Mejor

[fglorca]

Juan es mi mejor amigo.(best)
Quiero buscar a un amigo mejor. (better)

Ese es el mejor albergue en este pueblo. (best)
Quiero buscar un albergue mejor. (better)

Am I correct in saying that when mejor means best, it must come before the noun, and when it means better, it needs to come after the noun?

Is "Quiero buscar un mejor albergue" (I want to look for a better youth hostel) ever correct?

Thanks.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Originally Posted by fglorca

Am I correct in saying that when mejor means best, it must come before the noun, and when it means better, it needs to come after the noun?

Not exactly.
Notice "Es el mejor (albergue)", and that "es mi mejor amigo" does not imply any further comparison with anyone. In these cases, the verb defines the noun together with the quality, which becomes part of the identity of the noun, so the objects I'm talking about must be superior to any others.

When you say "quiero buscar un amigo/albergue mejor", the action of the verb does not define the noun, and the quality is not a part of the object you are talking about but of another (an implicit) one.

Originally Posted by fglorca

Is "Quiero buscar un mejor albergue" (I want to look for a better youth hostel) ever correct?

Yes, it's by all means correct.

And also, although there is need for a slightly different construction, you could have said "es el albergue mejor del pueblo" or "es mi amigo el mejor de todos"



Some more examples:

- Me sé una canción mejor que todas las de tu playlist; escucha... -> I'm introducing an explicit comparison between the song I can sing and the ones I see in your list.

- José fue el mejor cantante en el concurso. -> There is no comparison with anyone else, but a statement that gives José the quality that makes him superior to the other contestants.


- Mis computadoras son mejores que las de mis vecinos, porque siempre las tengo limpias y actualizadas. -> Explicit comparison.

- Con la nueva actualización, mis computadoras son mejores. -> Implicit comparison between the situation before the update.

- Mis computadoras son las mejores de todo el vecindario. -> Explicit statement that my computers cannot be compared to any others because mine are superior to those of the neighbourhood.

- Mis computadoras son las mejores. -> Either the listener already knows what my reference is or my megalomania makes me think my computers are superior to any other in the world.

- No tengo un mejor ejemplo; espero que éstos sean claros. -> Comparison is about an example that does not exist in the list. I could have said in an explicit comparison: "No tengo un mejor ejemplo que éstos".

- No sé si éstos son los mejores ejemplos, pero son los que se me ocurren ahora. -> I doubt the examples that would explain in a superior way don't exist in the list, but I'm not comparing them to any other.


I hope this helps, but ask questions if it's confusing.