{"id":119957,"date":"2023-03-20T22:07:31","date_gmt":"2023-03-21T02:07:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/very-good-in-french\/"},"modified":"2025-02-03T09:14:27","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T14:14:27","slug":"very-good-in-french","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/very-good-in-french\/","title":{"rendered":"“Very Good” in French: 24 Adjectives"},"content":{"rendered":"

There’s a lot that’s tr\u00e8s bon <\/em>(very good) about France and its language.\u00a0French cuisine is unrivaled, French caf\u00e9s and museums draw millions of visitors, and France has made its mark with writers like Victor Hugo and Albert Camus<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tr\u00e8s bien<\/em> just doesn’t capture it all, though.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Learning several French adjectives for \u201cvery good\u201d will allow you to more precisely describe France’s food, art, literature and anything else you find particularly fantastique <\/em>(fantastic).<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Words to Describe Overall Value<\/h2>\n

When you think about it, “good” can mean many things, including morality (i.e., a good person), beauty (i.e., you look good) and quality (i.e., a good book).<\/p>\n

Learning a variety of precise adjectives will help you communicate more effectively and stop saying the same two or three adjectives over and over again.<\/p>\n

We’ll start by going over some general adjectives that describe the quality or value of an object, activity, idea or person.<\/p>\n

In addition to the list below, you can also use the synonyms for “awesome” in this FluentU French YouTube video<\/a>:<\/p>\n

<\/lite-youtube><\/p>\n

Tr\u00e8s bon<\/em> (Very good)<\/h3>\n

This is a very common adjective, and probably one of the first you ever learned in French. You should definitely keep it in your repertoire, but we’ll teach you many synonyms to diversify your vocabulary.<\/p>\n

Note that to make bon <\/em>feminine<\/strong>, you must double the last consonant, then add –e \u2192<\/em> bonne<\/em><\/p>\n

Tr\u00e8s <\/em>(very) and vraiment <\/em>(really) may be employed with many adjectives to strengthen its meaning, as in:<\/p>\n

Il est vraiment g\u00e9nial !<\/em> (He’s really great!)<\/p>\n

You’ve probably also encountered a similar phrase,\u00a0tr\u00e8s bien\u00a0<\/em>(very well).<\/p>\n

Be careful, though, because bien<\/em> is an adverb<\/a>, not an adjective<\/strong>. For those of you who aren’t so grammar-savvy, just recall that an adjective modifies a person, place or thing, while an adverb modifies a verb, adjective or another adverb.<\/p>\n

In other words, tr\u00e8s bon<\/em> characterizes the quality of something, while\u00a0tr\u00e8s bien\u00a0<\/em>describes how something is done<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Compare:<\/p>\n

J’adore ce livre ! Il est tr\u00e8s bon.<\/em> (I love this book! It’s very good.)<\/p>\n

J’adore ce livre ! Il est tr\u00e8s bien \u00e9crit.<\/em> (I love this book! It’s very well written.)<\/p>\n

Tr\u00e8s bien\u00a0<\/em>may also be used on its own as a synonym for d’accord <\/em>(okay), as in:<\/p>\n

Je vais rentrer un peu tard ce soir, je dois faire les courses.<\/em> (I’ll return a little late tonight. I need to go shopping.)<\/p>\n

Tr\u00e8s bien<\/em> (Very well).<\/p>\n

Formidable<\/em> (Great, Wonderful)<\/h3>\n

See this word in action with the song “Formidable”<\/em><\/a> by Belgian musician Stromae. As with much of modern music, the topic is a relationship that seemed formidable,<\/em> but just didn’t work out. English subtitles are included!<\/p>\n

<\/lite-youtube><\/p>\n

Merveilleux \/ Merveilleuse<\/em> (Wonderful)<\/h3>\n

As you’ve noticed, some of these words have very similar meanings. Don’t worry too much about trying to find subtle differences. They’re generally interchangeable!<\/p>\n

G\u00e9nial \/ G\u00e9niale<\/em> (Great, Amazing)<\/h3>\n

Il est g\u00e9nial !<\/em> (It’s great!)<\/p>\n

Inou\u00ef<\/em> (Unheard of, Unprecedented)<\/h3>\n

We’re focusing on positive adjectives, but keep in mind that this one could have a positive or negative connotation.<\/p>\n

La bombe atomique \u00e9tait d’une violence inou\u00efe.<\/em> (The atomic bomb was of unprecedented violence.)<\/p>\n

Sample conversation using adjectives of value and quality<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00c7a va ? <\/em>(How are you?)<\/p>\n

\u00c7a va tr\u00e8s bien !<\/em> (I’m doing very well.)<\/p>\n

Comment \u00e7a ?<\/em> (How so?)<\/p>\n

J’ai re\u00e7u une note g\u00e9niale \u00e0 l’examen de la semaine derni\u00e8re.<\/em> (I received a great grade on last week’s exam.)<\/p>\n

Formidable ! Quel cours ?<\/em> (Wonderful! Which class?)<\/p>\n

Anglais ! C’est inou\u00ef. D’habitude c’est le cours le plus difficile pour moi.<\/em> (English! It’s unprecedented. It’s usually the most difficult class for me.)<\/p>\n

Shared Words in French and English<\/h2>\n

If you’ve been playing the French learning game for any period of time, you’ve certainly run into words that mean the same thing in French and English<\/strong> with identical or almost identical spelling, like une pizza <\/em>(a pizza). These are called cognates<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Be careful, though, as looks can be deceiving. There are also words in French that sound like a particular English word, but actually mean something quite different<\/strong>. These are called faux amis<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(false friends).<\/p>\n

Here are some common French synonyms for “very good” that are almost exactly the same as their English counterparts. Use them as you’d use them in English.<\/p>\n

Excellent \/ <\/em>Excellente <\/em>(Excellent)<\/h3>\n

Le film est excellent.<\/em> (The movie is excellent).<\/p>\n

Extraordinaire <\/em>(Extraordinary)<\/h3>\n

La mise en sc\u00e8ne est extraordinaire.<\/em> (The production is extraordinary.)<\/p>\n

Fantastique <\/em>(Fantastic)<\/h3>\n

La musique est fantastique.<\/em> (The music is fantastic.)<\/p>\n

Magnifique <\/em>(Magnificent)<\/h3>\n

L’histoire est magnifique.<\/em> (The story is magnificent.)<\/p>\n

Although translated as “magnificent,” a more accurate definition of the word magnifique<\/em> is “wonderful.”<\/p>\n

Words to Describe Character Traits<\/h2>\n

Thus far, we’ve examined words with broad usage.\u00a0Magnifique\u00a0<\/em>may describe your sister, a video game, a bouquet of flowers or just about anything else you find especially great.<\/p>\n

Now, let’s examine a more specific nuance of “good,” as in moral goodness.<\/p>\n

These words pertain to positive aspects of personality<\/strong>, such as generosity or capacity for empathy. Therefore, you wouldn’t use them to talk about objects, only about people and possibly animals.<\/p>\n

Keep in mind that we’re\u00a0only<\/strong> covering positive adjectives<\/strong> here. Unfortunately, not everyone is kind and compassionate, so check out this article for more tips on how to describe people<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Gentil <\/em>(Kind)<\/h3>\n

The last consonant doubles to form the feminine form gentille<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Ses parents sont gentils.<\/em> (Her parents are nice.)<\/p>\n

Attentionn\u00e9 <\/em>(Caring)<\/h3>\n

Elle est si attentionn\u00e9e qu’elle est b\u00e9n\u00e9vole dans une maison de retraite.<\/em> (She is so caring that she’s a volunteer at a retirement home.)<\/p>\n

Compatissant <\/em>(Compassionate)<\/h3>\n

Elle est compatissante. Par exemple, elle est toujours pr\u00eate \u00e0 \u00e9couter si j’ai besoin de parler.<\/em> (She is compassionate. For example, she is always ready to listen if I need to talk.)<\/p>\n

Juste <\/em>(Just, Righteous)<\/h3>\n

This is the strongest word in French for moral goodness.<\/p>\n

Vertueux <\/em>(Virtuous)<\/h3>\n

Tout le monde dit que c’est une jeune femme vertueuse.<\/em> (Everyone says that she’s a virtuous young woman.)<\/p>\n

A Green Mouse<\/a> is a site that offers lessons and short stories for children learning French or Spanish. But whether you’re nine or 99, you might find this story video using character-trait adjectives<\/a> helpful.<\/p>\n

Words to Describe Beauty<\/h2>\n

“Good” may also refer to a pleasing physical appearance<\/strong>. We see this shade of meaning in the English phrase, “you look good.”<\/p>\n

However, when you want to be more precise (or maybe score a date), you might want to try something new.<\/p>\n

Beau <\/em>(Lovely, Handsome, Beautiful)<\/h3>\n

When\u00a0beau<\/em> comes directly before a vowel or an –h<\/em> (this letter is never pronounced in French), the spelling changes to bel<\/em>, so that there aren’t two distinct vowel sounds right next to each other.<\/p>\n

Un bel homme <\/em>(A handsome man)<\/p>\n

The feminine form of beau<\/em>, belle<\/em><\/strong>, has a significantly different spelling, but it’s the same adjective.<\/p>\n

Il a une belle famille.<\/em> (He has a beautiful family.)<\/p>\n

Joli <\/em>(Pretty)<\/h3>\n

Sa femme est jolie.<\/em> (His wife is pretty.)<\/p>\n

Attrayant \/ Attrayante<\/em> (Attractive)<\/h3>\n

Les filles \u00e0 l’\u00e9cole trouvent l’autre fils attrayant.<\/em> (The girls at school find the other son attractive.)<\/p>\n

Mignon \/ Mignonne<\/em> (Cute)<\/h3>\n

Son fils de cinq ans est si mignon.<\/em> (His five-year-old son is so cute.)<\/p>\n

Ravissant <\/em>(Delightful, Charming)<\/h3>\n

L’a\u00een\u00e9e est ravissante et dr\u00f4le.<\/em> (The oldest daughter is charming and funny.)<\/p>\n

S\u00e9duisant <\/em>(Seductive, Enticing)<\/h3>\n

This word is related to the English word “seductive,” but it doesn’t always carry sexual overtones. It could refer to charm or attraction more generally. When used with objects,\u00a0s\u00e9duisant\u00a0<\/em>has the nuance of allure or temptation.<\/p>\n

Une femme s\u00e9duisante<\/em> (a seductive woman)<\/p>\n

Une offre s\u00e9duisante<\/em> (an enticing offer)<\/p>\n

Informal Synonyms for “Very Good”<\/h2>\n

When you engage in conversation with native French speakers, especially younger ones, you’ll probably encounter informal words and phrases<\/a> you don’t find in most textbooks<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

There’s a world of difference between la langue de Moli\u00e8re<\/em> (the language of Moli\u00e8re, a famous French author) and la langue verte <\/em>(slang). Here are some casual words related to “very good.”<\/p>\n

Chouette <\/em>(Cool)<\/h3>\n

Une chouette <\/i>is a type of owl, but the adjective chouette <\/em>means “cool.” After all, owls are pretty cool<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Que penses-tu du mus\u00e9e ?<\/em> (What do you think of the museum?)<\/p>\n

C’est chouette ! <\/em>(It’s cool!)<\/p>\n

<\/lite-youtube><\/p>\n

\u00c9patant \/ \u00c9patante<\/em> (Splendid)<\/h3>\n

Les tableaux sont \u00e9patants.<\/em> (The paintings are splendid.)<\/p>\n

Sympa<\/em> (Nice)<\/h3>\n

Like the English counterpart “nice,”\u00a0sympa\u00a0<\/em>is a broad, vague term that can describe people or things.<\/p>\n

This colloquialism is a shortened form of sympathique<\/em>, so there are no number or gender changes if you’re using the informal form.<\/p>\n

Le guide est sympa.<\/em> (The guide is nice.)<\/p>\n

Super <\/em>(Super)<\/h3>\n

This adjective is invariable, meaning there are no gender or number spelling changes.<\/p>\n

Mon tableau pr\u00e9f\u00e9r\u00e9 est celui de Chagall. Les couleurs sont super !<\/em> (My favorite painting is that of Chagall. The colors are super!)<\/p>\n

Chic <\/em>(Nice, Classy)<\/h3>\n

The plural form for both genders is\u00a0chics<\/em>. There’s no singular feminine form.<\/p>\n

Sans doute, c’\u00e9tait chic d’y aller.<\/em> (Without a doubt, it was nice to go there.)<\/p>\n

Rules to Remember When Using French Adjectives<\/h2>\n

Now that you know several new French adjectives, let’s review three grammatical rules to remember when using such words in context.<\/p>\n

Adjectives are descriptive words, such as rouge <\/em>(red), difficile <\/em>(difficult) or d\u00e9licieux <\/em>(delicious). Not so intimidating, right?<\/p>\n

There are, nevertheless, a few differences between English adjectives and French adjectives<\/a>.<\/p>\n

1. French adjectives must agree in gender with the noun they modify<\/h3>\n

Recall that all French nouns are either masculine or feminine<\/a>, including objects and abstract concepts. Likewise, adjectives have masculine and feminine forms<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The spelling you find in a dictionary or vocabulary list is the masculine form, which means there won’t be any ending change if you employ that adjective with a masculine noun.<\/p>\n

To form the feminine spelling, you simply modify the ending of the masculine adjective<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The most common changes include:<\/p>\n

Adding an –e\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Grand <\/em>(big) \u2192 grande\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

If the masculine form already ends in –e<\/em>, no change is made.<\/p>\n

Formidable\u00a0<\/em>(great) is the masculine and feminine form.<\/p>\n

Doubling the consonant, then adding –e<\/em><\/p>\n

Mignon <\/em>(cute) \u2192 mignonne <\/em><\/p>\n

Changing –er<\/em> to –\u00e8re<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00c9tranger <\/em>(foreign) \u2192 \u00e9trang\u00e8re\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Changing –eux<\/em> to –euse<\/em><\/p>\n

Nerveux <\/em>(nervous) \u2192 nerveuse<\/em><\/p>\n

Changing –eau<\/em> to –elle<\/em><\/p>\n

Beau\u00a0<\/em>(beautiful, handsome) \u2192 belle\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Changing –c<\/em> to –che<\/em><\/p>\n

Blanc <\/em>(white) \u2192 blanche\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

That covers just about all the adjectives on our list today and the majority of those in French!\u00a0<\/p>\n

2. French adjectives must agree in number with the noun they modify<\/h3>\n

Just as a noun may be singular or plural, so too can an adjective. Singular adjectives accompany singular nouns, and plural adjectives accompany plural nouns.<\/p>\n

To form most plural forms, simply add –s<\/em> to the singular adjective form, whether masculine or feminine<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Excellent <\/em>(Excellent) \u2192 Excellents<\/em><\/p>\n

Excellente \u2192 Excellentes <\/em><\/p>\n

However, masculine nouns ending in –al<\/em> change to –aux.<\/em><\/p>\n

National <\/em>(National) \u2192 Nationaux<\/em><\/p>\n

Masculine nouns ending in –eau<\/em> change to –eaux.<\/em><\/p>\n

Nouveau <\/em>(New) \u2192 Nouveaux\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

No changes occur for adjectives already ending in –s<\/em> or –x.<\/em><\/p>\n

Bas <\/em>(Bow) and doux <\/em>(soft) are the singular and plural forms.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

3. Most French adjectives follow the noun<\/h3>\n

This is quite different from English, where the adjective always goes before the word it modifies.<\/p>\n

For example, \u201ca red car\u201d becomes une voiture rouge <\/em>(a car red) in French.<\/p>\n

But in all languages, there are always exceptions. In fact, some of the simplest, most common French adjectives precede the noun. The good news is that there’s a helpful mnemonic that covers the majority of these adjectives: BAGS<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

B<\/strong>eauty:\u00a0beau\/belle\u00a0<\/em>(beautiful), joli <\/em>(pretty)<\/p>\n

A<\/strong>ge: vieux <\/em>(old), jeune <\/em>(young)\u00a0<\/p>\n

G<\/strong>oodness:\u00a0bon\u00a0<\/em>(good),\u00a0gentil\u00a0<\/em>(kind)<\/p>\n

S<\/strong>ize: petit <\/em>(small), grand <\/em>(big)<\/p>\n

Since this article is all about words that mean “very good,” there are several that do precede the noun, especially if they’re short (one or two syllables). As you keep practicing French, you’ll get more accustomed to seeing adjectives in different places.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With the list of adjectives above, you’re now well on your way to using the many variations of “very good” in French accurately and effectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hopefully, you can now use some of them to describe this article!\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And One More Thing...<\/h2>\r\n

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\r\nFluentU makes it easier (and way more fun) to learn French by making real content like movies and series accessible to learners. You can check out FluentU's curated video library, or bring our learning tools directly to Netflix or YouTube<\/strong> with the FluentU Chrome extension. \r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\"learn-french-with-videos\"<\/a><\/p>\r\n

\r\nOne of the features I find most helpful is the interactive captions<\/strong>\u2014you can tap on any word to see its meaning, an image, pronunciation, and other examples from different contexts. It\u2019s a great way to pick up French vocab without having to pause and look things up separately.\r\n<\/p>

\r\n\"learn-french-with-movies\"<\/a><\/p>\r\n

\r\nFluentU also helps reinforce what you\u2019ve learned<\/strong> with personalized quizzes. You can swipe through extra examples and complete engaging exercises that adapt to your progress. You'll get extra practice with the words you find more challenging and even be reminded you when it\u2019s time to review!\r\n<\/p>

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\r\nYou can use FluentU on your computer, tablet, or phone with our app for Apple or Android devices. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There’s a lot that’s tr\u00e8s bon (very good) about France and its language.\u00a0French cuisine is unrivaled, French caf\u00e9s and museums draw millions of visitors, and France has made its mark…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":507,"featured_media":249910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"\"Very Good\" in French: 24 Adjectives | FluentU French Blog","description":"Saying \u201cvery good\u201d in French goes beyond tr\u00e9s bon\u2014there are a lot of more descriptive adjectives that you can use. In fact, this list will show you more than two dozen ways to say it, whether you\u2019re describing a person, a situation, food and more. Diversify your vocabulary and add a little flair to your French now!"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[570,571],"tags":[],"coauthors":[675],"class_list":["post-119957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-french","category-french-vocabulary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/507"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119957"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":242758,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119957\/revisions\/242758"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119957"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=119957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

To see more examples, check out these free online lessons about regular adjective formation<\/a>\u00a0and agreement with irregular adjectives<\/a>.<\/p>\n