There are so many good things to discover in French culture, it’s only natural that you’d want to be able to use the phrase très bon (very good) when talking about food, sightseeing, movies, and other new experiences. If you’d like to say “very good” in French, you’d generally say très bon, but you can add some variety to your expressions to fit the situation.
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Informal and slang ways to say ‘very good’ in French
There are some common informal and/or slang expressions that have the same meaning as “very good.” Each conveys a general sense of goodness, greatness, niceness, or excellence.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
| chouette | shoe-ette | great/nice/neat |
| cool | cool | cool |
| extraordinaire | ex-tror-dee-nair | extraordinary |
| formidable | for-mee-dah-bleuh | astounding |
| génial | zjhai-nee-ahl | genius/brilliant/fantastic |
| super | sou-pair | super |
| le top | leuh tohp | excellent/the best |
Although the use of the expression très bon and its French slang synonyms may seem a little intimidating, most new learners tend to get used to the right choice of words naturally. With practice, and as you absorb the French language, switching between très bon and something like le top begins to feel effortless.
Grammar rules when using ‘very good’ in French
To follow French grammar rules, you’ll pay close attention to the part of speech and the different forms to use in gender and number.
Bonne (good)
Bonne (pronounced “bun”) is the feminine form of the adjective bon, which is pronounced with a nasal “o” and silent “n.” It’s one of several French adjectives that double the consonant and add “e” to create the feminine form. Others include violet/violette (purple), mignon/mignonne (cute), and gentil/gentille (nice).
Use the feminine singular when the noun you are describing is also feminine and singular.
- La chambre est bonne. = The room is good.
Bons/bonnes (good)
Add “s” to these adjectives when the noun you’re describing is also plural. Do not pronounce the “s.”
- Les cafés sont bons. = The coffees are good.
- Les omelettes sont bonnes. = The omelets are good.
Bien (well)
When describing how well someone does an action, you need an adverb. Bien (pronounced “byeh” with a silent “n”) is how to describe something done well. Because this is an adverb, not an adjective, it does not have multiple forms.
- Il chante très bien. = He sings very well.
- Elles parlent bien l’espagnol. = They speak Spanish well.
These are very common French words, so you’ll be using them correctly in no time.
Different contexts to say ‘very good’ in French
Sometimes the word “good” just isn’t enough to capture your reaction. Here are some phrases to use in specific situations.
Words similar to ‘very good’ to use at a restaurant
How do you say “very good” in French when you’re talking about food? Add these expressions to your basic French food words. ¡Bon appetit !
| French | Pronunciation | English |
| délicieux/délicieuse | dai-lee-syeuh/dai-lee-syeuhz | delicious |
| exquis/exquise | ex-key/ex-keyz | exquisite |
| merveilleux/merveilleuse | mair-vai-yeuh/mair-vai-yeuhz | wonderful |
Words similar to ‘very good’ to use at a show
How do you say “very good” in French when you’re attending a spectacle (a show) or watching French TV and movies?
| French | Pronunciation | English |
| fantastique | fahn-tah-steek | fantastic |
| impressionant/impressionante | ehm-pressyon-ahn/ehm-pressyon-ahnt | impressive |
| incroyable | ehn-croy-ahble | incredible |
| superbe | sou-pairb | superb |
Ways to say ‘very, very good’ in French
When you really want to emphasize that something is very, very good in French, très très bon is always an option, but here are some other choices using French adverbs:
- C’est extrêmement bon. (Say ex-trem-mehn bohn) = It’s extremely good
- C’est incroyablement bon. (Say ehn-croy-ahble-mehn bohn) = It’s incredibly good
- C’est si bon. (Say see bohn) = It’s so good.
- C’est tellement bon. (Say tell-mehn bohn) = It’s so good.
- C’est vraiment bon. (Say vrai-mehn bohn) = It’s really good.
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