Words & expressions

Bon or bien? A small word, a big difference

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Describe a thing or an action. Let the sentence guide your choice.

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Try a sentence Read and practise freely
Ask what the word describes

Bon usually describes a noun. Bien often tells you how an action happens.

Describe a thing with bon

Bon means “good” in these examples. Its ending agrees with the noun.

Feminine singular

une bonne idée

a good idea

Masculine plural

de bons voisins

good neighbours

Read the complete sentences

C’est une bonne idée.

It’s a good idea.

Nous avons de bons voisins.

We have good neighbours. Idée is feminine singular; voisins is masculine plural.

Describe an action with bien

Bien describes how you do something. It does not change for gender or number in this use.

Look at the action
J’aibienhow?dormi.the action

I slept well.

Quick CheckNo account needed
Choose the natural adverb.Elle parle très ___ français.

Choose one answer. You can read the explanation at any time.

Read the answer and explanation

Use bien: it describes how she speaks. Bon and bonne are adjective forms, not the adverb needed here.

Read the context

With c’est bon and c’est bien, read the situation.

Talking about taste

Goûte cette soupe. — C’est bon !

Try this soup. — It’s good!

Approving an action

Tu as aidé ton voisin ? C’est bien.

You helped your neighbour? That’s good.

Other meanings of c’est bon

C’est bon can also mean something is ready, settled or enough. Neither expression has one fixed translation for every context.

Choose in a new sentence

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Complete the adjective.C’est une ___ nouvelle.

Enter one word. The noun nouvelle is feminine singular.

Read the answer and explanation

Use bonne. Nouvelle is feminine singular, and bon agrees with the noun.

Keep going

French examples are marked in their original language. Answer explanations are available before or after an attempt.