So many words for beautiful...
Spanish has so many different words for beautiful: linda, bella, hermosa, guapa, just to name a few. Do each of them have a slightly different meaning? What would I use when referring to a person vs. an object'
20 Answers
Thanks!
I had also been wondering if I should use es or está and thought that 'esta noche? might make a difference.
Si, 'La luna está muy bella esta noche' is perfect. You can also use 'la luna está preciosa/muy hermosa' but not 'muy preciosa'.
Or you can say 'La luna **es **hermosa' (not adding 'esta noche').
I've been wanting to know if it is ok to use 'bella' to describe the moon. One evening I wanted to say:
"La luna es muy bella esta noche."
But I wasn't sure if bella was ok to use for the moon or not.
If I was talking about my dogs, I always say "¡Mis perros Skip, Gus, y Sparky son buenos, y bonitos!"
....When talking about something beautiful-- for example, the Sistine Chapel-- I wouldn't want to describe it as "cute." ...
I'd like to know about this too, Alicia.
Specifically, which Spanish word would I use to say that the Sistine Chapel is beautiful (bonita') and which word do I use to say a puppy is cute (lindo'). Looking them up in a dictionary isn't much help in this case.
Learned is used in America, too, Mark.
The thing with Americans, mostly people in the southeast part of North America, is we use ALOT of slang, and chatspeak.
In England we use "learned" all the time and "learnt" aswell depending upon what you are trying to express... rather than just the past tense.
How interesting! This post has gone on quite a tangent. I must give you that one. I suppose both Spanish and English have their verb irregularities! 
Perhaps one explanation that I found for this: "learned" has also been traditionally used to describe someone who is educated. (pronounced lern-ed)
Yes, we should settle for "I runned" (I run), "I amed" (I was), "I taked" (I took), "I seed" (I saw), "I breaked" (I broke), "I readed" (I read), "I singed" (I sang)... That would be more logical!
In any case, "learnt" is more "British", yes: http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/learn
Samdie: What you said about American English is very true! However, in this case, I would tend to say that "learned" follows the grammatical pattern of adding "ed" to the past participle and is a much more regular and logical construction than "learnt."
According to Webster's dictionary: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/learn
I am not as sure about English from England, but learnt is not used in modern American English. It would be 'learned' in the US.
"not used" is probably a bit of an overstatement (but if you'd settle for "not common" ...). When it comes to the past tense/participle of strong verbs the British are, on the whole, more conservative (or better educated'') than Americans.
But the Sistine Chapel can be regarded as beautiful, superb, fascinating, stunning, splendid, magnificent, lovely, exquisite, glorious, sublime,... These words are learnt by using them, not by reading dictionary definitions.
I am not as sure about English from England, but learnt is not used in modern American English. It would be 'learned' in the US.
But the Sistine Chapel can be regarded as beautiful, superb, fascinating, stunning, splendid, magnificent, lovely, exquisite, glorious, sublime,... These words are learnt by using them, not by reading dictionary definitions.
I love all the words for beautiful in Spanish-- it is such an expressive language. Yet like English, each one has slightly different connotations. When talking about something beautiful-- for example, the Sistine Chapel-- I wouldn't want to describe it as "cute." Thus, I just didn't want to make the same mistake in Spanish. I suppose I should have clarified. 
English has so many different words for beautiful: charming, cute, dazzling, good-looking, gorgeous, handsome, lovely, beauteous, magnificent, nice, pretty, just to name a few. Do each of them have a slightly different meaning? What would I use when referring to a person vs. an object?
Without these words, languages would be extremely boring and limited, and we would be restricted to very simple and plain expressive repertoire. I, for one, am happy that both English and Spanish have many words to say "beautiful".
Where you see a problem, I see an expressive treasure (also known as thesaurus).
