bonne volonté
/bɔn vɔ.lɔ̃.te/feminine
The English word 'goodwill' can be translated into French as bonne volonté or bienveillance.
Meaning: favorably disposed attitude (noun)
Ways to say it
| French | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| bonne volonté | /bɔn vɔ.lɔ̃.te/ | feminine |
| bienveillance | /bjɛ̃.vɛ.jɑ̃s/ /bjɛ̃.ve.jɑ̃s/ |
feminine |
The term is used to describe a favorably disposed attitude.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase bonne volonté is a literal translation of 'good will', where bonne means 'good' and volonté means 'will'.
Which one should you use?
bonne volonté refers more to a person's willingness or intent to act or cooperate.
How does it change in a sentence?
To express the idea of 'showing' or 'demonstrating' goodwill, the idiomatic construction faire preuve de is used.
How do you pronounce it?
The pronunciation is /bɔn vɔ.lɔ̃.te/. It consists of 3 syllables.
Did you know?
- In French, if someone says you have trop de bonne volonté, it can actually be a polite way of saying you are being overly eager or naive to the point of being ineffective.
- In a legal or formal context, if you want to speak of 'goodwill' as an intangible asset of a business, the term used is fonds de commerce rather than bonne volonté.
- The word volonté shares a common ancestor with the English word 'volunteer', as both stem from the Latin 'volo', meaning 'to wish' or 'to want'.
Examples in context
- Emma Watson est une ambassadrice de bonne volonté d’ONU Femmes.Emma Watson is a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador.This sentence shows how to use bonne volonté in the context of an official title like 'Goodwill Ambassador'.Tatoeba #12473016 by Rovo, translation #6011568 by zumley
- Son âme semblait faite de bonne humeur et de bonne volonté.His soul seemed to be made up of good humor and goodwill.This sentence uses bonne volonté to describe a person's internal disposition.Tatoeba #3436058 by Blabla, translation #5069946 by jhomel
- Pour faire preuve de bonne volonté, la compagnie aérienne a fourni un hébergement gratuit aux passagers bloqués.The airline provided free accommodation to stranded passengers as a goodwill gesture.This sentence demonstrates how to use bonne volonté when referring to a gesture made by a company.Tatoeba #10075845 by lbdx, translation #2951709 by patgfisher
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Manon and Hugo are discussing a conflict with a neighbor.
- ManonIl a enfin montré un peu de bonne volonté.He finally showed a bit of goodwill.
- HugoC'est vrai, il a accepté de s'excuser.That's true, he agreed to apologize.
- ManonSa bonne volonté m'étonne beaucoup aujourd'hui.His goodwill surprises me a lot today.
- HugoEspérons que cela continue comme ça.Let's hope it continues like this.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “goodwill” translations and entries bonne volonté, bienveillance, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries bienveillance, volonté, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
