When Should You Use Mieux and Meilleur in French

Do you get confused between meilleur and mieux? If you struggle to translate better and best into French, this article will hopefully be useful.

When translating into English, there is no difference between meilleur and mieux, as they both mean better, hence the confusion.

Meilleur is an adjective, the comparative form of bon, while mieux is an adverb, the comparitive form of bien. Both mean better in English.

In this week’s post, I explain simply and clearly the difference between mieux and meilleur .

When you should use Mieux in French ?

Mieux is the comparative the adverb bien. So mieux generally means better in the sense of "in a better way", "more satisfactorily etc". Let’s explore this point in context, with examples.

1 - Connected to verbs in a comparative sentence, where you will imperatively use que ( to compare two elements, options etc)

• ll chante mieux que moi
  He sings better than me (mieux is connected to the verb chanter)

• Paul parle mieux anglais que James (mieux is connected to the verb parler)

  Paul speaks english better than James

2 - Making a general statement with être about something or someone being fine/OK/better/after the conjugated form of the verb être:

• C'est bien d'y aller à pied, mais c'est mieux de prendre le bus
  It's fine to walk there, but it's better to take the bus. 

• Et si je le mets comme ça ? - Oui, c'est mieux
  And if I put it like this? - Yes, that's better

• Tu préfères courir ou nager? - Nager, c'est mieux!

3 -Making a statement related to your health / well-being

• Je me sens mieux ce matin,
  I feel better this morning

• Ca va mieux, je suis plus optimiste maintenant
  I fell better, I am more optimistic

4 - Mieux is also in fixed expressions

• Tant mieux! can be used as an emphatic response showing that so you are very pleased with the information expressed.
  Vous n’avez rien à payer 

• Tant mieux !
  You have nothing to pay!
  Good / fine

• De mieux en mieux
  Better and better or increasingly

• Paul comprend de mieux en mieux le français
  Paul understands French better and better

When you should use Meilleur in French?

Meilleur is an adjective that you use in addition to a noun. The key of the sentence is a noun.To know which one to use, it is easier if you analyse the structure of your sentence and find to which noun meilleur(e) is referring to (for example : le riz rouge est meilleur que le riz noir). In this sentence we are referring to le riz

If you are not familiar with grammar and the structure of the words (noun, adverb, adjectives etc), I will give you examples to explain the context.

1 - Adjective usually connected to food & drink

La cuisine italienne est meilleure que la cuisine française

Italian food is better than French food

The key of the sentence is the noun, la cuisine italienne, that you’re identifying as better than cuisine française

Le Coca-Cola frais est meilleur que le Coca-Cola chaud

Fresh coke is better than hot coke

---

2 - Adjectives used to express the ability of someone within a specific area (compared to someone else)

Lola est meilleure que toi en maths
Lola is better than you at maths

Tu as un meilleur accent que moi
You have a better accent than me  

---

3 - Le/la meilleur(e): superlative to express the best in English

Just as you can't say the goodest in English, you likewise can't say le plus bon in French. You would say le meilleur (the best), the superlative form for bon. It can be masculine le meilleur, feminine la meilleure and plural les meilleures / les meilleurs.

• Nobu est le meilleur restaurant de la ville

  Nobu is the best restaurant of the city 

• C’est vraiment la meilleure idée

  This is the best idea  

• Sophie et Luigi sont les meilleurs étudiants du lycée
  Sophie and Luigi are the best students in high school

• La meilleure chose à faire, c’est de rester ici
  The best thing to do is to stay here

• C’est lui qui chante le mieux He's the one who sings best (="he's the best singer")

4 - Mieux used in fixed expressions

Now in reality, as you've probably come across, there are some cases where mieux   effectively means things like "comfortable" or with fixed expressions.

• On est mieux ici (que...)
  We're better/more comfortable here (than...)

• There are also some uses of mieux that you should regard as "set expressions", such as:
  Il vaut/vaudrait mieux...
  It's/it would be better to..., you'd better...

• Mieux vaut tard que jamais
  better late than never