"My [language] is good/bad" (Specific Languages) Language Learning Forum

"My [language] is good/bad"
Tags: Translation \| Spanish
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Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages

22 messages over 3 pages: 1 2 3

cmj
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Switzerland
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Message 17 of 22

14 December 2011 at 12:16pm | IP Logged

fiziwig wrote:

My huge desktop Oxford Spanish Dictionary has three separate entries for "bien". The first as an adjective,
the second as an adverb and the third as a masc. noun.
The entries for "bueno" are for adjective, noun, and interjection.

Examples of both are given for both words used with both verbs, but the majority of examples are as you
have pointed out in your post: "es" with "bueno" and "estar" with "bien". There are grammatically correct
exceptions, however, but the word takes on a different sense with the other verb.

Yes, I should have added a "so far as I know" after my claim that es bueno is ungrammatical : ). A similar
thing happens in French where you generally have a choice between "il est bon" et "c'est bien", although as
in Spanish some exceptions do occur (e.g. c'est bon pour la santé). I don't what the historical reason is for
turning an adverb into an adjective and then using it primarily with one form of "to be".
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Serpent
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Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
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Message 18 of 22

14 December 2011 at 4:26pm | IP Logged

Hierbabuena wrote:

"Está bien" and "es bueno" are no the same, at least here. "Es bueno" is stronger than
"está bien".

For example, "tu español está bien, pero no es bueno" means that your Spanish is OK given
the circunstances, but you are still making a lot of mistakes.

Wow. I've preferred its brothers so far, but mad things like this make me love Spanish too<333
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Mad Max
Tetraglot
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Spain
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Message 19 of 22

14 December 2011 at 8:32pm | IP Logged

I would say:

mi español es malo/regular/bueno/excelente

tu español es malo/regular/bueno/excelente

or

(tu) hablas español muy bien/bien/mal/regular

(yo) hablo español muy bien/bien/mal/regular

"Está bien" is the same as "it is OK", but it is used in all kind of phrases.
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georgiqg
Triglot
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Spain
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Studies: German, Russian

Message 20 of 22

16 December 2011 at 1:22am | IP Logged

There've been a little bit of confusion here, but as Mad Max (a native speaker of Spanish) said, you should use the verb "ser" and not "estar" in this case.

Mad Max wrote:

I would say:
mi español es malo/regular/bueno/excelente
tu español es malo/regular/bueno/excelente

or

(tu) hablas español muy bien/bien/mal/regular
(yo) hablo español muy bien/bien/mal/regular

"Está bien" is the same as "it is OK", but it is used in all kind of phrases.

And about the question, you could say:
"¿Cómo es tu español?",
"¿Qué tal tu español?" or
"¿Qué tal hablas (el) español?"

-- Georgi --

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outcast
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China
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Speaks: Spanish*, English*, German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Mandarin
Studies: Korean

Message 21 of 22

23 December 2011 at 10:22pm | IP Logged

Ha, Georgiqg actually wrote in his reply what was going to my main point after reading 3 pages worth of answers.

I hate to rain on everyone's parade so to speak, but no one I know would say "Como está tu español". In fact to me it sounds incorrect and actually awful, while knowing that technically speaking it is not incorrect (though it really sounds incorrect to be honest).

People would say, depending on the country:

¿Y, qué tal tu español? (The "y" imparts a sense of expectation implying your Spanish is a work in progress)

¿Cómo te va con el español?

¿Cómo anda/va tu español? ("How are things with your Spanish?")

Reserve the use of "Como está" mainly for the current condition of (living) people or animals:

¿Cómo está tu perro?

but

¿Qué tal tus/los estudios? - ¿Cómo andan/van tus/los estudios?

(interestingly "Como están los estudios" sounds more acceptable to me, because you can say that "los estudios" is a living and changing entity, unlike a language which is a fixed concept)

Edited by outcast on 23 December 2011 at 10:26pm
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Camundonguinho
Triglot
Senior Member
Brazil
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Speaks: Portuguese*, English, Spanish
Studies: Swedish

Message 22 of 22

25 December 2011 at 4:37pm | IP Logged

In Portuguese we can say

Seu espanhol é/está bom or está bem.
so, I think you can do it in Spanish too, 3 options,
but the 3rd option is a bit funny: Meu espanhol está/vai/anda bem.
This would mean: My learning of Spanish goes well.

With SER it can mean either IS (always) or Normally is
with ESTAR it means now (for the time being) or as we speak ;)

From my experience with speakers of Spanish, they are most likely to use the full verb Hablar instead: Hablas bien (el) castellano. ;)

With ESTAR, you/they want to stress that you're still learning the language,
if they use SER, they think you've mastered it already ;)

Tu español está bueno.
Tu español está cada vez mejor.
Tu español es excelente.

but: Tu español podría ser mejor. ;)

Edited by Camundonguinho on 25 December 2011 at 4:48pm

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