What's the Difference Between Bon vs Bien?

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By ThoughtCo Team
Updated on March 06, 2017

The French words bon and bien, mauvais and mal are often mixed up. This is because the two pairs have similar meanings: bon and bien are positive while mauvais and mal are negative. In addition all four of these words can be adjectives, adverbs, or nouns. Bon and mauvais are usually adjectives, while bien and mal are usually adverbs.

The following table summarizes the differences between each pair; click the links below for more information.

adjective good well bad wrong
adverb nice well bad badly
noun form good(s) bad part evil
Format
mla apa chicago
Your Citation
Team, ThoughtCo. "What's the Difference Between Bon vs Bien?" ThoughtCo, Dec. 6, 2021, thoughtco.com/difference-between-bon-vs-bien-4084874. Team, ThoughtCo. (2021, December 6). What's the Difference Between Bon vs Bien? Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/difference-between-bon-vs-bien-4084874 Team, ThoughtCo. "What's the Difference Between Bon vs Bien?" ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/difference-between-bon-vs-bien-4084874 (accessed January 31, 2023).