sonar bien
/sonaɾ bjen/from spelling rules
The English phrase "sound good" can be translated into Spanish as sonar bien.
This phrase is used to indicate that a plan, idea or suggestion seems acceptable or appealing.
Which one should you use?
While suena bien focuses on the idea itself sounding appealing, a more common way to express personal agreement with a plan is to use me parece bien, which means "it seems fine to me".
Is it said differently in some regions?
In certain regions of Latin America, such as Mexico, you may hear the slang suena chido to mean "sounds good".
How does it change in a sentence?
When responding to a suggestion, use the third-person singular form suena bien to mean "it sounds good". You can add muy before bien to add emphasis, as in suena muy bien, which means "it sounds very good".
Did you know?
- While suena bien describes an idea, Spanish uses the same verb sonar to describe a feeling of familiarity. The phrase me suena is used to say that a name or a place 'rings a bell'.
- In some Spanish-speaking cultures, a plan that suena bien might still be met with a non-committal ya veremos, which means 'we will see'. This can signal a polite hesitation despite the positive phrasing.
- The word bien in this phrase shares a common ancestor with the English word 'bonus', both tracing back to a Proto-Italic root meaning 'good'.
Examples in context
- ¿Quieres ir al cine? ¡Suena bien!Do you want to go to the cinema? Sounds good!
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries bien, sonar, CC BY-SA 4.0.
