Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): En mi familia valoramos mucho los buenos modales en la mesa. - In my family we really value good manners at the table.

En mi familia valoramos… literally: In my family, we value…
- The implied subject is “nosotros” (we), and “en mi familia” just sets the context: Among the people in my family, we (including me) value…
Mi familia valora…: My family values…
- Here, “mi familia” is the grammatical subject and takes a third‑person singular verb (valora).

The original version emphasizes the group you belong to (“in my family”), and presents it as a shared value of us (speaker included), not just “my family” as a separate entity.

Why isn’t “nosotros” written before “valoramos”?

In Spanish, the subject pronoun (yo, tú, él, nosotros, etc.) is usually omitted because the verb ending already shows who is doing the action.

Valoramos can only be “we value” (present) or “we valued” (preterite), so nosotros is understood.
You add nosotros only for emphasis or contrast:
- En mi familia nosotros valoramos mucho…
  (for example, contrasting with another family: We in my family value…, but they don’t.)

So the sentence is natural and complete without nosotros.

What tense is “valoramos” here, and how do I know it’s not past tense?

“Valoramos” (from valorar) is ambiguous in form:

Present: nosotros valoramos = we value
Preterite (simple past): nosotros valoramos = we valued

In this sentence it’s clearly present because:

The idea is a general, ongoing habit or attitude: In my family, we (always/generally) value good table manners.
There’s no time expression like ayer, el año pasado etc. that would indicate a past event.

So here you should read it as present simple, equivalent to English “we value”.

Why is “mucho” placed after the verb (“valoramos mucho”) and not before, like English “we really value”?

In Spanish, the adverb “mucho” that modifies a verb usually goes after the verb:

Valoramos mucho… = We value … a lot / very much
Trabajamos mucho. = We work a lot.

Putting “mucho” before the verb (“mucho valoramos”) is possible only in special, emphatic or literary styles; in normal speech, it sounds unnatural.

Also note the difference with “muy”:

Mucho modifies verbs or nouns:
- Valoramos mucho (verb)
- Mucho interés (noun)
Muy modifies adjectives and adverbs:
- Muy buenos modales (adjective)
- Habla muy bien (adverb)

You cannot say “muy valoramos”.

Why do we say “los buenos modales” instead of just “buenos modales” without “los”?

Spanish uses the definite article (el, la, los, las) more often than English, especially with:

General concepts or things taken as a class:
- Los buenos modales = good manners (as a general concept).
- La paciencia es importante. = Patience is important.

Here, “los buenos modales” basically means “good manners in general”, not some specific, previously mentioned set of manners. That’s why Spanish prefers “los buenos modales”.

Saying “valoramos mucho buenos modales” is not wrong, but it sounds a bit incomplete or less natural; with the article (los) it feels more idiomatic and general.

Why is “modales” plural? Is there a singular form?

When “modales” means “manners” (behaviour, politeness), it is almost always used in the plural:

Tiene malos modales. = He/she has bad manners.
Los buenos modales = good manners.

There is a singular form “modal”, but it’s rarely used in everyday speech and usually has other, more technical or different meanings.

So, for “manners” in the everyday sense, you should think of “modales” only in the plural.

Why is it “buenos modales” and not “modales buenos”? Does the position of the adjective matter?

Both “buenos modales” and “modales buenos” are grammatically correct, but they don’t feel equally natural.

Buenos modales (adjective before the noun)
- This is the normal, fixed expression for good manners.
- Many very frequent adjectives (e.g. bueno, malo, grande, pequeño, nuevo, viejo) often appear before the noun when they express a more general, subjective or inherent quality:
  - un buen amigo
  - una mala idea
Modales buenos (adjective after the noun)
- Sounds less idiomatic here; could suggest more contrast or a specific subset:
  - e.g. modales buenos y modales malos (good manners and bad manners)
- In everyday speech, people simply say “buenos modales”.

So for “good manners”, always use buenos modales.

Does “buenos modales en la mesa” mean only table manners, or “good manners” more generally?

The phrase “buenos modales en la mesa” is specifically about:

How you behave at the table / while eating: how you use cutlery, whether you talk with your mouth full, if you wait for everyone before starting, etc.

If you want to talk about good manners in general, you would just say:

buenos modales
tener buenos modales = to have good manners

So the “en la mesa” part restricts the meaning to table manners.

What does “en la mesa” literally mean? Why is it used for “at the table”?

Literally, “en la mesa” means “on the table” or “in/at the table”. Spanish “en” covers several English prepositions:

en la mesa can mean:
- physically on the table (a book on the table)
- being at the table (sitting there for a meal)

In the expression “buenos modales en la mesa”, it is understood as:

“at the table (when eating)” = table manners.

Don’t confuse it with:

a la mesa – direction/movement: to (the) table
- Venid a la mesa. = Come to the table.
en la comida – during the meal more generally
- En la comida no hablamos de trabajo. = At/over lunch we don’t talk about work.

Could I say “en mi familia, los buenos modales en la mesa son muy importantes” instead? Is that the same idea?

Yes, that’s a very natural alternative:

En mi familia, los buenos modales en la mesa son muy importantes.

This changes the structure but keeps the idea:

Original: valoramos mucho los buenos modales…
= we really value good table manners
Alternative: son muy importantes los buenos modales…
= good table manners are very important (to us)

Both are fine in Spain and express the same general meaning.

Can I move “en mi familia” to another place in the sentence, like in English?

Yes, Spanish word order is quite flexible. All of these are possible and grammatical:

En mi familia valoramos mucho los buenos modales en la mesa.
– Most neutral and natural.
Valoramos mucho los buenos modales en la mesa en mi familia.
– Grammatically okay, but sounds a bit heavier or less natural.
En mi familia, los buenos modales en la mesa los valoramos mucho.
– Adds emphasis to “los buenos modales en la mesa” (notice the “los” repeated as a pronoun).

Usually, putting “En mi familia” at the beginning works best and sounds most natural.

Could I use another verb instead of “valorar”, like “apreciar” or “importar”?

Yes, several verbs work here, with slightly different nuances:

Apreciar (to appreciate):
- En mi familia apreciamos mucho los buenos modales en la mesa.
- Very similar to valorar; maybe a bit more emotional.
Importar (to matter):
- En mi familia nos importan mucho los buenos modales en la mesa.
- Literally: In my family, good table manners matter a lot to us.
Dar importancia a (to give importance to):
- En mi familia damos mucha importancia a los buenos modales en la mesa.

All are natural in Spain and express that table manners are considered important. The original “valoramos mucho” is a very clear, standard choice.