Leçon 13 - Comparaisons

Introduction

In this lesson you'll learn how to make comparisons in English, including how to use the comparative and superlative forms of adjectives. You'll also learn some common English phrases that are used when making plans.

Conversations

cafe

English

Alice and Mary are at a cafe. Mary goes up to the counter to order.

Barrista: Good morning. What would you like?

Mary: Good morning. I'd like a large coffee and a blueberry muffin.

Barrista: That'll be five dollars and fifty cents. How would you like to pay?

Mary: With my credit card.

Mary pays then takes her coffee and muffin and sits down at a table by the window. A couple minutes later Alice sits down as well.

Mary: What did you get?

Alice: I got a lemon-mint green tea and a cinnamon coffee cake.

Mary: The coffee cake looks very good. I wish I had have gotten one of those.

Alice: I had one last week and I really like it. What are your plans for the weekend?

Mary: I'm going to the beach with my sister and nephew on Saturday. Do you want to come along?

Alice: I can't. I'm going to visit my parents on Saturday. What are you up to on Sunday?

Mary: I don't have any plans.

Alice: Do you want to go for a bike ride.

Mary: Sure.

Français

Alice et Marie sont dans un café. Marie s'approche du comptoir pour commander.

Barrista: Bonjour. Que désirez-vous?

Mary: Bonjour. Je voudrais un grand café et un muffin aux myrtilles.

Barrista: Cela fera cinq dollars et cinquante cents. Comment voulez-vous payer ?

Mary: Avec ma carte de crédit.

Mary paie puis prend son café et son muffin et s’assoit à une table près de la fenêtre. Quelques minutes plus tard, Alice s’assied également.

Mary Qu’avez-vous obtenu?

Alice: J’ai eu un thé vert citron-menthe et un gâteau au café à la cannelle.

Mary: Le gâteau au café a l’air très bon. J’aurais aimé en avoir un.

Alice: J’ai eu un (gâteau au café à la cannelle) la semaine dernière et je l’aime vraiment. Quels sont vos projets pour le week-end ?

Mary: Je vais à la plage avec ma sœur et mon neveu samedi. Voulez-vous venir?

Alice: Je ne peux pas. Je vais rendre visite à mes parents samedi. Que faites-vous dimanche ?

Mary: Je n'ai rien de prévu.

Alice: Voulez-vous faire une promenade à vélo ?

Mary: Bien sûr.

Vocabulaire et Phrases

Here are some common English phrases related to making plans. To help you learn these phrases, try creating your own conversations using them.

What are your plans for the weekend? Quels sont vos projets pour le week-end ?
What are you up to tonight? Que faites-vous ce soir?
What are you doing tomorrow? Que faites vous demain?
Not much. Pas beaucoup.
I'm not sure yet. Je ne suis pas encore sûr.
Do you have any plans for the weekend? Avez-vous des plans pour le week-end?
I'm going to go to the beach. Je vais aller à la plage.
I'm planning to go camping on the weekend. Je prévois d'aller camper le week-end.
I don't have any plans. Je n'ai rien de prévu.
I'm just going to stay home and relax. Je vais juste rester à la maison et me détendre.
What time do you want to go? À quelle heure voulez-vous aller?
When should we meet? Quand devrions-nous nous rencontrer?
Where should we meet. Où devrions-nous nous rencontrer.
Would you like to go to a movie tonight? Aimeriez-vous aller au film ce soir?
Do you want to go to the beach tomorrow? Voulez-vous aller à la plage demain?

Annonce

Grammaire

Comparing Adjectives

Adjectives are used to describe a quality or attribute of a noun. This lesson covers how to compare a quality of two or more nouns.

Indicating Equality

To indicate that a noun has the same quality as another noun, the following construction is used:

as <adjective> as

Today is as cold as yesterday. Aujourd'hui, il fait froid comme hier.
You are as smart as I am. Tu es aussi intelligent que moi.
Your house is as big as my house. Votre maison est aussi grand que ma maison.

Indicating Less of a Quality

To indicate that a a noun has less of a quality than another noun, the following construction is used.

not as <adjective> as

The following construction can also be used:

less <adjective> than

For example:

Today is less cold than yesterday. Aujourd'hui, il fait moins froid qu'hier.
Today is not as cold as yesterday. Aujourd'hui, il ne fait pas aussi froid qu'hier.
Your house is not as big as my house. Votre maison est pas aussi grand que ma maison.

Comparative

There are two ways to indicate that a noun has a greater quality than another noun. The first way is to add "er" to the end of the adjective. This is called the comparative form of the adjective. The second way is to add the word "more" before the adjective. The following rules are used to determine which form to use.

  1. If the adjective has one syllable and ends in a consonant, er is added to the end of the adjective. Sometimes the final consonant is also doubled.
  2. If the adjective has one syllable and ends in e, then r is added to the end of the adjective.
  3. If the adjective is two syllables and ends in y, the y is changed to an i and er is added to the end of the adjective.
  4. If the adjective is two syllables and ends in ow, then er is added to the end of the adjective.
  5. If the adjective is two syllables and does not end in y or ow, then the word more is added before the adjective. Some of these two syllable adjectives can use the er suffix instead.
  6. For adjectives with three or more syllables always use the word more with the adjective. The suffix er is never used with these adjectives.
Adjective Comparative
big bigger
great greater
happy happier
narrow narrower
intelligent more intelligent
quiet quieter or more quiet
white whiter
broken more broken

Superlative

To indicate that a noun has the most of a quality within a group, either the superlative form of the adjective is used, or the word most is added before the adjective. The following rules are used to determine which form to use.

  1. If the adjective has one syllable and ends in a consonant, est is added to the end of the adjective. Sometimes the final consonant is also doubled.
  2. If the adjective has one syllable and ends in e, then st is added to the end of the adjective.
  3. If the adjective is two syllables and ends in y, the y is changed to an i and est is added to the end of the adjective.
  4. If the adjective is two syllables and ends in ow, then est is added to the end of the adjective.
  5. If the adjective is two syllables and does not end in y or ow, then the word most is added before the adjective. Some of these two syllable adjectives can use the est suffix instead.
  6. For adjectives with three or more syllables always use the word most with the adjective. The suffix est is never used with these adjectives.
Adjective Comparative Superlative
big bigger biggest
great greater greatest
happy happier happiest
narrow narrower narrowest
intelligent more intelligent most intelligent
quiet quieter or more quiet quietest or most quiet
white whiter whitest
broken more broken most broken

Annonce

Exemples

That's the biggest dog I've ever seen. C'est le plus gros chien que j'ai jamais vu.
That's the oldest house in the neighborhood. C'est la plus vieille maison du quartier.
Your house is bigger than our house. Votre maison est plus grande que la nôtre.
His car is more expensive than mine. Sa voiture est plus chère que la mienne.
She is the most intelligent person I have ever met. Elle est la personne la plus intelligente que j'ai jamais rencontrée.

Irregular Forms

Some adjectives have irregular comparative and superlative forms. The following table shows the irregular forms.

Adjective Comparative Superlative
good better best
bad worse worst
little less least
many more most
much more most

Comparing Adverbs

The comparative form of adverbs is created by adding the mord more before the adverb the superlative form of adverbs is created by adding the word most before the adverb.

Adverb Comparative Superlative
quietly more quietly most quietly
frequently more frequently most frequently
carefully more carefully most carefully

Quiz

Voici un bref examen en ligne qui vous aidera à apprendre le vocabulaire anglais inclus dans cette leçon.

Donnez-nous votre opinion. like page dislike page Commentaires