To quote Bill Clinton, it depends on what the meaning of the word “is” is. If I told you about a girl I know who is buena, what do you think it means? You’ve surely encountered bueno/buena before, as it’s one of the most common adjectives – in fact one of the most common words – in the Spanish language.īueno usually means “good”, but it has some hidden tricks. For example, ella canta lindo means “she sings beautifully.” 5. In Latin America you can also use lindo as an adverb. It's similar in meaning to bonito/bonita: it can mean “beautiful”, “pretty”, “lovely”, or “nice”. Lindo/linda is more common in Latin America than Spain (and is also very common in Brazilian Portuguese). Men, on the other hand, are more likely to be called guapo than bonito. You do hear women being called guapa, but it’s more common to hear them being called bonita. You know how the word “handsome” in English is only really used for men, not women? Guapo is a bit like that, but not quite as strong.
One Puerto Rican commenter says that where he's from, calling a man guapo “ could definitely cause a fight.” In some parts of Latin America it can even mean a “bully” or “braggart”. In other places, guapo can mean “brave” or “bold”. As well as meaning “attractive” when describing a person, more generally it can mean something like “cool” or “awesome”. In some regions of Spain, however, guapo is used more liberally. Most commonly, it describes an attractive person, especially male, and isn't really used for beautiful objects or places. Guapo/guapa is a word with some regional variations. When used as a noun, the word refers to a type of fish that's similar to tuna (and has the same name in English). Just be careful if you see bonito on a menu. This adjective is more common than bello and, like bello, can describe anything – not just a person.
Bonito / Bonita – “Pretty” or “Nice”īonito / bonita also means “beautiful”, but it's not quite as strong as bello. There’s also a closely-related noun belleza, which means “beauty”. It's a bit formal, especially in Spain, but it can describe anything: beautiful people, beautiful clothes, a beautiful view, a beautiful mind. Read this article and you'll never be short of a way to tell a beautiful Spanish speaker that you like how they look.īello/bella is a safe, all-purpose word that you can use to mean “beautiful” or “lovely”. This article will show you some of the most common Spanish adjectives for “beautiful”, and explain the finer points of their usage. It seems that beauty is a concept for which humans just can’t stop inventing new words. There are many ways in Spanish to say “beautiful”, just like there are many ways to say it in English: “attractive”, “handsome”, “good-looking”, “pretty”, “cute”, “hot”, “fit”, “sexy”, and so on.
Yet if you want to tell your Spanish-speaking valentine how attractive they are, you may be unsure exactly how to say it it. It's certainly spoken by some beautiful people.
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