Pero bueno and pues nada

[Psychosid]

Hi everyone,

I am sure that this has been asked before, but i could not find anything in the threads, can anybody clear this up for me:

what is the difference between pero bueno and pues nada?

I know that we can say pero bueno to indicate that we have finished talking about a subject and are ready to speak about something else:

for example: (in english)..we arrived home tired and soaking wet..anyway how are you? (pero bueno)

but is pues nada used in the same sense??

thanks for any help.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

"Pero bueno" is used to end a conversation about something:

- No me gusta este oficio, pero bueno qué se le va a hacer.
I don't like this job, but what can I do.

- No estoy de acuerdo con lo que dices, pero bueno.
I don't agree with what you say, but that's ok.

- Estuve muy enfermo la semana pasada, pero bueno, no quiero hablar de eso.
I was very sick last week but let's not talk about that.

- Juan fue muy malo conmigo, pero bueno, que le vaya bien.
Juan was evil with me but may he do well.

- Me sentí muy triste cuando mi novio y yo rompimos, pero bueno, ya nada de eso importa.
I was very sad when my boyfriend and I broke up, but none of that matters anymore.


I will venture a note on "Pues nada", as I've seen it used by people from Spain. This expression is not usd in Mexico, however, it seems to be used to introduce a subject in a conversation:

--¿Cómo les ha ido, qué han hecho?
How have you been, what have you been doing?
-- Pues nada, que nos fuimos de vacaciones el mes pasado.
So, we went on holidays last month.

- Estábamos en la playa y, pues nada, no pudimos nadar porque había tiburones.
We were at the beach, but guess what, we couldn't swim because there were sharks.

- Así que quieres que me vaya, pues nada, que me voy.
So you want me to leave, well ok, I'm leaving.

--¿Y qué pasó?
And what happened?
--Pues nada, que el veterinario nos dijo que no había remedio y puso a dormir al perro.
Well, the vet said there was no cure and put the dog to sleep.

[Psychosid]

Thank you Angelica for your in depth explication, greatly apreciated, so in essence if i think of "pues nada" as saying: hey guess what, or even: and this happened, then i am on the right lines and probably going to use pues nada in the right context?

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

I think so. However, I'd like to see if people from Spain agree with what I think. ;)