Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Este reloj es buenísimo; nunca se atrasa. - This watch is excellent; it never runs late.

Because Spanish uses the suffix -ísimo to form an absolute superlative, much stronger than just muy. By attaching -ísimo to buen, you get buenísimo, meaning “extremely good.” Saying muy bueno (“very good”) is correct, but buenísimo packs more intensity.

How do you form superlatives with -ísimo? Why isn’t it buenoísimo?

For adjectives ending in -o, you drop that final -o and add -ísimo. So:
• bueno → drop -o → buen + ísimo = buenísimo
• rico → drop -o → ric + uísimo (spelling change) = riquísimo
That’s why you never get buenoísimo.

Why is there an accent in buenísimo when bueno has no accent?

buenísimo is an esdrújula (stress on the antepenultimate syllable sí). All esdrújulas require a written accent. bueno, by contrast, is a llana (stress on the penultimate syllable) ending in a vowel, so it needs no accent.

What’s the role of se in nunca se atrasa?

Here atrasarse is a pronominal verb meaning “to run slow” or “to fall behind.” The se indicates the action reflects back on the subject (“the watch” itself lags). Without se, atrasar is transitive (“to delay something”).

Can you say nunca atrasa instead of nunca se atrasa?

No. Without se, atrasa would need a direct object (you’d have to specify what is being delayed). To express “it never runs late,” Spanish requires the pronominal form se atrasa.

Why does nunca come before se atrasa instead of after it?

In simple tenses, negative adverbs like nunca normally precede the verb. So nunca se atrasa is the standard order. You could also say no se atrasa nunca, but placing nunca before the verb is more common and concise.

Why is the demonstrative este used with reloj instead of ese or aquel?

Spanish has three levels of proximity:
• este = “this” (close to the speaker)
• ese = “that” (near the listener or less close to the speaker)
• aquel = “that over there” (far from both)
Using este reloj implies the watch is in the speaker’s immediate context.

Is the semicolon necessary in Este reloj es buenísimo; nunca se atrasa? Could you use a comma or period?

It’s not strictly necessary. You could write:
• Este reloj es buenísimo, nunca se atrasa. (comma)
• Este reloj es buenísimo. Nunca se atrasa. (periods)
A semicolon simply highlights the close relationship between the two full statements.