‘Bien’ versus ‘bon’
Bon
- ‘Bon’ (good) is an adjective. It modifies a noun:
Masculine singular: un bon restaurant
Feminine singular: une bonne salade
Masculin plural: de bons parents
Feminine plural: de bonnes baguettes
- It makes set phrases with these specific verbs:
Faire: ‘Il fait bon‘ = the temperature is nice
Sentir: ‘Ca sent bon‘ = it smells good (depending on the grammatical context: ‘il sent bon’ / ‘elle sent bon’).
Bien
- ‘Bien’ is an adverb. Its main use is: bien + verb = well
Je dors bien = I sleep well
J’ai bien dormi = I slept well
Je me sens bien = I feel good
Je vais au restaurant ce soir : je vais bien manger = I go to a restaurant tonight, I’m going to eat well
- Bien + ‘de’ + noun = a lot of
Tu as bien de la chance = you are very lucky (literally: you have a lot of luck)
- Bien + adjective = very
Tu as l’air bien fatigué = you look very tired
Mauvais
- ‘Mauvais’ (bad) is an adjective. It modifies a noun:
Masculine singular: un mauvais restaurant
Feminine singular: une mauvaise salade
Masculin plural: de mauvais parents
Feminine plural: de mauvaises baguettes
- It makes set phrases with these specific verbs:
Faire: ‘Il fait mauvais‘ = the weather is bad, it’s raining
Sentir: ‘Ca sent mauvais‘ = it smells bad (depending on the grammatical context: ‘il sent mauvais’ / ‘elle sent mauvais’).
Mal
- ‘Mal’ is an adverb. Its main use is: mal + verb = bad or badly
Je dors bien = I sleep badly
J’ai mal dormi = I slept badly
Je me sens mal = I feel bad
Je n’ai rien dans le frigo : je vais mal manger = I have nothing in my fridge, I’m going to eat badly
With ‘être’ (to be): bon & bien
- ‘Bon’: judgment based on sens (taste, smell…) and on proficiency
Ce café est bon = this coffee is good
Julien est bon en tennis = Julien is good at tennis
Cet homme est bon = this man is a good man
Be careful with the feminine version! Cette femme est bonne = it means: this women is hot
- ‘C’est bon’ is a set phrase:
‘Tu es prêt ?’ ‘Oui c’est bon !’ = Are you ready? Yes I am! It’s fine / it’s OK
‘Monsieur Dupont, votre nom s’épelle D-U-P-O-N-T?’ ‘Oui c’est bon.’ = ‘Mr Dupont, your name is spelled D-U-P-O-N-T?’ ‘Yes that’s right / that’s correct.’
- ‘Bien’: judgment based on intellect and moral
Cet appartement est bien = this apartment is good: it is spacious, quiet etc.
Ce film est bien = this film is good: It is well framed, interesting.
Tu as fini ? C’est bien ! = Are you done already? It’s good !
Et maintenant on pratique 🙂
Musique
‘Bien’, ‘bon’: these two words contain nasal vowels (-en- and -on-).
Nasal vowels?? Check them here and here.
On this page, listen to the song and click on the nasal sounds.
Activités
Fill in the blanks and listen to check your answer. Then, click on ‘Valider’: exercice 1, exercise 2, exercise 3.
Here are other exercises.
Ecrire
- Production 1 :