Knowing when to use mieux vs meilleur is a piece of French grammar causing a bit of a struggle for French learners so let’s see them together today.
The Free PDF is available at the bottom of this page.
Find more French grammar lessons, including videos and exercises, in my Complete French Grammar Course.
Knowing what type of words they are is very important to know how to use them.
Bon and Bien in French both mean good. This is why the distinction is harder to make for English speakers.
Bon and meilleur are adjectives, so they agree in gender and number with the noun they refer to.
Because bien and mieux are adverbs, it never agrees in gender and number, they refer to the verb of the sentence.
Here is how Bon and Bien agree in gender and number:
Now if we replace Bien with Mieux and Bon with Meilleur, we can see clearly that mieux doesn’t agree, but meilleur does.
Meilleur – Meilleure – Meilleurs – Meilleures are all pronounced the same way.
Bon in English means good.
The comparative of Bon is Meilleur, which is better in English.
The superlative of Bon is Le meilleur, which is the best in English.
BON – Meilleur.e.s
Good Bon
Better Meilleur.e.s
The superlative also agrees in gender and number
The best: Le meilleur – La meilleure – Les meilleurs – Les meilleures
Here are some examples with bon, meilleur, and le meilleur to show you the variations.
Ce gâteau est bon – This cake is good
Ce gâteau est meilleur – This cake cake is better
Ce gâteau est le meilleur – This cake is the best
Cette idée est bonne – This idea is good
Cette idée est meilleure – This idea is better
Cette idée est la meilleure – This idea is the best
Ces gâteaux sont bons – These cakes are good
Ces gâteaux sont meilleurs – These cakes are better
Ces gâteaux sont les meilleurs – These cakes are the best
Ces idées sont bonnes – These ideas are good
Ces idées sont meilleures – These ideas are better
Ces idées sont les meilleures – These ideas are best
Bien in English means good/well.
The comparative of Bien is Mieux, which is better in English.
The superlative of Bien is Le mieux, which is the best in English.
Bien – Mieux
Good/well Bien
Better Mieux
The superlative doesn’t agree in gender and number
The best: Le mieux – La mieux – Les mieux – Les mieux
Here are some examples with bien, mieux, and le mieux to show you the variations.
Je parle bien français – I speak French well
Je parle mieux français – I speak French better
Je parle français le mieux – I speak French the best
Il s’habille bien – He dresses well
Il s’habille mieux – He dresses better
Il s’habille le mieux – He dresses the best
Tu dessines bien – You draw well
Tu dessines mieux – You draw better
Tu dessines le mieux – You draw the best
Aller mieux – To feel better
Est-ce que tu vas mieux ? – Are you feeling better?
Se sentir mieux – To feel better
Je me sens beaucoup mieux – I am feeling much better
Comprendre mieux – To understand better
Je comprends mieux maintenant, merci – I understand better now, thank you
Être mieux – To be better
C’est mieux de rentrer tôt – It’s better to come home early
Dormir mieux – To sleep better
Je dors mieux avec la fenêtre ouverte – I sleep better with the window open
Parler mieux – To speak better
Tu parles mieux que moi – You speak better than me
Faire mieux – To do better
Tu peux faire mieux que ça – You can do better than that
I hope you now understand better how to use Mieux and Meilleur in French. Keep practicing and don’t hesitate to leave a comment with an example to try. I will correct you if you want me to.
If you prefer to watch a video lesson, you can watch this video.
2 Responses
Cette leçon est la meilleur!!
Merci 🤩