ella está bien
/eʝa esta bjen/from spelling rules
The English phrase "she's fine" is translated into Spanish as ella está bien.
This phrase is used to say that a woman is in good health or is doing well.
Which one should you use?
It is important to distinguish between different types of "to be" in Spanish. Using ella está bien uses the verb estar, which refers to temporary states like health or mood. If you were to use the verb ser and say ella es buena, the meaning would change from her current well-being to a permanent character trait, such as saying she is a good person.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Latin America, the phrase Ella está al cien is used to mean she is a hundred percent.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase uses the verb estar, which is the specific form of "to be" used for temporary states, health and moods. In natural conversation, the pronoun ella is often omitted because the verb conjugation está already implies the subject.
Did you know?
- In some contexts, if you describe a woman using the phrase está bien, it can be an informal slang way to say she is physically attractive. This is a distinct use from describing her health or mood.
- The Spanish word bien shares a deep linguistic root with the English word 'bonus'. Both originate from the Proto-Italic word *dwenos, which described something of good quality.
- If you want to say she is 'fine' in the sense of being 'okay' or 'alright' rather than just 'healthy', you might hear the word regular used, which sounds more negative to an English speaker than it actually is in Spanish.
Examples in context
- ¿Cómo está ella? Ella está bien.How is she? She is fine.
- Ella está bien con su nueva medicina.She is doing well with her new medicine.
- No te preocupes, ella está bien.Don't worry, she is fine.
- Pregunté por ella y me dijeron que ella está bien.I asked about her and they told me she is well.
Example conversation
Daniel is asking María about her sister's health.
- Daniel¿Cómo se siente tu hermana?How is your sister feeling?
- MaríaElla está bien, gracias por preguntar.She is fine, thanks for asking.
- DanielMe alegra mucho escuchar eso.I am very happy to hear that.
- MaríaSí, ella ya se siente mucho mejor.Yes, she feels much better now.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries bien, ella, CC BY-SA 4.0.
