implied, you can leave it out:   David est le plus fier   David is the proudest.br/>   Ayant considà ©rà © trois voitures, jai achetà © la moins chà ¨re.   Having considered three cars, I bought the cheapest (one).3. Adjective plus deWith either of the above constructions, you can add de plus whatever you are comparing to:   Jai achetà © la voiture la moins chà ¨re de la ville.   I bought the cheapest car in town.   David est le plus fier de tous mes à ©tudiants.   David is the proudest of all my students.4. Adjective plus queWith either 1 or 2, above, you can add que plus a clause that provides more detail. Th e verb in the clause may need to be in the subjunctive.   Jai achetà © la voiture la moins chà ¨re que jaie pu trouver.   I bought the cheapest car I could find.   Elle est la plus jolie que je connaisse.   Shes the prettiest that I know. Comparing with Adverbs French superlatives with adverbs are very similar to the ones with adjectives. Once again, there are three parts: definite article le, superlative word (either plus or moins), and adverb. For example:Adverb: prudemment (carefully)   le plus prudemment (the most carefully)   le moins prudemment (the least carefully)Note: The above is true for all adverbs except bien, which has a special superlative form for superiority.But there are some differences: Adverbs dont agree with the words they modify, so the definite article in superlatives doesnt either - it is always le.Superlative adverbs always follow the verbs they modify.Because they follow the verb, superlatives with adverbs never have two definite articles, the way they sometimes do with adjectives. Superlative Constructions With Adverbs 1. Adverb on its own   David à ©crit le plus lentement.   David writes the most slowly.   Qui travaille le moins efficacement ?   Who works the least efficiently?2. Adverb with de   David à ©crit le plus lentement de mes à ©tudiants.   David writes the most slowly of my students.   Qui travaille le moins efficacement de ce groupe ?   Who works the least efficiently in this group?3. Adverb with clause   Voici le musà ©e que je visite le plus souvent.   Heres the museum I visit most often.   Jean est là ©tudiant qui travaille le moins efficacement.   Jean is the student who works least efficiently. Comparing With Nouns Superlatives with nouns have four parts: definite article le, superlative word (either plus or moins), de, and the noun. For example:Noun: argent (money)   le plus dargent (the most money)   le moins dargent (the least money) Superlative Constructions With Nouns 1. Noun on its own   Cest David qui a le plus de questions.   David has the most questions.   Nicholas achà ¨te le moins de livres.   Nicholas buys the fewest books.2. Noun with preposition   Qui a trouvà © le plus derreurs dans ce texte ?   Who found the most mistakes in this passage?   Jai visità © le moins de pays de tous mes amis.   Ive visited the fewest countries out of all my friends. Comparing With Verbs Superlatives with verbs have three parts: verb, definite article le, and superlative word (either plus or moins). For example:Noun: à ©tudier (to study)   à ©tudier le plus (to study the most)   à ©tudier le moins (to study the least) Superlative Constructions With Verbs 1. Verb on its own   David à ©crit le plus.   David writes the most.   Qui travaille le moins ?   Who works the least?   Ce qui ma choquà ©Ã‚ le plus, cà ©tait le mensonge.   What shocked me the most was the lie.2. Verb with de   David à ©crit le plus de mes à ©tudiants.   David writes the most out of my students.   Qui travaille le moins de ce groupe ?   Who works the least in this group?   Ce que jaime le moins de tout à §a, cest le prix.   What I like least of all / least in all this is the price.
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