bien
/bjɛ̃/
In French, the phrase for 'well' is bien.
bien is used as an adverb to mean 'well', describing how an action is performed or indicating that someone is in good health. The phrase Eh bien is often used as a filler or an interjection similar to the English 'Well…' when starting a sentence or expressing hesitation.
Meaning: in good health (adj)
Which one should you use?
Use bien as an adverb to mean 'well' (e.g., 'I sleep well'), whereas bon is the adjective meaning 'good'. In certain slang contexts, words like vachement or drôlement are used to mean 'very' and tiens! can be used as an exclamation of surprise.
Related words
How do you pronounce it?
/bjɛ̃/
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly use bon instead of bien when they mean 'well' in an adverbial sense.
Did you know?
- The expression Bien vu! is used to tell someone they have made a clever observation, literally meaning 'well seen'.
- While bien means 'well', if you want to say someone is 'well-behaved', you would use the adjective sage rather than any form of bien.
- The word bien is inherited from the Latin word bene, which is also the root of English words like 'benefit' and 'benevolent'.
Examples in context
- Ça va bien ?Is it going well?This sentence shows how to ask if things are going well using bien.Tatoeba #557870 by sacredceltic, translation #3273065 by sundown
- Eh bien oui !Well yes!This sentence uses bien within an interjection to express agreement.Tatoeba #9025676 by Micsmithel, translation #8856267 by moxy
- Ça se lit bien.It reads well.This sentence demonstrates the use of bien to describe how something is read.Tatoeba #808558 by felix63, translation #808559 by FeuDRenais2
- Le travail que vous avez réalisé est très bien fait.The work you have done is very well done.
- C'est un rapport excellent, bien écrit et bien structuré.It's an excellent report, well written and well structured.
- J'ai écouté leur dernier album, il est pas mal.I listened to their latest album, it's pretty good.
- 2033 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Nathan and Léa meet at a cafe.
- NathanSalut Léa ! Tu vas bien ?Hi Léa! Are you doing well?
- LéaOui, je vais très bien, merci.Yes, I am doing very well, thank you.
- NathanC'est super, je suis content pour toi.That's great, I'm happy for you.
- LéaMerci Nathan, et toi ?Thanks Nathan, and you?
Sources
- Wiktionary, “well” translations and entries bien, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries bien, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
