Ask a Question

(Create a thread)
Go Back   Spanish language learning forums > Spanish & English Languages > Vocabulary > Idioms & Sayings


No hay mal que por bien no venga

 

An idiom is an expression whose meaning is not readily apparent based on the individual words in the expression. This forum is dedicated to discussing idioms and other sayings.


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old December 19, 2008, 09:06 AM
Marsopa's Avatar
Marsopa Marsopa is offline
Pearl
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Midwest
Posts: 320
Marsopa is on a distinguished road
No hay mal que por bien no venga

And I ran across "No hay mal que por bien no venga." I do understand that this idiom means something like good things can come from bad, or every cloud has a silver lining, but it has always seemed like it should be "No hay bien que por mal no venga...:"

Can anyone straighten me out???

thanks,

Marospa
Reply With Quote
   
Get rid of these ads by registering for a free Tomísimo account.
  #2  
Old December 19, 2008, 09:31 AM
poli's Avatar
poli poli is offline
rule 1: gravity
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: In and around New York
Posts: 7,810
Native Language: English
poli will become famous soon enoughpoli will become famous soon enough
You definitely answered your own question, and it's often true too.
__________________
Me ayuda si corrige mis errores. Gracias.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old December 19, 2008, 10:22 AM
Rusty's Avatar
Rusty Rusty is offline
Señor Speedy
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: USA
Posts: 11,299
Native Language: American English
Rusty has a spectacular aura aboutRusty has a spectacular aura about
I don't understand why you would want to say the opposite. Some good usually comes from a setback. In retrospect, we see that even our worst trials have helped us in some way. Read a little more about the saying here.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old December 19, 2008, 10:28 AM
Tomisimo's Avatar
Tomisimo Tomisimo is offline
Davidísimo
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: North America
Posts: 5,664
Native Language: American English
Tomisimo will become famous soon enoughTomisimo will become famous soon enough
Changed the thread's title.

I hear what you're saying Marsopa, I actually used to think the same thing back in the day. Let's walk through the meaning.

No hay mal que por bien no venga.
Grammatically, we can change this to:

No hay mal que no venga por bien.
Now let's make it a bit more explicit:

No hay cosa mala que no venga sino por tu bien.
Now, if we try to translate that literally into English, it'll look kinda funny since we wouldn't normally use double negatives like that:

There is no bad thing that comes(that happens to you), that didn't come (or happen to you) for your benefit
We might normally turn that around and make it an affirmative sentence:

All bad things come/happen to your for your benefit/for a reason
Hope this explanation somehow helps you a bit
__________________
If you find something wrong with my Spanish, please correct it!
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old December 19, 2008, 04:57 PM
breadb's Avatar
breadb breadb is offline
Opal
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: South America
Posts: 14
Native Language: English
breadb is on a distinguished road
I think I remember this phrase from a song.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old December 19, 2008, 09:01 PM
Rusty's Avatar
Rusty Rusty is offline
Señor Speedy
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: USA
Posts: 11,299
Native Language: American English
Rusty has a spectacular aura aboutRusty has a spectacular aura about
Gloria Estefan sings a song with that title in her Mi Tierra album (track 6). The whole album is great.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old December 20, 2008, 05:38 AM
sosia's Avatar
sosia sosia is offline
Ankh-Morpork's citizen
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: a 55 cm del monitor
Posts: 2,984
Native Language: Spanish (Spain)
sosia has a spectacular aura aboutsosia has a spectacular aura about
No hay mal que por bien no venga-->
No hay mal (que recibas) que por bien no (te) venga (después)
The bad thing you receive can be good for you, you must learn/take something good from a bad thing --> your "good things can come from bad"

If you say "No hay bien que por mal no venga...:" you're saying "all the good things comes from bad things", and that's not the same. Good thing can come alone (like lottery "
saludos
__________________
History, contrary to popular theories, "is" kings and dates and battles.
Small Gods Terry Pratchett
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old December 20, 2008, 08:52 AM
CrOtALiTo's Avatar
CrOtALiTo CrOtALiTo is offline
Diamond
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Mérida, Yucatán
Posts: 11,686
Native Language: I can understand Spanish and English
CrOtALiTo is on a distinguished road
Yes, Sosia, you are right, if you get good things of things bad, well, that said is very used on my country, my grandfather always said that (Dicho), I believe that the said are not whole in the this post, because when my grandfather told me the said that was longer, but I don't remind the whole said.
__________________
We are building the most important dare for my life and my family feature now we are installing new services in telecoms.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old December 20, 2008, 02:59 PM
Elaina's Avatar
Elaina Elaina is offline
Diamond
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Midwest
Posts: 2,565
Native Language: English
Elaina will become famous soon enough
Something bad happens but because of that "bad" thing that happens, something else, but good, happens.

So the good thing that happens is a side-effect of the bad thing that happened.

For example, you are married and because of whatever you end up getting divorced and you are devastated.......you think it is the end of the world, but then through time, you meet the most perfect "person" that you get along well with, you agree on everything, you love each other very much and you live happily ever-after.

Ergo.......no hay mal que por bien no venga.



my
__________________
Elaina
All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them. Walt Disney
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old December 31, 2008, 07:23 AM
Marsopa's Avatar
Marsopa Marsopa is offline
Pearl
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Midwest
Posts: 320
Marsopa is on a distinguished road
Great explanation

Thank you, David,

That was a great explanation. When you added the "tu" in there, I could see it.

Funny, that we had the same misunderstanding. Now I don't feel so dumb!
Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
no hay mal

 

Link to this thread
URL: 
HTML Link: 
BB Code: 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Site Rules

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
¿Hay errores en esta oración? Zach Practice & Homework 4 July 26, 2015 02:16 PM
No Hay Paraiso Orion Translations 6 November 20, 2008 10:33 AM
Me obtenes empleo hay hola Translations 6 June 12, 2008 03:39 AM
Help - Vistas por ultima vez corriendo por el pasillo dani87 Vocabulary 5 March 11, 2008 02:57 PM
Hay/estar gramatica Grammar 2 July 15, 2007 10:04 AM


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:25 AM.

Forum powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.

X