Breakdown of ¡Buen provecho!
buen provecho
enjoy your meal
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Questions & Answers about ¡Buen provecho!
What does buen mean here, and why is it not bueno?
Buen is the shortened form of bueno. In Spanish, bueno often becomes buen when it comes directly before a singular masculine noun.
Here, the noun is provecho, which is masculine singular, so Spanish says:
- buen provecho
- not bueno provecho
This shortening also happens in phrases like:
- un buen libro
- un buen día
What does provecho mean in this phrase?
On its own, provecho can mean something like benefit, advantage, or profit. In ¡Buen provecho!, the idea is that the meal should do you good or that you should enjoy it well.
So even if the literal parts may seem unusual to an English speaker, the phrase works as a fixed expression used around meals.
When do people say ¡Buen provecho!?