Il vaut mieux privilégier l'eau et le thé plutôt que ces produits gras.

It is better to favor water and tea rather than these fatty products.

Breakdown of Il vaut mieux privilégier l'eau et le thé plutôt que ces produits gras.

• l'eau: the water
• et: and
• ces: these
• le produit: the product
• plutôt que: rather than
• le thé: the tea
• valoir mieux: to be better
• gras: fatty
• privilégier: to favor

Questions & Answers about Il vaut mieux privilégier l'eau et le thé plutôt que ces produits gras.

What exactly does Il vaut mieux mean, and why is il used if it doesn’t refer to anything?

Il vaut mieux is a fixed expression meaning roughly “it’s better to…” or “one should rather…”.

• valoir = to be worth
• mieux = better
  So literally: “it is worth more (to)…”, i.e. it is preferable.

The il here is an impersonal subject pronoun, like in il faut (it is necessary), il pleut (it’s raining). It doesn’t refer to a person; it just fills the subject slot required by French grammar.

You can think of Il vaut mieux + infinitive as a single structure meaning “It’s better to + verb”.

Can I say C’est mieux de privilégier… instead of Il vaut mieux privilégier…?

You can hear C’est mieux de + infinitive in everyday speech, but:

• Il vaut mieux + infinitive is more standard and idiomatic, especially in writing.
• C’est mieux de… can sound a bit looser/less precise, and sometimes even a bit careless in formal contexts.

Examples:

• Il vaut mieux partir tôt. – This is what you’ll find in textbooks and good written French.
• C’est mieux de partir tôt. – Common in conversation, but less elegant in formal writing.

So for “good” French, prefer Il vaut mieux privilégier….

What is the nuance of privilégier compared with préférer?

Both can be translated as “to prefer”, but they’re not identical:

• préférer: to like one thing better than another. It’s more about personal preference.

  • Je préfère le thé au café. – I like tea more than coffee.

• privilégier: to give priority to, favour, or choose as a better option (often for rational or health reasons, not just taste).

  • Il vaut mieux privilégier l’eau. – It’s better to opt for / give priority to water.

In this sentence, privilégier suggests making the healthier or wiser choice, not just “I happen to like water more”.

Why is it l’eau and not la eau, and what gender is eau?

eau (water) is feminine: la eau in theory.
But because eau starts with a vowel sound, French uses elision:

• la → l’ in front of a word beginning with a vowel or silent h.

So:

• la + eau → l’eau
• Pronounced like [lo].

Despite the l’, the noun is still feminine. You see that in:

• l’eau froide – the cold water (adjective in feminine form: froide, not froid).

Why is it le thé and not something like du thé or du thé et de l’eau?

In this sentence, l’eau and le thé are treated as specific categories of drinks, almost like “water” and “tea” in general, but grammatically as countable nouns with definite articles:

• l’eau – the water
• le thé – the tea

French often uses the definite article (le/la/l’/les) for things in general, especially with food and drink:

• J’aime le thé. – I like tea (in general).
• L’eau est bonne pour la santé. – Water is good for your health.

You could say Il vaut mieux boire de l’eau et du thé if you focused on some water and some tea, but with privilégier, it’s natural to treat them as types/categories, hence l’eau et le thé.

What does plutôt que mean here, and how is it different from au lieu de?

plutôt que means “rather than / instead of” in the sense of preference:

• privilégier l’eau et le thé plutôt que ces produits gras
  → give water and tea priority rather than those fatty products.

au lieu de also means “instead of”, but it’s more about substitution (doing one thing in place of another), sometimes with a negative nuance (doing the wrong thing):

• Il boit du soda au lieu d’eau. – He drinks soda instead of water (and that’s not ideal).

Here, plutôt que fits better because we’re talking about which option is preferable.

Structure notes:

• plutôt que + noun: plutôt que ces produits gras
• plutôt que de + infinitive: plutôt que de manger ces produits gras

Can you break down ces produits gras grammatically? Why is it ces and why gras with an s?

Yes:

• ces – demonstrative adjective, plural (“these/those”).

  • Singular forms: ce (before consonant), cet (before vowel), cette (feminine).
  • Plural for all genders: ces.

• produits – plural of produit (product), masculine noun.

  • un produit → des produits

• gras – adjective meaning fatty/fat-rich, here in masculine plural form.

Agreement:

• Because produits is masculine plural, the adjective gras must also be masculine plural.
• For this adjective:
  • Masculine singular: gras
  • Masculine plural: gras (same spelling)
  • Feminine singular: grasse
  • Feminine plural: grasses

So:

• un produit gras – a fatty product
• des produits gras – fatty products
• une sauce grasse – a fatty sauce

What is the difference between gras and gros in this context?

Both can relate to “fat” in English, but:

• gras: means fatty / containing a lot of fat (for foods), or fat/greasy (for textures).

  • des produits gras – fatty products
  • un plat gras – a fatty/greasy dish

• gros: primarily big/large, and also fat when describing people or animals.

  • un homme gros – a fat man
  • un gros chien – a big dog

So for food that is rich in fat, you want gras, not gros.
ces produits gras = “these fatty foods,” not “these big foods.”

Is there a version of this structure with que + subjunctive, like Il vaut mieux que…?

Yes. valoir mieux has two common patterns:

1. Il vaut mieux + infinitive

   • Il vaut mieux privilégier l’eau et le thé.
     – It’s better to favor water and tea.

2. Il vaut mieux que + subordinate clause (subjunctive)

   • Il vaut mieux que tu privilégies l’eau et le thé.
     – It’s better that you favor water and tea. / You’d better favor water and tea.

With que, the verb in the subordinate clause normally goes in the subjunctive:

• que tu privilégies
• que nous privilégiions

So both patterns exist; your sentence just uses the infinitive version.

Is Il est mieux de privilégier… correct French?

It’s technically understandable, but it is not idiomatic. Native speakers would strongly prefer:

• Il vaut mieux privilégier…
• or simply Mieux vaut privilégier… (slightly more literary/compact).

Using Il est mieux de + infinitive sounds awkward and non‑native in most contexts. For expressing “It’s better to…”, Il vaut mieux is the natural choice.

Are there any pronunciation points to watch out for in this sentence?

A few key ones:

• Il vaut mieux:

  • vaut = [vo], rhymes with eau.
  • mieux = [mjø], similar to “myuh”.

• l’eau: [lo], single syllable. Don’t pronounce the e separately; it’s just “lo”.

• thé: [te], like “tay” but shorter, without a diphthong.

• plutôt: [plyto]

  • Don’t confuse with plus tôt (earlier). plutôt has the idea of “rather”.

• gras: [ɡʁa]

  • Final -s is silent here: “gra”.

No required liaisons in this exact sentence, so you would normally say each group clearly:
Il vaut mieux | privilégier | l’eau et le thé | plutôt que | ces produits gras.