Trying to distinguish between 'bon' and 'eh bien' and their usage in French

[Octagon]

I’m tring to figure out which expressions the native Frech typically use to express surprise, satisfaction, disappointment and disconcertment.
I hope someone can tell me when under which circumstances ‘eh bien’ and ‘bon’ are appropriate.

[Kimstu]

This spoken-French-usage website says:

Bon (= “Good” / “Well” , with a nasal vowel “on”) can be used as a regular adjective (as in “un bon gâteau” = a good cake )… or as a filler word. Just like “Well.” There’s often a meaning of “Well, that’s enough, let’s end this conversation.”

Bon, on y va ? = Are we finally going to go?
Ah bon ? = Oh, really?
Ah bon. = Oh, OK.

Eh bien is a very short filler expression that means : “Well…”

It’s rarely used, actually. But its variations are very popular. Everyday French conversation often uses “ Bah ” / “ Ben ” (pronounced “ bin ” with nasal vowel “ in ”).

These common filler words are informal, degraded pronunciations for “eh bien.”

For example:
Bah… oui. = Well, yeah, obviously.
Ben non. = Well, no.

So you might say that “bon” is like English “fine” and “eh bien” is like English “well…”

[Octagon]

Thanks Kimstu. So better not use ‘eh bien’ so much. I’ll switch to bah/ben. I do hear that very often. Back to my original question, though,
If your were to organise ‘bon’ and ‘ben’ in the following which words would you use? 1.surprise Well, this is a surprise 2.satisfaction(Well, well! How about that!) 3.disappointment(Fine! I guess I’ll have to do it!) and 4. disconcertment.(Fine! Suit yourelf!)

[Kimstu]

Eh, I think that’s too subtle for my non-native-speaker French comprehension. Paging @Pardel-Lux or @FrenchDunadan and/or other francophone Dopers!

[Octagon]

Thanks Kimstu. To me ‘ben’ has a cynical ring to it. Perhaps ‘ben’ is more suited to 3. and 4. No sure.

[Pardel-Lux]

To keep it simple, though language never is: bon is good (or, as you already wrote: fine), eh bien is ah, well…. Picture saying bon raising your thumb , but eh bien shrugging with the palm of your hands turned upwards.

[Octagon]

Thanks Parle-Lux.

[Jackmannii]

When I had the role of detective Pierre Duval in the 7th grade play, I recall saying “Mon Dieu!” and “Sacre bleu” to express surprise and disconcertment.*

Times may have changed though.

*I really wanted to say “Merde!” or at least “La vache!”, but the spoilsport director wouldn’t go for it.

[Pardel-Lux]

I like the way you wrote my name in this thread

[Octagon]

I just saw that Pardel-Lux. Parle-Lux sounds good too!

[FrenchDunadan]

@Octagon

Thanks Kimstu. So better not use ‘eh bien’ so much. I’ll switch to bah/ben. I do hear that very often. Back to my original question, though,
If your were to organise ‘bon’ and ‘ben’ in the following which words would you use? 1.surprise Well, this is a surprise 2.satisfaction(Well, well! How about that!) 3.disappointment(Fine! I guess I’ll have to do it!) and 4. disconcertment.(Fine! Suit yourelf!)

for surprise: Et bien ! Ben çà alors !
for satisfaction: Bon ! Bien !
for disappointment: bon/ben followed by “Tant pis”
for disconcertment : bon followed by “fais comme tu veux”

[Octagon]

Thanks FrenchDunadan. Surprisingly few uses of ‘Ben’ in that list. I would have expected more.

[PatrickLondon]

@Jackmannii

When I had the role of detective Pierre Duval in the 7th grade play, I recall saying “Mon Dieu!” and “Sacre bleu” to express surprise and disconcertment.*

You should have tried “Zut alors!” and “Saperlipopette!”

[FrenchDunadan]

“Palsambleu!”
“de part ma chandelle verte!”