Meilleur vs. Mieux

Confusing French Pairs

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Updated on February 02, 2019

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

	Forms of meilleur	Forms of mieux	English translation
comparative	meilleur, meilleure meilleurs, meilleures	mieux	better
superlative	le meilleur, la meilleure les meilleurs, les meilleures	le mieux, la mieux les mieux	the best

Deciding Between "Bon" and "Bien"

Deciding whether you need meilleur or mieux is essentially a question of deciding between bon and bien, but in a comparative or superlative construction. Bon and bien are often confused because they have somewhat similar meanings and they can both be adjectives, adverbs, or nouns.

"Meilleur": The Comparative and Superlative Forms of "Bon"

You can't say "gooder" or "more good" in English. And you can't say plus bon in French; you'd say meilleur (better), the comparative form of bon, as follows::

Using "Meilleur" or "Mieux"

Generally speaking, use meilleur when comparing nouns and mieux to modify verbs.

Statement	Comparative	Superlative
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).

Copular Verbs

Note that with être and other copular (state-of-being) verbs, mieux is usually used except when you are comparing a noun in the sentence, in which case you need meilleur. Again, think about whether bien or bon would be used in order to decide whether you need mieux or meilleur.

Expressions with mieux	Expressions with meilleur
Je vais mieux maintenant.	Cette loi est meilleure.
I'm doing/feeling better now.	This law is better.

Luc est mieux comme ami.	Je la trouve meilleure (que l'autre).
Luc is better as a friend.	I think it's better (than the other one).

C'est mieux de dire la vérité.	La meilleure chose, c'est de dire la vérité.
It's better to tell the truth.	The best thing is to tell the truth.