Breakdown of À son avis, ce roman est le meilleur.
Questions & Answers about À son avis, ce roman est le meilleur.
Literally, À son avis means “In his/her opinion”.
- À = in / according to (here it introduces a point of view)
- son avis = his/her opinion
So the whole expression is: “According to his/her opinion” → “In his/her opinion.”
If you say just son avis, it just means “his/her opinion” as a noun phrase, for example:
- Je respecte son avis. = I respect his/her opinion.
To introduce a judgment, you normally need the preposition:
- À son avis, ce roman est le meilleur.
- D’après lui / Selon elle, ce roman est le meilleur.
You wouldn’t normally start the sentence with just Son avis, ce roman est le meilleur in standard French.
Yes, they are different words:
à (with accent) = a preposition, usually translated as to, at, in, by, of, etc.
- À son avis = in his/her opinion
- Je vais à Paris. = I am going to Paris.
a (no accent) = the 3rd-person singular of the verb avoir (to have).
- Il a un livre. = He has a book.
In À son avis, you must use à with the accent because it is a preposition, not a form of avoir.
son here is ambiguous on purpose: it can mean his or her, depending on context.
In French, possessive adjectives (son, sa, ses) must agree with the gender and number of the noun possessed, not the person who possesses it.
- avis is a masculine singular noun
→ so you must use son.
So:
- À son avis can mean in his opinion or in her opinion.
- If we knew it referred specifically to a man, we could paraphrase as:
- À son avis (à lui)… or D’après lui…
- If we knew it referred to a woman:
- À son avis (à elle)… or D’après elle…
French demonstrative adjectives change form based on gender and first sound of the next word:
- Masculine singular:
- ce before a consonant sound: ce roman, ce livre
- cet before a vowel sound or mute h: cet homme, cet été
- Feminine singular:
- cette: cette histoire
- Plural (both genders):
- ces: ces romans
Since roman starts with a consonant sound /ʀ/, we use ce roman, not cet roman.
Both are correct, but the focus is slightly different:
Ce roman est le meilleur.
- Literal: This novel is the best.
- Focuses first on this specific novel, then says it is the best (of some group).
- Structure: [subject] ce roman
- [verb] est
- [superlative] le meilleur.
- [verb] est
C’est le meilleur roman.
- Literal: It’s the best novel.
- Focus first on the evaluation (it’s the best novel).
- Structure: C’est
- [noun phrase] le meilleur roman.
Both are very natural. In conversation, C’est le meilleur roman is extremely common when you’re talking about novels in general and then pick one as “the best.”
meilleur by itself is comparative: better.
- Ce roman est meilleur. = This novel is better. (Better than what? It’s implied.)
When you add the definite article le, it becomes a superlative: the best.
- Ce roman est le meilleur. = This novel is the best (of the group).
So:
- meilleur = better (comparative)
- le meilleur = the best (superlative)
The noun is understood from context and is dropped, just like in English:
- English:
- This novel is the best (one). → You often omit one.
- French:
- Ce roman est le meilleur (roman).
In context, it’s clear we’re talking about novels, so French allows:
- Ce roman est le meilleur. = This novel is the best (one).
Meilleur is an adjective and must agree with the noun it describes:
- Masculine singular: le meilleur roman – the best novel
- Feminine singular: la meilleure histoire – the best story
- Masculine plural: les meilleurs romans – the best novels
- Feminine plural: les meilleures histoires – the best stories
In your sentence, meilleur is masculine singular because it refers to roman, which is masculine singular:
- Ce roman est le meilleur.
French makes an important distinction:
meilleur(e)(s) = better / best as an adjective
→ used with nouns (things that are “good”)- un bon roman → un meilleur roman → le meilleur roman
mieux = better as an adverb
→ used with verbs (actions that are “done well”)- Il écrit bien → Il écrit mieux. = He writes well → He writes better.
In Ce roman est le meilleur, we are evaluating a thing (the novel itself), not an action, so we must use the adjective:
- Ce roman est bon → Ce roman est meilleur → Ce roman est le meilleur.
Not: Ce roman est mieux. (That would be incorrect here.)
Yes. It’s a movable expression of opinion, like in his/her opinion in English. All of these are possible:
- À son avis, ce roman est le meilleur.
- Ce roman, à son avis, est le meilleur. (more emphasis on this novel)
- Ce roman est le meilleur, à son avis. (adds it as a comment at the end)
Putting it at the start (as in the original) is very natural and neutral in style.
The comma is strongly recommended but not absolutely mandatory in informal writing.
À son avis is an introductory phrase, so we normally separate it with a comma:
- À son avis, ce roman est le meilleur.
Without the comma, it’s still understandable, but it’s slightly harder to read and less standard:
- À son avis ce roman est le meilleur. (not incorrect, just less clear)
In good written French, keep the comma.
Yes, you can, and that changes the nuance:
Ce roman est le meilleur.
→ A direct statement: This novel is the best.
The speaker presents it as a fact or at least as their own assertion.À son avis, ce roman est le meilleur.
→ Makes it clear this is someone else’s opinion, not necessarily a fact or the speaker’s own view.
So À son avis distances the speaker from the judgment and attributes it to another person.
Approximate pronunciation in IPA:
[a sɔ̃n aˈvi, sə ʁɔˈmɑ̃ ɛ lə mɛˈjœʁ]
Key points:
- À son avis → [a sɔ̃n aˈvi]
- son has a nasal vowel [sɔ̃].
- ce roman → [sə ʁɔˈmɑ̃]
- ce is like a very short [sə].
- roman ends with a nasal vowel [mɑ̃].
- est → [ɛ]
- le meilleur → [lə mɛˈjœʁ]
- meilleur roughly like meh-yeur in English approximation.
There is no liaison between roman and est here:
- You say: [ʁɔmɑ̃ ɛ], not [ʁɔmɑ̃nɛ].