Lesson 6.7. What is better?

Hello. In lesson 6.7 we are given the phrase “Ma soeur est moins grande que mon frère” in English “My sister is less tall than my brother” meaning “smaller”. Can “plus petite” be used instead of “moins grande”. To me that would be a better phrase, “smaller” rather than “less tall”.  I think size comparisons are the only phrases that this would apply to without changing the order of the sentence. Thanks.

Hi CharlesH58,

What a great question, you are indeed correct that you can use Ma soeur est plus petite que mon frère instead of Ma soeur est moins grande que mon frère. Both are correct grammatically and French people will have no issues understanding you. 

In French both plus petit/e and moins grand/e can be used to compare the heights of people and both sound completely normal. In English however, we would tend to use “smaller / shorter” as this sounds more natural than “less tall.”

I hope this helps!

Thanks Jonathon, 

I suppose it's the same for other adjectives e.g. “Il est moins vite que lui” and “il est plus lent que lui” in English “he's (less fast) not as fast as him” and “he is (more slow) slower than him”.

I need to stop thinking about this now I'm getting un mal de tête.

Regards