Bien or buenos/buenas

[tony]

Can someone give me some "simple" general guideline for the use of bien, bueno(s) an buena(s)? I am confused when to use which. Gracias.

[chileno]

Originally Posted by tony

Can someone give me some "simple" general guideline for the use of bien, bueno(s) an buena(s)? I am confused when to use which. Gracias.

Bien = well

Bueno/a = good

Bien, procederé a desmostrarte lo del género masculino y femenino.

Una puerta de buena madera siempre es bien cotizada.

Los zapatos son buenos, siempre y cuando sean de cuero genuino, aunque no garantize este hecho de que sean cómodos.

[Tomisimo]

Bueno

Bueno is the adjective, meaning it modifies nouns, pronouns, or noun phrases.

As an adjective, bueno changes to agree in number and gender with the noun it modifies, thus it can change to be bueno, buenos, buena, buenas. Additionally, bueno is shortened to buen when it comes before a masculine, singular noun.

Sofía hace buena comida. = Sofía makes good food.
Tengo un buen carro. = I have a good car.
Tengo un carro bueno. = I have a good car.
Tiene buenos modales. = She has good manners.
Estas revistas son buenas. = These magazines are good.

Bien

Bien is the adverb, meaning it modifies verbs, or other adverbs.

As an adverb, Bien does not change.

Lo hizo bien. = She did it well.
¡Bien hecho! = Well done! (Good job!)
No puedo cantar bien. = I can' sing well.
La niña puede escribir bien. = The girl can write well.
Estaba corriendo bien rápido. = I was running really fast.
Habló bien fuerte. = She spoke really loud.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Bueno(a) is an adjective, except when it's used as an interjection.

Juan es una buena persona.
Juan is a good person.

Mi padre me dio buenos consejos.
My father gave me good pieces of advice.

Tu trabajo no es muy bueno. Vuélvelo a hacer.
Your work is not that good. Do it again.

Contraté a un buen fotógrafo para mi boda. ("Buen" is used instead of "bueno" before a substantive, for euphonic reasons.)
I hired a good photographer for my wedding.


"Bien" is more complicated... it can be a noun, an adverb, sometimes also an interjection... here are some examples:

No basta con pensar. Hay que hacerlo bien.
Thinking is not enough. It has to be done well.

No puedo pronunciar bien el inglés. Necesito practicar más.
I can't pronounce English well. I need practicing more.

Dejo todos mis bienes a mi único hijo.
I leave all my possessions to my only child.

Durante esta crisis, los precios de los bienes y servicios han aumentado mucho.
During this crisis, the prices of goods and services have increased a lot.

-- ¿Cómo estás? (How are you?)
-- Bien, gracias. (Fine, thank you)

-- Terminé la tarea. (I finished my homework.)
-- ¡Bien/Muy bien! ¡Felicidades! (Fine! Congratulations!)


@Hernán: "Garantice" goes with "c"... it comes from a "z".

[Tomisimo]

"Garantice" goes with "c"

"Garantice" is spelled with "c"...

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

¡Uy! I stand corrected. Thank you, David!

[CrOtALiTo]

Originally Posted by tony

Can someone give me some "simple" general guideline for the use of bien, bueno(s) an buena(s)? I am confused when to use which. Gracias.

I will write some examples about your question. I hope you can understand me .

You are good.

Eres bueno.

Hello good afternoon.

Buenas tardes.


If you have some question or doubt about my examples you don't hesitate to ask me.

[chileno]

Originally Posted by AngelicaDeAlquezar

@Hernán: "Garantice" goes with "c"... it comes from a "z".

Oh yes. One of my fingers felt really Spanish today.

Or One of my fingers ha a lisp...?



I need to pay more attention to this.

Thanks. :-)

[bobjenkins]

¡Gracias! Me pregunté cuando usarlos a palabras, ¡es facilísimo!

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by bobjenkins

¡Gracias! Me pregunté cuando usarlos a palabras, ¡es facilísimo!

Me preguntaba cómo usar esas palabras.
= I was wondering how to use those words.

me preguntaba = I was wondering (the wondering started in the past and may still be occurring, habitual or repeated action in the past or setting the stage for another past event)
me pregunté = I wondered (the wondering started and ended in the past)

[bobjenkins]

Originally Posted by Rusty

Me preguntaba cómo usar esas palabras.
= I was wondering how to use those words.

me preguntaba = I was wondering (the wondering started in the past and may still be occurring, habitual or repeated action in the past or setting the stage for another past event)
me pregunté = I wondered (the wondering started and ended in the past)

Gracias, Yo solo empiezo aprendendo el imperfectivo

I like in spanish how there are differnt moods (is that what they're called?), it makes it easier to express yourself

[Rusty]

These are different past tenses - the imperfect and the preterit.
Spanish has two moods - the indicative and the subjunctive. Almost all the tenses are used in both moods.

[chileno]

Originally Posted by Rusty

These are different past tenses - the imperfect and the preterit.
Spanish has two moods - the indicative and the subjunctive. Almost all the tenses are used in both moods.

Rusty?

Is that true or you want to make it easier for bobjenkins?

[irmamar]

Originally Posted by Rusty

These are different past tenses - the imperfect and the preterit.
Spanish has two moods - the indicative and the subjunctive. Almost all the tenses are used in both moods.

I think there's one missing mood: imperative.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by chileno

Rusty?

Is that true or you want to make it easier for bobjenkins?

Originally Posted by irmamar

I think there's one missing mood: imperative.

True, the imperative mood is missing.

I wasn't overlooking the imperative mood when I said there were two moods. I was trying to tell Bob that he meant to say tenses instead of moods, and I thought I'd mention that nearly all of the tenses are duplicated in both of the moods mentioned, making it "easier to express yourself."

[chileno]

Originally Posted by Rusty

True, the imperative mood is missing.

I wasn't overlooking the imperative mood when I said there were two moods. I was trying to tell Bob that he meant to say tenses instead of moods, and I thought I'd mention that nearly all of the tenses are duplicated in both of the moods mentioned, making it "easier to express yourself."

Just checking, which is always good. However, in doing so I realized that somethinh changed between learning the moods, which used to be five, and now are only three?

Are we on light mood?

Some of type of diet?

When did this happen?

[irmamar]

Originally Posted by chileno

Just checking, which is always good. However, in doing so I realized that somethinh changed between learning the moods, which used to be five, and now are only three?

Are we on light mood?

Some of type of diet?

When did this happen?

Yes, moods have changed, also accents and a lot of things in grammar. RAE is driving me crazy

Spanish was more logical some years before.

[chileno]

Originally Posted by irmamar

Yes, moods have changed, also accents and a lot of things in grammar. RAE is driving me crazy

Spanish was more logical some years before.

De verdad.

Hace años atrás teníamos 5 continente, el idioma castellano era el idioma oficial de españa, y ahora los modos?



¿Es a causa de estar correcto políticamente?

[Tomisimo]

Originally Posted by chileno

De verdad.

Hace años atrás teníamos 5 continente, el idioma castellano era el idioma oficial de españa, y ahora los modos?



¿Es a causa de estar correcto políticamente?

What were the five moods that Spanish used to have?

According to my logical reasoning, there are four moods in Spanish: indicative, imperative, conditional, and subjunctive. Then, there is also the infinitive, gerund, present participle, and past participle, which are not moods, but separate categories.

Speaking of continents, I always thought it interesting that most English-speaking countries teach there are 7 continents, and most Spanish-speaking countries (in the Americas at least) teach there are 6 continents-- America as one continent instead of North and South America, and sometimes they leave out Antarctica, leaving only 5 continents. I think Japan also teaches that there are only 5 or 6 continents, I can't remember. In my opinion, the number of continents is only something decided by convention, because they can definitely be open to interpretation.

[Rusty]

Yep, those are the four I've heard about. Another source I saw said there were 5 or 6 moods, but it didn't list them.