Irregular comparative adjectives (meilleur)

Welcome to the vineyard! Let's look at some useful phrases for a wine tasting (une dégustation) before we start comparing.

When does the tasting begin?
Quand commence la dégustation ?
Take a sip to compare the wines.
Prends une gorgée pour comparer les vins.

The irregular comparative "meilleur"

In English, you say "better" instead of "more good." French does exactly the same thing. The adjective bon (good) has an irregular comparative form: meilleur (better). You should never say "plus bon."

This red wine is better.
Ce vin rouge est meilleur.

Adjective agreement

Because meilleur is an adjective, it must agree in gender and number with the noun it describes.

For masculine nouns, use meilleur:

The wine from this vineyard is better.
Le vin de ce vignoble est meilleur.

For feminine nouns, add an -e to make it meilleure:

Your bottle of white wine is better.
Ta bouteille de vin blanc est meilleure.
The new harvest is really better.
La nouvelle récolte est vraiment meilleure.

Placement

Just like bon, you can use meilleur after the verb être (to be), or place it directly before the noun it describes.

White grapes give better juice.
Le raisin blanc donne un meilleur jus.

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