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Between Mal or Mauvais, which word to use, when they translate to the English word Bad. Clearly, the use of one or the other depends on the context. As a general rule we can say that we use Mauvais when we can replace it with Bon. Alternatively, Mal can be replaced with Bien. Let's see in detail how we use each of them, if they can be synonyms and what differences there are between them.
When used after C'est, mal depicts a moral judgment, while mauvais depicts an utilitarian, aesthetic, intellectual or rarely moral aspect of a person, a thing or an idea.
Most often, Mauvais is an adjective, its feminine is Mauvaise. It qualifies a noun and it has to agree with it in gender and number. In the sentence, an adjective is placed most often just before the noun it qualifies: mauvaise herbe, mauvaise habitude.
As an adjective Mauvais can have the following meanings in English:
| Meaning | Example | English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| bad | La sortie a été annulée en raison du mauvais temps. | The outing was canceled due to bad weather. |
| evil | Il a quitté sa ville pour échapper aux mauvaises influences. | He left his city to escape evil influences. |
| foul | Une très mauvaise odeur peut être le signe d'une infection grave. | A very foul smell may mean a serious infection. |
| improper | Une mauvaise utilisation peut entraîner la panne de la machine. | Improper use may cause the machine to break down. |
| incorrect | Vous avez saisi un mauvais mot de passe. | You entered an incorrect password. |
| lame | Sa mauvaise blague ne m'a pas fait rire. | His lame joke did not make me laugh. |
| low | La qualité sonore de cet enregistrement est très mauvaise. | The sound quality of this recording is very low. |
| nasty | Il a été puni pour son mauvais comportement. | He was punished for his nasty behavior. |
| poor | Ce tissu est de mauvaise qualité. | This fabric is of poor quality. |
| wicked | Sa mauvaise conduite a choqué ses proches. | His wicked behaviour shocked his relatives. |
| wrong | Il n'ya pas de mauvaise réponse à cette question. | There is no wrong answer to this question. |
When the adjective Mauvais immediately follows the verbs such as faire, juger, sentir, trouver, etc., it is used as an adverb and qualifies or modifies the verb. Remember, an adverb is invariable, that's to say it doesn't agree with any other part of the sentence. Mauvais remains then singular masculine.
EXAMPLES
| Verb | Example | English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| faire | Qu'il fasse beau ou mauvais, il faut sortir son chien tous les jours. | No matter if the weather is good or bad, you have to take your dog out every day. |
| juger | Les aliments frits sont jugés mauvais pour la santé. | Fried food is considered unhealthy. |
| sentir | Ouvre la fenêtre ! Ça sent mauvais ici. | Open the window! It smells bad here. |
| trouver | Les gens trouvent mauvais qu'on mette le nez dans leurs affaires. | People think it's bad that you stick your nose into their business. |
IMPORTANT!
Mauvais as well as Mal can follow the verb sentir / se sentir. The verb sentir has then two different meanings.
| Meaning | Example | English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| sentir mauvais = to smell bad | Ce fromage sent mauvais mais il est très bon. | This cheese smells bad but it is very good. |
| se sentir mal = to feel bad | Je me sens très mal après avoir mangé tout ce chocolat. | I feel terrible after eating all that chocolate. |
Mauvais can also be used as a noun, but rarely. It means then a mean person/animal, an agressive being or a not gifted being.
| Meaning | Example | English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| a mean being | Dans un western le bon et le mauvais s'affrontent. | In a western the good and the bad clash. |
| an agressive being | Les videurs ont jeté dehors le client saoul qui faisait le mauvais. | The bouncers kicked out the drunk aggressive customer. |
| a duffer | Tous les mauvais de la classe étaient assis au dernier rang. | All the duffers in the class sat in the last row. |
| Expression | English Translation |
|---|---|
| avoir le mauvais oeil | having an evil eye |
| avoir mauvaise mine | to look badly |
| avoir mauvaise presse | to get bad press |
| conjurer le mauvais sort | ward off bad luck |
| être dans un mauvais jour | to be in a bad mood |
| être de mauvais aloi | to have a bad reputation, to be of poor quality |
| être de mauvais augure | to be a bad omen |
| être de mauvais goût | to show little elegance, refinement |
| être de mauvais poil | to be in a bad mood |
| être de mauvaise foi | to have a disloyal attitude |
| être mauvais joueur | to be a sore loser |
| être mauvaise langue | to be a slanderer |
| être sur une mauvaise pente | to suffer the consequences of a bad choice |
| être un mauvais sujet | to misbehave |
| faire contre mauvaise fortune bon cœur | do not be discouraged by adversity |
| faire quelque chose de mauvaise grâce | to do something unwillingly |
| femme de mauvaise vie | a prostitute |
| filer un mauvais coton | to be in a dangerous situation |
| se faire du mauvais sang | to worry |
| se lever du mauvais pied | getting up on the wrong side of the bed |
| se tirer d'un mauvais pas | to overcome a difficult or dangerous situation |
| se trouver en mauvaise posture | to be in an unfavorable situation |
| traverser une mauvaise passe | to go through a difficult time |
| une mauvaise herbe | a weed |
| utiliser quelque chose à mauvais escient | to do something maliciously |
| voir quelque chose d’un mauvais œil | to have an unfavorable opinion about something |
Basically, Mal is an adverb. It qualifies or modifies a verb. As all adverbs, it is invariable, that's to say it doesn't agree with any other part of the sentence.
As an adverb, Mal can have the following meanings in English:
| Meaning | Example | English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| awkward | Je me suis sentie mal en présence de l'ex-femme de mon copain. | I felt awkward in presence of my boyfriend's ex wife. |
| badly | La prevenue a été mal informée de ses droits. | The accused was badly informed about her rights. |
| incorrectly | Le demandeur d'allocation a mal rempli le formulaire. | The claimant has filled out the form incorrectly. |
| poorly | L'appareil ne fonctionne pas correctement car il est mal conçu. | The device does not work properly because it is poorly designed. |
| shabbily | Elle a l'air mal habillée dans son vieux manteau usé. | She looks shabbily dressed in her old, worn out coat. |
| wrongly | Elle a avoué avoir mal agi. | She confessed to having acted wrongly. |
Mal can be used as a noun. Then it is masculine. Its plural is Maux.
As a noun, Mal can have the following meanings in English:
| Meaning | Example | English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| ache | J'ai mal à la tête. | I have a headache. |
| ailment | Ma voisine sait comment traiter des maux avec des remèdes naturels. | My neighbor knows how to treat ailments with natural remedies. |
| evil | Parfois il faut combattre le mal par le mal. | Sometimes you have to fight evil with evil. |
| harm | La dernière tempête n'a pas fait trop de mal aux plantations. | The last storm did not do too much harm to the plantations. |
| pain | Je prends des médicaments pour soulager mon mal de dos. | I take medication to relieve my back pain. |
| trouble | J'ai eu du mal à finir cet exercice. | I had trouble finishing this exercise. |
| Expression | English Translation |
|---|---|
| avoir du mal à joindre les deux bouts | run out of money |
| avoir l’esprit mal tourné | be willing to interpret everything in a salacious manner |
| avoir le mal des transports | to have motion sickness |
| avoir le mal du pays | be nostalgic for their country of origin |
| avoir mal au coeur | to be nauseous; to be on the verge of vomiting |
| donner mal au coeur | to make somebody feel sick |
| faire mal au coeur | to cause sadness, compassion, resentment, consternation, etc. |
| bon gré mal gré | willy-nilly |
| être au plus mal | be in a very serious state of health |
| être mal à l'aise | feel physical or moral discomfort |
| être mal barré | to be off to a bad start |
| être mal dans sa peau | not feeling comfortable, or not feeling fulfilled |
| être mal disposé | to be in a bad mood |
| être mal élevé | be rude |
| être mal en point | to be very ill |
| être mal loti | to be disadvantaged by fate |
| être mal placé pour | to be in no position to (do something) |
| être mal vu | to be looked upon unfavorably by someone |
| il ne ferait pas de mal à une mouche | he wouldn't harm anybody |
| le mal-être | a general feeling of malaise |
| mal parler, parler mal | to express oneself incorrectly or rudely |
| mal tourner | to change in a bad way |
| pas mal | good enough or a lot, many (informal) |
| prendre mal quelque chose | to react unfavorably to a statement or situation |
| prendre son mal en patience | to bear a difficult situation with courage |
| s'y prendre mal | to do something in a wrong way |
| tant bien que mal | somehow |
| tomber mal | to arrive at the wrong time |
| vouloir du mal à quelqu'un | to have bad intentions towards somebody |
In conclusion, in general Mauvais is an adjective and Mal is an adverb. Although both can fulfill the same grammatical function sometimes, namely being an adverb or a noun, they are not synonyms and are not interchangeable. Their use is dictated by the context in which they are used.
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