Why is it “mieux”?

Question

Hi, my kwizbot it is telling my that in this example,”Cette maison est bien. - Oui, elle est ________ l'autre.”

the correct answe is “mieux.” Why? Doesn’t mieux modify a verb? Here were modifying a noun (maison), so it should be “meilleur” by all logic, so why is the correct answer “mieux”?

Accepted Answer

Hi Kat, 
Taken from the lesson -
"Mieux is the comparative form of the adverb bien"
So it was pretty straight forward -
Cette maison est bien, oui elle est mieux que l'autre

bon ----> meilleur
bien ----> mieux

The problem arises when you just want to say better in French and you don't know if 'bien' or 'bon' is implied.
Hope this helps!

Answer

Bonjour Kat,This aspect of French grammar is quite tricky. I suggest that you have a look at the following link. It will give you a comprehensive overview and provide you with some further support to augment the excellent lesson that you have quoted.https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/meilleur-vs-mieux/Bonne continuation Jim

Answer

Kat,

the simple answer here is that when ‘ bien ‘ is used, ‘ mieux ‘ is the comparator to use.

Meilleur/e is the comparator corresponding to ‘ bon/ne ‘.

( If there are exceptions to this, I haven’t encountered them or seen them discussed anywhere ).

As to why this is ‘ être bien ‘, which is correct and referring effectively to the ‘ state of ( being) of the house’, that is more complex to explain.

Have a look at the links below to start to delve more deeply :

Meilleur, mieux, pire / plus mauvais, plus mal = better, best, worse and worst in French (irregular comparatives and superlatives)

https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/bien/9151#difficulte

https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/bon/10103#difficulte

https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/bon-vs-bien/

https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/meilleur-vs-mieux/