Breaking Out of Beginner's Spanish by Joe Keenan

Author:Joe Keenan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Published: 1994-04-06T04:00:00+00:00

BUENO

Bueno means nothing more than “well,” but it is nearly indispensable to good spoken Spanish. It simply prefaces comments and tends to tone down their hastiness or prepare the listener for a message. The difference between Ya me voy and Bueno, ya me voy is subtle but noticeable. The first is “I’m going now” and comes across as a sort of dare to anyone who might try to stop you, while the second suggests “Well, I think I’ll be going now” and sounds more laid-back and more polite.

Bueno often insinuates a “stop” into an ongoing conversation or activity. You might sit down to chat with friends for five or ten minutes and then simply say bueno to announce your imminent departure. Or you could sit down to talk business with colleagues and, after a few minutes of small talk and niceties, signal the beginning of the business talk with a bueno. If the person speaking before you at a conference decides to launch a vitriolic attack against everything the audience holds dear, you might begin your presentation with a sighed bueno; here it would convey “anyhow” or “as we were saying” or even “whew!” Usually it’s much simpler: a pause while you get your thoughts together, a signal that you have the floor, an acceptance of what has gone before but a statement that you intend to begin something different.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.