Meilleur vs Mieux

Confusing French Pairs

Like bon and bien, meilleur and mieux can be confusing for French students. Meilleur is the comparative and superlative (see lesson) form of bon (good), while mieux is the comparative and superlative form of bien (well). When translating into English, there is no difference between meilleur and mieux, hence the confusion.

	Meilleur	Mieux	English
comparative	meilleur(e)(s)	mieux	better
superlative	le(s)/la meilleur(e)(s)	le(s)/la mieux	the best

 
Deciding between meilleur and mieux is essentially a question of deciding whether to use bon or bien (see lesson), but in a comparative or superlative construction. Generally speaking, this means that meilleur is used when comparing nouns and mieux is used to modify verbs.

Il a une bonne place.		Il veut une meilleure place.		Il veut la meilleure place.
He has a good seat.		He wants a better seat.		He wants the best seat.
C'est un bon film.		C'est un meilleur film.		C'est le meilleur film.
It's a good movie.		It's a better movie.		It's the best movie.
Elle s'habille bien.		Il s'habille mieux.		Je m'habille le mieux.
She dresses well.		He dresses better.		I dress the best.
J'écris bien.		Tu écris mieux (que moi).		Il écrit le mieux (de tout).
I write well.		You write better (than I).		He writes the best (of all).

 
With copular (state-of-being) verbs like être, mieux is usually used. Meilleur is correct only when it is modifying a noun found in the sentence. Again, think about whether bien or bon would be used in order to decide whether mieux or meilleur should be used.

Je vais mieux maintenant.	I'm doing/feeling better now.		Cette loi est meilleure.	This law is better.
Luc est mieux comme ami.	Luc is better as a friend.		Je la trouve meilleure.	I think it's better.
C'est mieux de dire la vérité.	It's better to tell the truth.

  

Bon vs Bien Expressions with Meilleur + Mieux Comparatives/Superlatives Confusing French Pairs

French Grammar

  

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