Bien vs Buen

Question

Please explain to me how buen and bien are different!! When do you use it? Why? What's the difference? Examples? Just tell me what you know please!!

I think it's that buen is good, but used with "ser", and bien is good, used with "estar". Is that right? Like, buen is permanent? And bien is in that one moment? HELP!

~chainlinegirls

Welcome to the forum. Please tell us more about yourself in your profile especially your levels in Spanish and English. Gender and nationality are nice, too. - Jubilado, Nov 14, 2013

Answer 1

Bien is an adverb so you use it with verbs. Bueno is an adjective so it modifies nouns, other adjectives etc.

Bien hecho. Well done.

Niño bueno. Good boy.

And when bueno goes in front of a masc sing noun it gets shortened to buen.

Él es un buen niño.

Thank you! Kiwi Girl! - hanabr123, Nov 14, 2013

De nada :) - Kiwi-Girl, Nov 14, 2013

Answer 2

One way I remember this is that it is similar in English. the correct response to "how are you doing?" is not "good" the correct response would be "well" My grandma would correct me by saying "Mother Teresa and super heroes do good, you are doing well"

so bien=well -adverb buen =good - adjective.

thank you deedeegill72 - hanabr123, Nov 19, 2013