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"good" in seven languages

Meaninggood

Spanish

bueno

/ˈbweno/

inherited

Shortens to buen before a masculine noun: buen día.

French

bon

/bɔ̃/

inherited

fem.: bonne

Italian

buono

/ˈbwɔno/

inherited

Shortens to buon before most masculine nouns: buon giorno.

Portuguese

bom

/bõ/

inherited

fem.: boa

Portuguese lost the intervocalic n in the feminine (BONAM → boa) and kept it only as nasality in bom.

Romanian

bun

/bun/

inherited

Catalan

bo

/bɔ/

inherited

fem.: bona

Catalan drops final -n after a stressed vowel; it reappears in the feminine bona.

English

good

/ɡʊd/

native English · Old English gōd

English → ItaliangoodbuonoNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: bonus, bounty, bonbon, bona fide.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

BONUM‘good’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

Stressed short Ŏ split into ue in Spanish and uo in Italian; French nasalized the vowel instead. The feminine bonne shows the n French hides in bon.

English relatives: bonus, bounty, bonbon, bona fide

Sound laws at work

Stressed short O breaks into ue / uo / euFrench vowel + nasal becomes a nasal vowel

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In a sentence

  • esEs una buena idea.
  • frC'est une bonne idée.
  • itÈ una buona idea.
  • ptÉ uma boa ideia.
  • roE o idee bună.
  • caÉs una bona idea.
  • enIt's a good idea.

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