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Una buena amistad dura toda la vida.

Una buena amistad dura toda la vida.
A good friendship lasts a lifetime.
From Lesson 153:Since and for (desde, desde hace)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about Una buena amistad dura toda la vida.

How does dura fit into a lesson about time and duration?
The verb durar means "to last" or "to take time." While this lesson focuses on using desde hace to say how long something has been going on, durar is another great way to express duration. It tells us the total time something lasts, like toda la vida (a lifetime) here.
Why is amistad a feminine word (una buena amistad)?
In Spanish, nouns that end in -dad or -tad (like amistad, ciudad, or universidad) are almost always feminine. That is why it uses the feminine article una and the feminine adjective buena.
Why is buena placed before the noun instead of after it?
Descriptive adjectives usually come after the noun in Spanish. However, common adjectives of quality like bueno/a and malo/a are often placed before the noun to emphasize that quality. It makes the statement feel a bit more poetic or subjective. "Una amistad buena" is also grammatically correct, but una buena amistad sounds much more natural for a saying like this.
The English translation says "a lifetime," but doesn't toda la vida literally mean "all the life"?
Yes, exactly! In Spanish, you do not usually say "a lifetime" (una vida). Instead, the set phrase is toda la vida, which literally translates to "all the life" or "all of one's life."

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