Question 1

Where does the expression il vaut mieux come from?

Accepted Answer

It means "it is better," and vaut comes from the irregular verb valoir (to be worth). Literally, the phrase translates to "it is worth better." It is an impersonal expression, which means the il (it) is just a grammatical placeholder and doesn't refer to a specific person or thing.

Question 2

Why isn't there a de before hydrater? I usually see c'est mieux de + infinitive.

Accepted Answer

The structure il vaut mieux is special because it is always followed directly by an infinitive verb, without any preposition. While you do need a preposition for c'est mieux de faire (it's better to do), il vaut mieux simply skips the de.

Question 3

As an English speaker, I would say "moisturize your skin". Could I use ta peau here?

Accepted Answer

You could, but French strongly prefers using definite articles (le, la, les) for body parts instead of possessive adjectives (ton, ta, tes). This is especially true for general statements or when the "owner" of the body part is obvious from context. Here, la peau is the most natural choice.

Question 4

Why is it tous les jours instead of tout les jours?

Accepted Answer

The word for "all" or "every" has to agree in gender and number with the noun it describes. Because jour (day) is masculine and plural in this sentence, you must use the masculine plural form tous. You only use tout for masculine singular nouns, like in tout le temps (all the time).

Il vaut mieux hydrater la peau tous les jours.

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