What’s wrong with saying “Yum, this is very delicious!” or “Wow, this is very beautiful!” ? Nothing…in English. However, a literal translation of these expressions -along with a few others- doesn’t work in French. Here’s why.
“Very delicious”: the basic explanation
Some words such as “délicieux”, “magnifique” already include the idea of a superlative/of “something very high degree”, therefore using “très” with these words is really redundant and sounds very awkward.
The more detailed explanation
Here’s what the online dictionary of the CNRTL says about “très” (it’s a bit grammatical, but sums it all well – I’ll then explain in plain English below!):
« Très, qui permet de représenter la qualité à son degré le plus élevé sans comparaison avec d’autres (superlatifs absolus), est en principe exclu devant un adjectif comparatif (meilleur, moindre, pire) ou devant un adjectif qui ne peut recevoir une gradation (infime, essentiel) ou qui a la valeur d’un superlatif (excessif, extrême, primordial, supérieur). »
(source: http://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/très )
Basically, it means that:
- You can’t use “très” in front of a comparative adjective such as meilleur, moindre, pire (= better, least, worse) – you won’t say “very better” in English either!
For more about the difference between meilleur / mieux, read my article here.
- “très” is used to express a high degree in something (eg: “très bon” → a high degree in goodness ; “très poli” → a high degree in politeness, etc);
- You can’t use “très” in front of an adjective such as infime, essential (= tiny, essential) because you cannot adjust their degree (i.e something that is essential is just “essential”, not “a bit essential” or “a lot essential” or even “moderately essential”)
- You can’t use “très” in front of an adjective that already describes an extreme / that has the value of a superlative, such as excessif, extrême, primordial, supérieur – for the same reason as above.
Other words that don’t work with “très” in French
Here are some other examples of words that don’t work with “très” in French:
Dont use "très" with : | because it already has the meaning of: |
---|---|
Délicieux (1) | "très bon" |
Super / génial / formidable / merveilleux / grandiose / fabuleux | "très bien" |
Magnifique / superbe (2) | "très beau" |
Indispensable, vital | "très important" (see "essential") |
Notes :
(1) Délicieux is used for the taste of food, or some physical sensations of well-being such as a massage, a spa, etc.
(2) Magnifique is used for what your eyes see, for beauty.
How to say “very delicious” in French then?
So, how can you translate more precisely the meaning of “VERY delicious” etc., without using “très”? In other words, how can you accentuate/emphasize these expressions in a way that will sound French and not make your favourite teacher (me!) cringe ? 😉
The solution is simple: use the adverb “vraiment” (= really) instead.
A second option could be to use “absolument” (= absolutely).
Examples:
- “Miam! C’est très délicieux!” → « Miam ! C’est vraiment / absolument délicieux ! »
(= Yum ! It’s really / absolutely delicious !) - « Wahou ! C’est très magnifique ! »→ « Wahou ! C’est vraiment / absolument magnifique ! »
(= Wow ! That’s really / absolutely beautiful !)
Et voilà! So, tell me: how did you find this article? Don’t say “Très super!” 😉