Bien Meaning in French: What Most English-Speakers Get Wrong
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- čas přidán 12. 06. 2024
- Curious about when to use bon vs bien? They both mean “good” in French, but using them properly can be a little tricky...
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C’est bien! C’est bon! C’est… délicat. These two French words may have very similar meanings, but learning to use them the way we do in everyday spoken and written French can be tricky. Are you using them properly? Let’s find out!
In today’s lesson, we’ll explore the core differences between “bon” and “bien”, including what role they play in a sentence, how they’re used in common French expressions, and whether or not you can use them interchangeably.
Take care and stay safe.
😘 from Grenoble, France.
Géraldine
I'm subscribed to this channel and I like the videos. Having said that: in her current setup, the microphone is placed such that every time her hands make contact with the desk/table, it sounds like thunder. It's not too noticeable when listening with speakers, but when listening with headphones, it's very loud and distracting. A boom stand for that microphone might be the solution.
Vous êtes le meilleure professeur français sur CZcams par exemple.
Thank you for your great lessons. It helps me a lot here in Japan where French lessons are really expensive.
...Bien bon translates directly with Northern English, as in "that cake is well good".
oh that's helpful to think about! I was thinking about the use of "proper" in some British English as well.
Bon/Bonne and bien do not not really have a in the direct sense. The difference between good and well/ fine. One would say " Il est bon ce repas/ cette confiture est excellente( bonne.)
Northern English has more similarities like how in French they sometimes repeat the subject at the end: " Tu es fou toi" could literally be "you're mad you" or "c'est drôle ça" would be "that's funny that"
@@JayJCPiano I was thinking the same thing last week! The other similarity is with the t' thing. T'internet. ;-)
@@donsarde Excellent means "très bon".
i thought "bien" means "well" and "bon" means "good", but in french we often don't use "bien/bon" in the same circonstances than "well/good". That's what's tricky. that's why your video is interesting.
That’s what I thought too for ages
Bien is more like "very" ? right? I associate it with how we use Bien in that same manner in Spanish sometimes.
@@juanme555 I think it's a deviation of the original meaning, and it depends on the context. Bien is a qualitative adverb, but très (very) is quantitative. that's a important distinction, but sometimes, the use in informal speaking mixes them. Bien is an anwer to a question with "Comment" (How), but très is more an answer to a question with "Combien" (How many). For me it's the major difference.
J'aime bien tes videos. Ils m'aident beaucoup. Merci.
You are an amazing instructor, Geraldine!
Toutes vos leçons sont bien bonnes!
Merci beaucoup pour cette vidéo!!
Merci. Très utile.
A very useful lesson. I have been watching for years. However the sound from this microphone is very distracting. On my iPad the ‘s’ sounds are very strong and it booms a bit. Lessons in the past were clearer to hear.
Merci beaucoup pour le leçons ✍️👏🏻👏🏻👍
C’est une bonne leçon! Super!
I don't know why, explanation combined with the music it easy for me to understand. That's why I subscribe this chanel, thank u Geraldine.
Samesies.❤️
You're right. It is a liaison due to the consonant n joining with the vowel/ h mute beginning of the proceeding word. It's normal..bon appétit will indeed sound like bonne appétit. That's correct
Thank you!!!
Wonderful ! I need to get busy studying so I can go see the alps!!
Très utile. Un petit tuyau, quand même: Je suis bien arrivé = I did come in - NOT: I did came in, as you said.
Merci
merci! i always though bon was for food and bien for well.
Géraldine, could you make a video about talking to your children and common words and phrases said only to children. I have a baby and I am trying to teach him to speak French from an early age. Thank you! I love your videos!!
Merci beaucoup. C'est tres bon lecon. : )
C'est une très bonne leçon (leçon is feminine ).
Quand j’ai commencé apprendre le français, le mot “bien” était très confus. MDR. J’apprécie votre explication. Merci pour votre vidéos !
Il est bon, ton video. ... i think that's right!
I love the lessons, just a little constructive comment about the audio. I am hearing an intermittent bang or bump during the audio. I think it may be happening when Geraldine is making her hand gestures (as she must!) and she inadvertantly strikes the desk with her hand. Can I suggest moving the microphone to a boom mic stand or if not practical, a side table or chair? That is some giant microphone, though.
It would be helpful to have more explication of the use of bon et bien as adjectives. I am often not sure whether to say "meilleur" ou "mieux".
"Meilleur is the comparative and superlative of "bon" ; mieux is the comparative and superlative of "bien".
Ex : Tu es bon en mathématiques mais Jacques est meilleur que toi"( comparative)," tu es le meilleur" (you are the best -superlative = nobody is better than you" )
"Tu travailles bien mais Paul travaille mieux " (comparative), " "c'est le mieux que je puisse faire" (superlatif)- "c'est lui qui travaille le mieux (superlative).
@@claudinelipinski5912 "Bien" here is an adverb. In this case it is clear.
However, "bien" can also be used as an adjective, the comparative of which is "mieux"; the French use it quite frequently. I think it is used when describing quality and sensations. This is when I get confused.
For example, a woman standing next to me in Darty as we were both looking at irons, said, "Celui est mieux".
C'est géniale la façon dont tu enseignes! Est-ce que tu pourrais faire une vidéo à propos des titres honorifiques en français? Est-ce que les étudiants t'appelleraient "Madame", "Mademoiselle" ou par ton prénom?
Coming from learning Spanish as a second language, there is a lot that translates... but I will always first envision a cat when I see or hear 'gateau', which makes some of your example sentences quite funny!
jajaja
A question on pronunciation. When the word "bon" precedes a word beginning with a vowel, such as "bon anniversaire" or "bon apetit", I hear the word "bon" pronounced as if it were spelled "bonne", with the clear use of the vowel used in "bonne" and not the nasal vowel in "bon". (I know the 'n' will be pronounced regardless because of liaison -- my concern is the vowel sound before the 'n'.)
Is this standard? One CLE dictionary mentions this point, but I've never heard it described anywhere else.
That's exactly the question I have had for a long time. To me, as well, it sounds like the nasal sound in "bon" almost or completely disappears before a following word beginning with a vowel, and you only hear the final "n" of "bon" due to liaison. I wish someone could answer your question!
@@manfredneilmann4305 yes, when the 'n' or 'm' in a group of letters with nasal sound (on, an, in, ain, ein, em, un, etc...) is used with a vowel that follows, in the same word or by "liaison", it cannot be used with the preceding vowel (the sound of consonant letter is used only once). So the preceding letter (o, a, i, etc...) is pronounced alone, not nasal. so "bon" = nasal 'on', "bon appétit" not nasal = "bo nappétit". But sometimes the difference is subtle. for the same adjective "Bon", the femine form "Bonne" is not nasal, as the 'n' sound is used with the 'e', the 'o' is alone. Other example : "malin" (cunning, sly,...) in the masculine form "in" is nasal, gives "maline" in the feminine forme, where the "i" is no more nasal. The "liaisons" behave the same.... in most cases... there's always exceptions.
In French grammar, the " bien " is used in affirmative and negative forms : Allez-vous bien ? Oui, je vais très bien/bien. / Non, je ne vais pas bien/ très bien. Basic rules of French grammar, not so difficult once, one has learned. As one can also use bon in: il était bon de faire, dire, d'aller.... il est une très bonne personne, elle est une très bonne dame, cuisinière....
"Très bonne personne": yes but "we don't say "une très bonne dame". It is correct but not used. "C'est une femme très bonne" is better.
You will find "allez-vous bien ?" in books (but not always). We say "vous allez bien ?" or better : "comment allez-vous ?"
I found myself saying “merci bien” instead of “merci beaucoup” and I wondered if I’m not saying something wrong. Is it or it is ok?
«Merci bien« is OK, you can use this term. Bonne chance !
@@martinneumann7783, Merci bien!
Both are ok.
In the airplane example you pronounced "bien atterri" sans liaison.
I'm now confused about when they are tied together, and when not.
bien also means property like realestate
If I wanted to say: ' my tailor is rich' would that be: 'mon tailleur sont riche?' If I wanted to say:' my flowers are beautiful' would that be:' mes fleurs sont bon?'
I have a noticeable French Canadian nasal sound when I say “bien”. Do I need to change any Québécois accents when I visit Paris?
No!
Bonne questionne!
Ca plane pour moi.
I have a question: in English, "well" has a variety of meanings. Sometimes it is used to introduce a subject or present an objection, such as, "Well, in my opinion..." What is the French equivalent?
There isn't really one but if you really want you can start with "Et bien, à mon avis....", the "et" is not optional. However if you say that it heavily implies doubt or an exageration . For exemple, if you want to say that cake is good but yous say it like this : "Et bien c'est très bon" (well i'ts really good) you implies that you didn't expected it to be that way (wich can be rude) so I would recommand to try to avoid that unless you are verry fluent in french
In French Canadien "bien" is indeed used this way. But it's spelled "ben" and pronounced that way as well.
Altments Bien in English
From your previous video I'm hearing that 'hien' is monosyllabic and doesn't rhyme with 'bien'. Is that just a quirk of French?
There can be some many connotations depending on the intonation and the context.
Also, the expression "un homme de bien" means someone that routinely goes out of his way to do good things. But it's not very common.
"bien vu !" = well spotted !
"bien entendu" = of course
"bien envoyé" : "well said" this is somewhat similar to the sarcastic "bien fait" but here you are telling someone that you are agreeing with something a bit aggressive that he just said. You could sometimes translate it into "you pwned him/her"
"bien manger" can mean "to eat a lot" or "to eat something good" (or both).
"bien gaulé(e)" : (rude) Of good proportions when talking of a man or woman, often specifically talking of breasts for the women and genitals for the men.
How can I say ''I am very excited'' without being rude?
What does Je pense bien à toi aussi means? Like I think a lot about you too? Or just, I think of you
I hope it is okay to say 'Merci bien'?
Yes, or "merci beaucoup.
i am confused about welcome, bienvenue and accueillir
"Bienvenue" is a noun and "accueillir" is a verb. Ex : " je vous souhaite la bienvenue" ( = welcome !) but you will say " je suis heureux de vous accueillir".
No other choice. What is “Alanguis dans la furie” i’m just talking about the first word I know the rest. But the first word never translates it always comes up alanguis even in the translator. So I can never figure out what this word is.
Kindly sharing: ‘wrongly’ is an adverb, to use in a sentence it would be better to say, ‘they wrongly accused him’.
A better word for your title would be ‘Do you use the word ‘bien’ incorrectly?’
On fait les mêmes erreurs des fois en français. Merci et bonne journée de Canada 🇨🇦
I fell like
Oooooooooooo.
Because my french level sounds like :
un, deux, trois... and
that's all
4:09 - I was expecting another Orelsan song
I come here for her hair and blouses. No doubt she has a lot to impart, *mais* speaking English during the entire class is not how I retain new languages. Bien bon? Oui d'accord!
I wondered why you wouldn’t use un leçon bon rather than un leçon bien? It’s a mistake I keep making.
I'm not sure on the details (french is my native langage but the rules are obviously complicated) but correct way to pronounce it would actually be "une bonne leçon"
The order of adjectives in french is unresonably complicated but in this case you say the "good" before the lesson and you have to use the right gender wich in this case is féminine (UNE leçon)
Bon is an adjective, so it works as a modifier for lesson.
How do you tell someone Sweet dreams in French?
Fait de beaux rêves !
Fait de doux rêves?
“You probably noticed that here the N is silent”
Me: 😶
Do you use bien INCORRECTLY!!!!!
It should be “I did come in…”
So Bon sometimes means like "all set". We're all set for Tuesday. Are you all set? Are you done yet? --- Also, wait.... meilleur = better, but isn't it also best?
It means "(the) best" when preceded by the definite article, ad in "la meilleure chanson", "le meilleur ami".
Got confused here too. I thought meilleur = better, and mieux = best 🤷♀️
How about "ben?"
Ben = bien. we often say ben" but we only write "bien".
Also don't say "c'était bien" in a restaurant.
To return the lesson: the title of the video should be "Do you incorrectly use "bien"?" OR "Do you wrongly use "bien"?". Using "wrongly", as you have, at the end of the sentence - whilst not grammatically incorrect - is just ugly.
Yes I was about to say this. It just sounds - pardon the pun - wrong. As it’s in the interrogative I would go so far as to place the adverb at the end of the sentence for emphasis. Do you use “bien” incorrectly?
@@CBEEBLE Yes. Even better.
Saying an attractive woman is a sexist way??? That`s a compliment.
wrongly is not a good choice. you should use incorrectly in your title!
Never say, "Bien fait" by itself! It's ironic/sarcastic as in English when someone says, "good job" or "great" in a mocking way, because it obviously isn't a good thing. The French are quite adept at humorous insults and complaints.
"C'est bien fait!" = (literally) "It/That is well done!", but simply implies "Well done!"
"Bien fait", by itself implies = Serves you right, dumby.