Learn Spanish (Spain): Este año hemos visto mucha fluctuación, bien por la inflación, bien por la crisis. - This year we have seen a lot of fluctuation, whether due to inflation or the crisis.

Word

Este año hemos visto mucha fluctuación, bien por la inflación, bien por la crisis.

Meaning

This year we have seen a lot of fluctuation, whether due to inflation or the crisis.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Spanish (Spain)

Lesson

Distributive conjunctions (ya... ya..., bien... bien...)

Breakdown of Este año hemos visto mucha fluctuación, bien por la inflación, bien por la crisis.

to see; to watch (TV, a film)

este

this (m.sg., also esta, estos, estas, esto)

Questions & Answers about Este año hemos visto mucha fluctuación, bien por la inflación, bien por la crisis.

Why does the word bien mean 'whether' or 'or' in this sentence instead of 'well'?

When repeated in a pair like bien... bien..., it becomes a distributive correlative conjunction. It no longer means 'well' but instead presents two alternative possibilities, translating to 'whether... or...' or 'either... or...'.

Could I use ya... ya... instead of bien... bien... here?

Yes, you could say ya por la inflación, ya por la crisis without changing the meaning. Both bien... bien... and ya... ya... are used to present alternatives, and both lean slightly formal in everyday speech.

Why is por used here instead of para?

You must use por because it expresses the cause or reason for the fluctuation ('due to' or 'because of' the inflation or crisis). para is used for purpose or destination, which wouldn't make sense here. Notice that the preposition is naturally repeated after each bien.

Why use the present perfect (hemos visto) rather than the simple past (vimos)?

In Spanish from Spain, the present perfect is heavily used when the time period mentioned isn't finished yet. Because the sentence specifies Este año (This year), the period is still ongoing, requiring hemos visto.