être bon
To taste good in French is être bon.
The phrase is used to describe food or drink that has a pleasant flavor when eaten or drunk. In everyday spoken French, the most natural way to express that something you are currently eating or drinking tastes good is to say C'est bon.
Which one should you use?
While être bon is the most common way to say something tastes good, avoir bon goût is used more to describe the quality of a flavor or a person's sense of taste. Additionally, when describing food, bon refers to the flavor, whereas bien is used for how something is prepared or the manner in which it is served.
Did you know?
- While C'est bon is the standard way to say food tastes good, using it to describe a person can be misinterpreted as calling them 'attractive' or 'sexy' rather than 'kind'.
- In France, if you want to express that food tastes exceptionally good, you might use the slang word top or nickel, which are borrowed or adapted from other contexts to mean 'perfect'.
- The French word être is a linguistic hybrid. Its different conjugations are remnants of two separate Latin words: esse, meaning 'be', and stāre, meaning 'stand'.
Examples in context
- Oui, et c'est vraiment délicieux !Yes, and it's really delicious!
- Je suis d'accord, c'est exquis !I agree, it's exquisite!
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries bon, être, CC BY-SA 4.0.
