Have fun (ten divertido?)

Question

I was talking with someone I know the other day and we were discussing how to say "have fun". She told me that you say "ten divertido" using the imperative of tener but the dictionary translates "have fun" to "diviértase". Which one of these is correct?

"ten divertido" is not correct. - waltico, Jun 5, 2010

Answer 1

Firstly, divertirse = is the Spanish verb meaning to have fun Verbs are always given in the dictionary in their infinitive form and need to be conjugated to the most appropriate form for the person you are addressing/speaking to. This is a reflexive verb so the reflexive pronoun needs to be included.

If you want to say have fun you would say,

¡ Que te diviertas ! = Have fun!

¡ Que te lo pases bien ! = I hope you have a good time (Lit: I hope everything passes well) Or you can say

¡ Que lo pases bien !

The imperative mood in Spanish is used to give commands and therefore can seem to be rude/impersonal After all you wouldn't want to tell some one that they MUST have fun would you? You would want to wish them a good time

que te lo pases bien / que lo pases bien - Deanski, Jun 5, 2010

Muchas gracias, Deanski ya lo he corregido - FELIZ77, Jun 5, 2010

Could you say "¡ten diversión!" As well? Or will it not work. - Shane2000, Apr 6, 2016

Answer 2

"divertido" is an adjective, not a noun, so you can't say "ten divertido." "diviértase" works, but it's conjugated in the usted form, so if you want to tell someone to have fun informally, you could use "diviértete." The translations offered by FELIZ77 also all work though