Can you give me some guidance on when to use mal as an adjective. I wrote "le reste du casting n'avait pas l'air mauvais".
I believe it is similar to bon v. bien as an adjective. I read somewhere that bon is used to describe taste, smell, physical sensation or a person's level or quality Otherwise, use bien as the adjective. Is this correct and does it apply to mauvais v. mal? Thanks.
Hi Sean,
Here it is more to do with the expression ' avoir l'air bien/mal', meaning to look/seem good/bad, or in the negative form 'not to seem bad', in other words, to seem good.
You might use avoir l’air bon/mauvais for a foodstuff -
Ce menu a l’air bon = This menu looks good
Ce poisson a l’air mauvais = This fish looks bad
It always amuses me how the expression 'pas mal' is seen as a compliment in French -
Ce film n'a pas l'air mal = This film looks good
Il est pas mal ce livre != This book is good!
Hope this helps!
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