Many students struggle with the differences between muy/mucho and bueno/bien. At least part of the blame lies in English, as its speakers have come to use adjectives as adverbs in everyday speech. For example:
Question: “How are you?” Answer: “I’m good, thanks.”
When asking how someone is doing you are asking for their state of being. Therefore an adverb should be used in the answer as it is modifying the verb ‘to be.’ However, in English we generally respond using an adjective. The same exchange in Spanish is as follows:
Question: “¿Cómo estás?” Answer: “Estoy bien, gracias.”
Spanish requires the speaker to be more sensitive to the uses of adjectives and adverbs. By internalizing the rules below you’ll be speaking proper Spanish in no time and perhaps your English will improve as well!
Muy and Mucho
1. Muy is an adverb and invariable in form. It translates into English as very.
Example: Es muy coloroso.
2. Mucho can function as an adverb or limiting adjective. When functioning as an adverb it translates into English as a lot/ much and appears after the verb it modifies, unchanged in form.
Example: Hablo mucho.
When used as an adjective, mucho translates into English as a lot (of)/many and appears before the noun and must agree in both number and gender: mucho/a (s)
Example: Tengo muchos amigos.
You try: fill in the blanks with the correct form of muy or mucho.
1. Ellas hablan ………… rápido.
2. Ella corre ………… .
3. Ellos tienen ………… problemas.
4. Roberto cocina ………… bien.
5. Estamos ………… tristes.
Bueno and Bien
1. Bien is an adverb and invariable in form. It translates into English as well.
Example: Estoy bien.
2. Bueno is an adjective that can appear before or after the noun and must agree in both number and gender: bueno/a (s). It translates into English as good.
Example: Son buenas muchachas.
When placed before a masculine singular noun it drops the final ‘o’.
Example: Es buen hombre.
You try: fill in the blanks with the correct form of ‘bueno’ or ‘bien’.
1. La familia está ………… .
2. ¡Qué ………… día!
3. Somos muy ………… amigos.
4. Manuela baila ………… .
5. Es una ………… mujer.
