bien et mieux in this sentence

Question

I just don't understand why this sentence uses an adverb, rather than an adjective :
Ta télé est bien, mais la mienne est mieux. I would think it'd use : Ta télé est bonne, mais la mienne est meilleure. Thank you for your explanation!

Accepted Answer

Hi Christina,
'Bien' and 'Bon' have lots of different meanings in French and you will find multiple columns devoted to them in dictionaries depending on their particular meanings.
In this case, 'bien' is actually an adjective ( I know, wierd!). It is used to mean 'pleasing' as good/fine. e.g.
Ce tableau est bien.
Ce film est bien.
OR when speaking of a person:
"C'est un homme bien" = "He is a good man "( in a moral sense).
or "Il est bien, ton ami "= meaning, "He is good-looking, your friend."
In the case of a tv , if you said, "la télé est bonne", it sounds really odd in French and you can almost think that you have tried to eat it ...
You can say - "C'est une bonne télé." (meaning it works well, fulfills its role as a tv...)
I know it's confusing but hope this helps!

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Hi Christina, I believe this question has been asked and explained several times. You should find answers among the posts underneath the corresponding lesson. 
-- Chris.

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I have all the same questions as Christina and many others here, and I've read all the answer over and over again, but I still don't get it. It seems to be absolutely random and just something you have to learn by feeling with time.

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I think that was a very well explained answer Cecil. Merci beaucoup!

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Merci Cecile, ton reponse est tres bien!

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I'm with Arndis on this... really beginning to hate just how inutilement compliquée French is! :-(

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