Highlighting a Past Experience in French - Exercises

Practice using the superlative form in French

Lesson Transcript

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

C'était le musée (pause with a tap of the finger) plus intéressant de la ville.

C'était le musée le plus intéressant de la ville.

"That was the most interesting museum in the city."

We use le in this sentence because musée is a masculine singular noun, and in French, the definite article in the superlative must agree with the gender and number of the noun. So we use le plus intéressant to say "the most interesting" for a masculine noun like musée.

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

Cette plage est (pause with a tap of the finger) plus tranquille que j'aie vue.

Cette plage est la plus tranquille que j'aie vue.

"This beach is the quietest I've seen."

We use la in this sentence because plage is a feminine singular noun. In French, superlative adjectives follow the structure la plus and the adjective for feminine singular nouns. That's why we say la plus tranquille to mean "the quietest."

Notice that here we used the subjunctive mood que j'aie vue, this is because in a superlative sentence expressing a subjective judgment, French uses the subjunctive mood after 'que'.

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

Ces plats sont (pause with a tap of the finger) plus délicieux du menu.

les

Ces plats sont les plus délicieux du menu.

"These dishes are the most delicious on the menu."

We use les in this sentence because plats is a plural noun. The definite article les is used for all plural nouns regardless of gender. So we say les plus délicieux to express "the most delicious."

Unscramble the words to make a sentence.

Ready?

Ce restaurant

Ce restaurant était

Ce restaurant était le

Ce restaurant était le meilleur

Ce restaurant était le meilleur pendant

Ce restaurant était le meilleur pendant notre

Ce restaurant était le meilleur pendant notre voyage.

"This restaurant was the best during our trip."

Ce restaurant était le meilleur pendant notre voyage.

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

Ce café a le personnel (le or la) plus chaleureux du quartier.

Ce café a le personnel le plus chaleureux du quartier.

"This café has the warmest staff in the neighborhood."

We use le in this sentence because personnel is a masculine singular noun. In the superlative, we use le plus chaleureux to say "the warmest," matching both gender and number.

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

C'était la plage (la or les) plus propre que j'aie jamais vue.

C'était la plage la plus propre que j'aie jamais vue.

"That was the cleanest beach I've ever seen."

We use la in this sentence because plage is a feminine singular noun. The correct superlative form is la plus propre, which means "the cleanest." The article la agrees with the feminine noun.

Here we also used the subjunctive mood que j'aie jamais vue, this is because in a superlative sentence expressing a subjective judgment, French uses the subjunctive mood after 'que'.

Let's translate some sentences into French.

Translate "This village is the most welcoming in the region." into French.

Ce, meaning "this,"

followed by

village, meaning "village,"

est, the third-person singular present tense of être, meaning "is,"

followed by

le, the masculine singular definite article, used here to agree with village,

plus accueillant, meaning "most welcoming,"

followed by

de la région, meaning "of the region."

We use le plus accueillant in this sentence because village is a masculine singular noun. The structure le plus + adjective is used to express "the most [adjective]," and le agrees with the masculine noun.

Ce village est le plus accueillant de la région.

"This village is the most welcoming in the region."

Translate "This is the most relaxing vacation we've had." into French.

Ce, a demonstrative pronoun meaning "this,"

followed by

sont, the third-person plural present of être, meaning "are," used here to match the plural subject,

les vacances, meaning "the holidays" or "vacation,"

followed by

les, the plural definite article,

plus relaxantes, meaning "most relaxing," where relaxantes agrees in gender and number with vacances,

followed by

que, a relative pronoun meaning "that,"

nous, meaning "we,"

followed by

ayons, the present subjunctive of avoir, used after que,

eues, the past participle of avoir, agreeing in gender and number with vacances (feminine plural).

We use les plus relaxantes in this sentence because vacances is a feminine plural noun. Superlative adjectives must agree in gender and number, so relaxantes has the -es ending to match les vacances. Les is used for the plural.

Ce sont les vacances les plus relaxantes que nous ayons eues.

"This is the most relaxing vacation we've had."

Translate "This movie was the best I saw this year." into French.

Ce, meaning "this,"

followed by

film, meaning "movie,"

était, the third-person singular imperfect tense of être, meaning "was,"

followed by

le, the masculine singular definite article,

meilleur, the irregular superlative form of bon, meaning "best,"

followed by

que, a relative pronoun meaning "that,"

j', a contraction of je, meaning "I,"

followed by

ai vu, the passé composé of voir, meaning "saw,"

cette année, meaning "this year."

We use le meilleur in this sentence because meilleur is the irregular superlative form of bon and is used instead of le plus bon. Here, film is masculine singular, so we use le meilleur to mean "the best."

Ce film était le meilleur que j'ai vu cette année.

"This movie was the best I saw this year."

Listen to me as I speak. Which superlative form is used in the sentences?

C'était le musée le plus intéressant de la ville.

Let's listen one more time.

C'était le musée le plus intéressant de la ville.

Did you hear le plus?

Le plus, meaning "the most," is used here to form the masculine singular superlative with the adjective intéressant.

It matches the masculine noun musée and emphasizes that it stands out among others.

How about...?

Ce restaurant était le meilleur pendant notre voyage.

Let's listen one more time.

Ce restaurant était le meilleur pendant notre voyage.

Did you hear le meilleur?

Le meilleur is the irregular superlative form of bon ("good").

It means "the best" and is used here with the masculine noun restaurant.

Next…

C'était la plage la plus propre que j'aie jamais vue.

One more time.

C'était la plage la plus propre que j'aie jamais vue.

Did you hear la plus?

La plus, meaning "the most," is the feminine singular superlative form.

It agrees with the feminine noun plage and adds emphasis to the adjective propre.

And...

Ce sont les vacances les plus relaxantes que nous ayons eues.

One more time.

Ce sont les vacances les plus relaxantes que nous ayons eues.

Did you hear les plus?

Les plus is the plural superlative form, used here with vacances, a feminine plural noun.

It highlights that these holidays were more relaxing than any others.

Thank you for watching.

Now you know how to talk about the highlights of a past experience in French.

...and now you can move on to the next lesson in the pathway.

Au revoir !

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