Hi Patrice,
Que bueno verla!
It's hard to describe...
El es un buen hombre. This would indicate the man is a fine man, a good person.
Jaime es un niño bueno. This would indicate Jaime is a good boy, as in
well behaved.
The differences are subtle.
Es una buena comida. It's a good meal, indicating it looks good, it's
healthy, etc.
Es una comida buena. It's a good meal, indicating it tastes good, it
was heart, satisfying, etc.
Buen gusto = good taste
Although this example does not include buen/buena/bueno, it helps show
the subtle meaning differences in the location of the words
buena/bueno.
Some adjectives change their meaning according to whether they are
placed before or after the noun:
- Una cierta cosa, una cosa cierta.
(A certain thing, a certain (beyond doubt) thing.)
- Un pobre hombre, un hombre pobre.
(A poor (wretched) man, a poor (penniless) man.)
- Un gran hombre, un hombre grande.
(A great man, a big man.)
- Una sola mujer, una mujer sola.
(A single woman (just one), a single woman (on her own).)
- Un simple colega, un colega simple.
(A simple colleague (only a colleague), a simple(-minded) colleague.)
- Viejos amigos, amigos viejos.
(Old (long-standing)friends, old(aged) friends.)
http://www.sukhumvitonline.com/grammarpages/qualifyingadjectives.htm
Buen, bueno, buena... the ending matches the noun it describes, as far as gender.
For example, La niña buena = The good girl El niño bueno
If "bueno" goes before the noun, you use 'buen', dropping the 'o'.
Un buen alumno = The good student (male) Una buena alumna = The good
student (female)
"Buenos días - Good morning, Good day
Buenas noches - Good night
Que pase un buen día - Have a nice day
¡Buen viaje! - Have a nice trip (Bon voyage)
Buena suerte ? Good luck!
Buen trabajo ? Good job
Buen provecho ? Enjoy your meal (Bon appetit)
NOTE: When bueno comes before a masculine singular noun such as día
(day), viaje / bee-AH-hay (trip), or trabajo (job), you drop the final
?O.
Remember, don?t confuse buen (short form of the adjective bueno, which
means good) with bien (adverb meaning ?well?). Bueno can sometimes
translate into English as ?well,? but bien does NOT translate into
English as ?good.? English speakers often confuse ?good? and ?well?
anyway, so this can be a challenge."
" Remember it! The word bueno / BWEH-noh is related to a number of
Latin-based English words which start with bon-.
One such word is ?bonus,? which is certainly nice and good!
So remember: A bonus is bueno. bueno = good, nice"
http://www.thelearninglight.com/bueno.htm
While we're at it, let's toss 'bien' and "buenísimo" into the ensalada!
One of my favorite uses of 'bien' it to modify 'bueno'. If something
is really really good, you could say "Es BIEN bueno"
Bien is the adverb. "Bien hecho" = Well done "Muy bien" = Very well
Buenísimo means 'really good' and 'supergood'
Que tenga un buen dia!
Hope you have a good day! (This is one of those subjunctive
phrases....That you should have a good day)
Here's a good practice site :
http://www.colby.edu/~bknelson/exercises/subj1_forms.html
Hope this clears things up for you!
Sinceramente, Crabcakes |
Clarification of Answer by
crabcakes-ga
on
16 May 2005 15:04 PDT
Hi Patrice,
Yes, the plural does reinstate the masculine.
Que tenga un buen dia means "Have a good day" and "Buenos Dias" means
"Good Day" as in 'Hello'. Both forms, "buen" and "buenos" are
masculine.
El dia, los dias
La mano, las manos
El niño, the boy
Los niños, Could be 'the boys' or 'the boys and girls/children'
Other words can preced the noun as well.
La Bella Durmiente. Sleeping Beauty. (She is a sleeping beauty, not a
beauty who is sleeping. A subtle difference.)
El es un gran hombre. He is a great man.
Un dulce amor. A sweet love.
Un mal momento. A bad moment/time.
Alta tension. High tension.
Alta sociedad. High society
For example, someone might tell a bride "Que tenga muchos hijos"
meaning it is hoped the bride has many children, boys and girls.
Spanish is a somewhat sexist language! My daughter when teaching
Spanish speaking children only, always said "niños y niñas", or "Las
maestras y los meastros" so as not to diminish the female presence.
Instead of 'Los novios', she uses 'La novia y el novio' for girlfriend
and boyfriend.
Something I do to tease my Hispanic friends is use a non-word,
'marida' (accent on the 'i'). Esposa is the correct word for 'wife'.
Esposo or marido is used for 'husband'. I often say I am the 'marida',
and NEVER say we are marido y mujer.
I hope I understood your clarification! If not, simply ask again!
Atentamente, Crabcakes
|
Clarification of Answer by
crabcakes-ga
on
17 May 2005 08:01 PDT
Hi Patrice,
Close, pero no. 'Que tenga' is the subjunctive form, that we don;t
have in English. 'Que tenga' literally means 'That you should/would
have'.
You can think of it as 'I hope' if it helps you remember, but I
remember it as 'that you should have' or 'that you have'.
This explains the subjunctive far better than I:
"Spanish has a far more lively and systematic subjunctive mood than
English does. With very few exceptions the subjunctive is only used
in subordinate clauses."
http://academic.bowdoin.edu/courses/f02/span205/resources/grammar/dissemination/cap14.htm
Que tenga un buen dia = Have a good day
Espero que tenga un buen dia = I hope that you have a dood day
Ojalá que termine pronto = I hope you finish soon
Espero que venga mi familia = I hope that my parents come.
Ojalá is an interesting word, also meaning 'hope', but it's not a
verb. I read long ago, that roughly 25% of Spanish words have an
Arabic origin. (Owing to the Moorish occupation of Spain for about 700
years). Ojalá means literally "Allah permitting", sd in 'God willing'.
Lo and behold, I found a reference to the word "ojalá" online!:
"The Spanish word "ojalá" ("I hope", "I wish") is derived from "law ?á
lláh", a phrase meaning "God willing". It is one of many words
borrowed from Arabic due to the Muslim occupation of Spain from the
eighth to fifteenth centuries."
http://www.etymologie.info/~e/s_/sa-religi.html
Hope this helps you out!
Sinceramente, Crabcakes
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