Hermosa o belleza

[beaudoin leblanc]

In bobjenkins' sentence 'la vida puede ser hermosa si lo intentas' why is hermosa used for beautiful instead of using the word belleza. Does belleza refer only to a female person?

[pjt33]

"Belleza" is "beauty" (noun); the cognate adjectivo is "bell[o|a|os|as]".

To me, "hermoso" feels like a peninsular word: I think a lot of Latin American Spanish speakers would favour "lindo". However, you're better off getting that kind of connotation from a native speaker.

[María José]

Hermoso is not too common over here either, at least not in everyday speech. It sounds quite formal, even literary. We tend to say guapo or bonito.

[irmamar]

"La vida es bella" can be used, too. :) In fact, this is the tittle of a film.

[poli]

Hermoso/a bello/a lindo/a bonita/o are all commonly used among Latin Americans.
Bonito is also a fish like tuna:)

[chileno]

Hermoso/a bello/a lindo/a bonita/o are all commonly used among Latin Americans.
Bonito is also a fish like tuna:)

You can also use belleza o hermosura when referring to somebody or something...

Ese (someone, something) es una belleza o hermosura (beautiful)

Ese edificio es una belleza/hermosura.

Esa muchacha es una hermosura/belleza.

Etc. :)

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

In bobjenkins' sentence 'la vida puede ser hermosa si lo intentas' why is hermosa used for beautiful instead of using the word belleza. Does belleza refer only to a female person?

"Hermosa(o)" (beautiful) is an adjective and "belleza" (beauty) a noun. As pjt, said, "bella(o)" is the adjective the derived adjective.
The noun for "hermoso" is "hermosura".

"Belleza" refers to anything about which you can perceive beauty.

Una mujer bella = a beautiful woman.
Ella es una belleza = she's a beauty.
Admirar la belleza masculina = to admire masculine beauty

"Un hombre bello" (a beautiful man) is rarely heard, but there are people who use those expressions. But "guapo" is the most common adjective I've heard for a handsome man.

[poli]

I think there is a difference between
una bella persona -- a person beautiful for their deeds (like Mother Teresa
and
una persona bella (Salma Hayek)

Am I right?

[Tomisimo]

Right. (At least something along those lines)

mi bella hermana = my beautiful sister (more intrinsic beauty? no comparisons being made)
mi hermana bella = my sister, the beautiful one, not the ugly one

[ookami]

For me it's the same, maybe in some cases it can depend a little on the context. If you say first bella, you are giving it more importance: first you think about bella, and then you add to it the person; vice versa.

Era una bella persona
Era una persona bella.
Synonyms.

Iré con mi hermana bella a caminar. -> this seems a little strange in this situation
Iré con mi bella hermana a caminar. -> this is the common one
But they mean the same.

If I have to say that a girl is beautiful I use, in order of usage: Linda - Hermosa - Bella/Preciosa
Anothers expressions: "Buen mozo/a" "Es un churro/a" "Guapo/a" but I don't like them.