Difference between revisions of "Language/French/Grammar/Well-Better-Worse"
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One adverb in French has special comparative and superlative forms: | One adverb in French has special comparative and superlative forms: | ||
==Bien: special comparative forms== | |||
*bien | *bien | ||
<blockquote>well</blockquote> | <blockquote>well</blockquote> | ||
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*le moins bien | *le moins bien | ||
<blockquote>the least well</blockquote> | <blockquote>the least well</blockquote> | ||
===Examples=== | |||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
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|} | |} | ||
==Mal adverb== | |||
The adverb mal 'badly' has two sets of comparative and superlative forms, one regular and one irregular: | The adverb mal 'badly' has two sets of comparative and superlative forms, one regular and one irregular: | ||
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|} | |} | ||
==Pis and Le pis== | |||
pis and le pis only occur these days in fixed expressions like: | pis and le pis only occur these days in fixed expressions like: | ||
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|at the worst, . . . | |at the worst, . . . | ||
|} | |} | ||
==Pire or Pis?== | ===Pire or Pis?=== | ||
Pire and Pis, two words that are often problematic, yet they do not have the same nature. | Pire and Pis, two words that are often problematic, yet they do not have the same nature. | ||
Revision as of 10:55, 22 October 2021
bien 'well', mieux 'better', mal 'badly', pis 'worse'
One adverb in French has special comparative and superlative forms:
Bien: special comparative forms
- bien
well
- mieux
better
- moins bien
less well
- le mieux
the best
- le moins bien
the least well
Examples
| Elle chante | bien |
| mieux | |
| moins bien | |
| le mieux | |
| le moins bien | |
| She sings | well |
| better | |
| less well | |
| the best | |
| the least well |
Mal adverb
The adverb mal 'badly' has two sets of comparative and superlative forms, one regular and one irregular:
| Regular | |
|---|---|
| French | English |
| mal | badly |
| plus mal | worse |
| moins mal | less badly |
| le plus mal | the worst |
| le moins mal | the least badly |
| Irregular | |
| French | English |
| pis | worse |
| le pis | the worst |
Pis and Le pis
pis and le pis only occur these days in fixed expressions like:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| tant pis | too bad |
| Les choses vont de mal en pis (or de pis en pis) | Things are going from bad to worse |
| qui pis est, . . . | what's worse, . . . |
| au pis aller | if the worse comes to the worst |
| en mettant tout au pis, . . . | at the worst, . . . |
Pire or Pis?
Pire and Pis, two words that are often problematic, yet they do not have the same nature.
- Pire is the comparison of the superiority of the adjective 'mauvais', so it must be used as an adjective.
- Le climat n'est pas pire qu'il y a deux jours.
- Pis is the comparative superiority of the adverb 'mal', it is therefore an adverb.
- La situation va de mal en pis.
A little tip to avoid confusing them:
Pire can be replaced by Meilleur.
- La situation était pire ===> la situation était meilleure .
Videos
How to choose between "BON, BIEN, MEILLEUR, MIEUX" ?
"Superlatives" by Jacqueline Doiron (FrenchByPhone.com)