très bien
/tʁɛ bjɛ̃/
The French phrase for "very nice" is très bien.
très bien is typically used to mean "very well" or "very good," describing how an action is performed or the state of a situation. It is also frequently used as a standalone response to express agreement or approval, similar to saying "Very good" or "All right" in English.
Which one should you use?
While très bien can be translated as "very nice" in English, it functions more like "very well" or "very good" in French. If you are describing a person as being "very nice" (meaning kind or friendly), you should use très gentil for a man or très gentille for a woman instead of très bien.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In some urban areas, particularly in Paris, the expression Méchamment cool is used to mean "wickedly cool" or "seriously awesome."
How do you pronounce it?
/tʁɛ bjɛ̃/
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly use très bien to describe the appearance of an object, such as saying "that is a very nice car." To describe how an object looks, a native speaker would more likely use très beau or très joli.
Did you know?
- The word très evolved from the Latin trans, which originally meant 'through' or 'across'. Over centuries, its meaning shifted from describing a physical crossing to expressing an intense degree of something.
- While très bien is positive, adding the word trop instead of très creates trop bien. In modern slang, this means 'too good' or 'awesome', but in formal settings, it can imply that something is 'excessively' good to the point of being a problem.
- In French, the word bien is an adverb, whereas its opposite mal can be used as both an adverb and a noun. This means while très bien describes the quality of an action, the word for 'badly' can also mean 'misfortune'.
Examples in context
- Cette jupe te va très bien.That skirt looks very nice on you.This sentence shows how to use très bien to describe how something looks on a person.Tatoeba #1461542 by sysko, translation #7125911 by AlanF_US
- Ta nouvelle robe est vraiment magnifiqueYour new dress is truly beautiful
- Tu as très bien agi.You acted very nicely.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Lucas shows Léa a drawing he made.
- LucasRegarde mon dessin, Léa.Look at my drawing, Léa.
- LéaC'est très bien, Lucas !That's very nice, Lucas!
- LucasMerci beaucoup.Thank you very much.
- LéaTu es doué.You are gifted.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry très bien, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries bien, très, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
