Look at this comparison:
L'huile d'olive est supérieure à l'huile de maïs.
Olive oil is superior to corn oil.
Ce produit est inférieur au nôtre.
This product is inferior to ours.
Mes notes sont inférieures aux notes de Martin.
My grades are inferior to Martin's grades.
La glace à la vanille est supérieure à la glace au chocolat.
Vanilla ice cream is superior to chocolate ice cream.
Note that some adjectives are naturally comparative and have no comparative or superlative form, and they use à rather than que:
supérieur/e à (superior to)
inférieur/e à (inferior to)
These less used adjectives also lack superlatives and comparative forms:
intérieur à (interior to)
extérieur à (exterior to)
Note that the preposition à will become au or aux when followed by articles le or les.
See À + le = au, à + les = aux, de + le = du, de + les = des (contractions of articles)
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
La glace à la vanille est supérieure à la glace au chocolat.
Vanilla ice cream is superior to chocolate ice cream.
Mes notes sont inférieures aux notes de Martin.
My grades are inferior to Martin's grades.
L'huile d'olive est supérieure à l'huile de maïs.
Olive oil is superior to corn oil.
Ce produit est inférieur au nôtre.
This product is inferior to ours.
Q&A
Chris
Kwiziq community member
10/12/18
La glace à vanille est supérieure à la glace au chocolat.
Ce produit est inférieur au nôtre.
The difference is simply that "a + le" gets contracted to "au". As produit is a male noun, it would be "à le nôtre" which becomes "au nôtre".
Chris
Kwiziq community member
10/12/18
fiona
Kwiziq community member
10/12/18
Chris
Kwiziq community member
10/12/18
Chris
Kwiziq community member
13/03/18
The usual way you form a comparative is with "plus" or "moins".
Il est plus âgé qu'elle. -- He is older than her.
Marie parle le français moins couramment que moi. -- Marie speaks French less fluently than me.
Here is a link to the corresponding lesson: Making comparisons with adjectives: plus... que, aussi... que, moins... que
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
29/06/18
Hi Stuart,
I think what is meant is that 'supérieur' and 'inférieur' are comparative in themselves, so you would not say 'plus supérieur/inférieur à' , as with normal comparisons highlighted by Chris .
The important bit is that you use 'à' afterwards and not 'que'.
Hope this helps!
Laura
Kwiziq language super star
8/05/17
Sar
Kwiziq community member
8/03/17
"Le nôtre" with the obligatory "le/la/les" and the accent circonflexe means "ours". "Le" is used because "produit" is masculine.
The sentence is saying "This product is inferior to ours". We say "Ce produit est inférieur au nôtre" because "à + le" must combine to make "au".
Ron
Kwiziq community member
10/04/17
Almut
Kwiziq community member
7/05/17
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
26/12/18
No, it should be 'à l'extérieur' and 'à l'intérieur.'
Michael
Kwiziq community member
16 January 2019
1 reply
The kwiz questions I encountered...
had a variation after the comparative that was not exampled in the lesson.
...celui de son frère.
...celle de ce restaurant.
Could the celui de, celle de, be omitted and express the exact same ideas?
Will the inclusion of these demonstrative pronouns and adjectives be part of a future lesson?
Michael
Kwiziq community member
16 January 2019
16/01/19
To my surprise...the next lesson offered to me is Demonstrative pronouns!
Still laughing!