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
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.
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.
Q&A
Laura
Kwiziq language super star
8/05/17
No, modèle is masculine.
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
More correctly however: Dans les années 1900, les toilettes étaient à l’extérieur de la maison, mais aujourd'hui, ils sont à l’intérieur.
le tapis est intérieur à la maison pendant la pelouse est extérieur (à la maison)
Almut
Kwiziq community member
7/05/17
Stuart
Kwiziq community member
12 March 2018
2 replies
What is a ‘naturally comparative’ adjective?
Chris
Kwiziq community member
13 March 2018
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: https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/making-comparisons-using-adjectives-plus-que-aussi-que-moins-que
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
29 June 2018
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!