What is the difference in Italian between ‘buono’ and ‘bene’?
People learning Italian sometimes use the words ‘buono’ and ‘bene’ incorrectly. They associate ‘buono’ with eating well and ‘bene’ with how good the food is. Unfortunately this doesn’t work in Italian as the following examples clearly show:
- Le chiacchiere sono buone = the chiacchiere are good
- Ho mangiato bene = I have eaten well
Grammar rules
What is the difference then? The answer is simple if we look at the grammar:
- ‘buono’ is an adjective (aggettivo) which says something about a noun;
- ‘bene’ is an adverb (avverbio) which says something about a verb. Both ‘avverbio’ and ‘adverb’ come from the Latin ‘adverbium’ which literally means ‘in relation to the verb’.
So, ‘buono’ is always used with a noun and ‘bene’ with a verb.
Examples
| Carla è una buona segretaria. | (Carla is a good secretary) |
| Oggi Carla ha lavorato bene. | (Today Carla has worked well) |
| La maestra è molto buona. | (The teacher is very good) |
| La maestra tratta bene i bambini. | (The teacher treats the children well) |
| Gianni è un musicista buono. | (Gianni is a good musician) |
| Gianni suona bene. | (Gianni plays well) |
E ora tocca a voi! (And now it’s your turn!)
| I ragazzi studiano …………………… | (The boys are studying ............) |
| Carlo è uno studente ………………… | (Carlo is a …………….. student) |
| Mia madre è una …………….. cuoca. | (My mother is a ………….. cook) |
| Mia madre cucina ……………………. | (My mother cooks ………………) |
Curious
about our Italian language courses?
Related topics
Are you on holiday or on vacation?
What a strange question! If I’m on holiday then I’m also on vacation. They mean the same after all. But as a result of the economic crisis,…
Italian expressions - In vino veritas
Drinking good wine, within limits of course, is so much part of Italian culture that the language is peppered with sayings and expressions to do with wine. Here are five of them.
Italenglish
Mr B departs for Italy —where he will be working for an Italian company— with absolutely no knowledge of the language; he had no time for a language course. Moreover, he is convinced that most Italians are able to speak a bit of English nowadays, especially considering the emails peppered with English words which he regularly receives from Italy.