qué bueno
/ke bweno/from spelling rules
In Spanish, 'how good' is expressed as qué bueno.
The phrase qué bueno is an exclamation used to express pleasure or satisfaction when something positive happens. It is frequently used as a standalone exclamation to react to good news. For example, if someone tells you something wonderful has happened, you might simply respond, ¡Qué bueno!
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of qué, meaning 'how' or 'what' and bueno, meaning 'good'.
Which one should you use?
While qué bueno is used to describe the quality of a thing or situation, qué bien is an adverbial exclamation often used to express 'how well' something is going or to say 'that's great'.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In some parts of Latin America, people might use qué bien to mean 'how good'.
How does it change in a sentence?
The adjective bueno must change to buena if the noun it refers to is feminine. Generally, the adjective bueno/a should be adjusted for gender and number: bueno (masculine singular), buena (feminine singular), buenos (masculine plural) and buenas (feminine plural).
Did you know?
- In a telephone conversation, many Spanish speakers answer the phone by saying ¿bueno?, which functions as a 'hello' rather than an expression of quality.
- While qué bueno usually means 'how good', in certain slang contexts in Latin America, calling a person bueno or buena refers specifically to their physical attractiveness.
- The word bueno is a linguistic relative of the English word 'bonus', as both descend from the Latin word bonus.
Examples in context
- ¡Qué bueno y qué agradable es que los hermanos se sienten juntos!How good and how pleasant it is that brothers sit together!This sentence shows how to use qué bueno to describe a pleasant situation involving brothers sitting together.Tatoeba #10065179 by manufrutos, translation #10065051 by shekitten
- ¡Admirad qué bueno y qué agradable es para los hermanos vivir juntos en unidad!See how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity!This sentence uses qué bueno to describe the pleasantness of brothers living together in unity.Tatoeba #10065172 by manufrutos, translation #10065056 by shekitten
- ¡He aquí qué bueno y qué agradable es que los hermanos habiten juntos en unidad!Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!This sentence uses qué bueno to describe the pleasantness of brothers dwelling together in unity.Tatoeba #10065171 by manufrutos, translation #10065061 by shekitten
- ¿Qué tan bueno es este restaurante?How good is this restaurant?
- ¿Qué tan buena es tu actuación en la obra de teatro?How good is your performance in the play?
- ¿Qué tan bueno es el servicio aquí? ¿Es realmente bueno?How good is the service here? Is it really good?
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Elena tells Javier that she passed her exam.
- ElenaAprobé el examen final.I passed the final exam.
- Javier¡Qué bueno, Elena!How good, Elena!
- ElenaMuchas gracias, Javier.Thank you very much, Javier.
- JavierAhora podemos celebrar.Now we can celebrate.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries bueno, qué, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
