Use of 'Bien, Mal, Bueno, Buena, etc'

Use of 'Bien, Mal, Bueno, Buena, etc'

by Yaliet Poll-Morgan

TODAY WE ARE GOING TO BE LEARNING AND CLARIFYING ABOUT THE USE OF SOME WORDS THAT CAUSE MANY TROUBLES WHEN YOU ARE SPEAKING SPANISH.​

• ​BIEN / MAL (THEY ARE ADVERBS)

​

• BUEN, BUENO, BUENAS, BUENOS, MALO, MALA, MALOS, MALAS (THEY ARE ADJECTIVES)​

​FIRST: WE ARE GOING TO USE ‘BIEN’ or ‘MAL’ WHEN WE EXPRESS HOW WE FEEL.

​EXAMPLE:

1. ​YO ESTOY BIEN (I AM FINE)

2. PEDRO Y ANA ESTAN MAL. PEDRO AND ANA ARE BAD.

3. YO ESTOY MAL. I AM BAD.

​SECONDLY WHEN WE ARE MODIFIYING A VERB OR AN ADJECTIVE.

​ALFREDO TRABAJA BIEN. ALFREDO WORKS WELL.

MARTA Y ESTELA HABLAN BIEN ALTO. MARTA AND ESTELA TALK VERY LOUD.

EL HORNO ESTA BIEN CALIENTE. THE OVEN IT'S REALLY HOT.

​BUT IF WE ARE MODIFYING A NOUN, PERSON OR OBJECT, WE ARE GOING TO USE ‘BUEN, BUENO, BUENA, BUENOS, BUENAS’ MALO, MALA, MALOS, MALAS’

EXAMPLES:    

​ MI SOBRINO ES UN BUEN HIJO. MY NEPHEW IS A GOOD SON.

• (WE ARE GOING TO USE BUEN WHEN THE NOUN IS MASCULINE AND SINGULAR)

  MI PADRE ES UNA BUENA PERSONA. MY FATHER IS A GOOD PERSON.

  MIS PADRES SON BUENAS PERSONAS. MY PARENTS ARE GOOD PERSONS.

  ESOS PRODUCTOS SON MUY BUENOS. THOSE PRODUCTS ARE VERY GOOD.

  EL ES UN TRABAJADOR MALO. HE IS A BAD WORKER.

• ​LA PELÍCULA ES MUY MALA. THE MOVIE IS VERY BAD.

  LAS SILLAS ESTÁN EN MALAS CONDICIONES. THE CHAIRS ARE IN BAD CONDITIONS.

  ANA Y MONICA SON MALAS VECINAS. ANA AND MONICA ARE BAD NEIGHBORS.

​FINALLY, AN IMPORTANT POINT THAT SOMETIMES CREATES A QUESTION MARK WHEN YOU LISTEN TO NATIVES: WHY DO THEY USE IN CERTAIN OCCASIONS THE ADJECTIVE BEFORE THE NOUN? WHEN THEY SAY THAT IT’S THE OPPOSITE FROM ENGLISH. WE DO THIS WHE WE WANT TO ADD AN EXTRA SENSE OF THE EMOTION, TO GIVE THE ADJECTIVE AN EMPHATIC MEANING. THIS IT’S MOSTLY FOUND IN LITERATURE BUT YOU WILL DEFINITELY HEAR SPANISH PERSONS USE IT DURING SPECIFIC CONVERSATIONS.

​EXAMPLE:

LA BLANCA NIEVE. THE WHITE SNOW, IN THIS CASE WE WANT YOU NOTICE HOW WHITE IS THE SNOW, WE EMPHASIZE THE WHITENESS OF THE SNOW.

EL BUEN PADRE. THE GOOD FATHER, WE WANT YOU NOTICE WHAT A NICE FATHER HE IS, WE EMPHASIZE HIS ROLE AS A FATHER.