How rude is "ya basta", is there a non rude way to say it?

Question

The busboy is cleaning the table, I want to tell him "thats good enough" so I used to say "bastante bien" but my amigos tell me that's not really right there. They use bastante more for "a lot" or "plenty" than "enough" and they prefer "ya basta" which seems rude to me. Is there a non rude way to say "Hey stop, that's enough?" (so I can seat a guest at the table he is cleaning......) Gracias.

Answer 1

I usually say, "Está bien, gracias'' - that's good, thanks.

Answer 2

I agree that "Ya, basta" is a bit harsh. It's used a lot with mothers talking to their children who drive them crazy.

I like Kevin's suggestion.

Answer 3

I was also taught that "bastante" means "enough". I then had to unlearn it, because it actually means closer to "plenty". If you need to say "enough", try "suficiente".

• Yeah, bastante is enough is one of the first things I learned, then I learned suficiente and considered them synonyms until lately. Bastante bien is good enough, but it really means good and plenty. - jeezzle Apr 30, 2010