French: mieux and meilleur

Self-tutoring with French: the tutor mentions something perhaps curious to an Anglophone.

What follows is a simplification, but perhaps useful for a non-Francophone:

In English, “better” can be either an adjective or an adverb:

Charlotte sings better (adv) than Mary. This cake is better (adj) than that one.

In French, though, it works differently: In simple terms, mieux means “better” as an adverb:

Charlotte sings better than Mary: Charlotte chante mieux que Mary.

Meilleur, on the other hand, means “better” as an adjective:

This cake is better than that one: Ce gateau est meilleur que celui-là.

As I’ve mentioned, this is perhaps an over-simplification. Yet, it might be useful.

Source:

thoughtco.com

Jack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane, Campbell River, BC.

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