La pellicular es buena/está bien

Jacqui T.A2Kwiziq community member

La pellicular es buena/está bien

Why is está bien correct when  it is a permanent condition - shouldn't it be only es buena. 

Asked 4 years ago
InmaNative Spanish expert teacher in Kwiziq

Hola Jacqui,

both "es buena" and "está bien" can be used to describe a film as "being good". Even though the film is always good, we can still use estar bien. It is more to do with a general use of "estar" with the adverbs bien/mal (not with being a permanent or non permanent thing) I added an extra note to the lesson explaining how, when talking about films, plays, books (entertaining things) we often say "está bien" or "no está bien" to add the nuance of being good in the sense of being "entertaining, amusing, interesting". 

I hope this clarifies it.

Saludos

Inma

Garry M.A2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

I'm with Nicole and just don't get what the message is. If they're the same, why are they different? why is one an adjective and the other is an adverb but they mean the same thing. If bien meant "well" I can see a difference but for them both to mean "good" has me begging for mercy and throwing my hands in the air!

Garry M.A2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

I'm with Nicole and just don't get what the message is. If they're the same, why are they different? why is one an adjective and the other is an adverb but they mean the same thing. If bien meant "well" I can see a difference but for them both to mean "good" has me begging for mercy and throwing my hands in the air!

InmaNative Spanish expert teacher in Kwiziq

Hola Garry

Sometimes literal translations don't work.

Literally "la película está bien" is "the film is well", but that wouldn't make sense in English. 

Estar bien/estar mal are idiomatic. 

It's one of those that you need to memorize. 

It's not that you always need an adverb after estar, as you can also say "las arepas están buenas" (the arepas are good/tasty) for example;

it is simply a specific use of estar when we're talking about something being good in terms of entertaining, amusing, interesting... as I said to Jacqui. 

I hope this clarified it a bit better.

Saludos

Garry M.A2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

I'm having a hard time understanding this lesson. To me it seemed to focus on the adjective/adverb relationships but I think the difference is in the perception of "always" versus "at this moment" - permanent -v- temporary:

 Smoking isn't good for your health = fumar no es bueno para la salud. (It never was or will be - permanent)

His health is good this morning = Su salud está bueno esta mañana (compared to last night after the party)

It's good to arrive on time for work = Es bueno llegar a tiempo al trabajo.

But I cannot conceive of enough examples to justify my opinion . . . so, I guess I just don't get it.

HELP

Garry M.A2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

I'm having a hard time understanding this lesson. I thought that bien = well and bueno = good but if they both mean the same (well/good) then is it just semantics that ser takes bueno and estar takes bien? At first it seemed to me to focus on the adjective/adverb relationships so I thought the difference is in the perception of "always" versus "at this moment" - permanent -v- temporary. 

 Smoking isn't good for your health = fumar no es bueno para la salud. (It never was or will be - permanent)

His health is good this morning = Su salud está bueno esta mañana (compared to last night after the party) or is es bueno O.K.?

It's good to arrive on time for work = Es bueno llegar a tiempo al trabajo. or is está bueno O.K.?

But I cannot conceive of enough examples to justify my opinion . . . so, I guess I just don't get it.

HELP

Jacqui T. asked:

La pellicular es buena/está bien

Why is está bien correct when  it is a permanent condition - shouldn't it be only es buena. 

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your Spanish level for FREE

Test your Spanish to the CEFR standard

Find your Spanish level
Clever stuff happening!