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terça-feira, 5 de março de 2013

Tudo bem ou Tudo bom?

Probably, one of the first questions of my foreign students. Well, in terms of use, you can take both of them. If I have to make a grammatical statement, I would say "tudo bem" is the best option. Why? Simple. Cos' in the question

TUDO BEM?

We can understand like this

TUDO ESTÁ BEM?

The verb "estar" refers to a condition, is implicit in the context. And when we have a verb, one thing that will modificate it is an adverb, which is the nature of the word "bem", not "bom", this one is an adjective. So, see below.

Eu estou bem
Eu estou bom   -> cos "bem" is modifying the verb "estar"

Eu falo bem
Eu como bem
Eu sei bem o que está acontecendo




In all this statements you have "bem" as a characteristic of the action, the verb. The only exception is the verb "ser", because this one indicates an identification of the subject with the characteristic in a more permanent way. See.

Eu sou bom
Eu sou bem     -> "bom" is what you are, as something that qualifies, not just transitory, more consistent


After sou, é, somos and são you will have adjectives, not adverbs.

Eu sou rapidamente
Eu sou loucamente
Você é pouco para mim.

Now, you ask, "but "pouco" is the opposite of "muito", adverbs of intensity. "Eu como pouco". Not only this, but "pouco" also is related to identification, again, to the verb "ser".

Pouca gente
Pouca coisa
Pouco caso
Poucas pessoas são boas neste mundo.
Ele era pouco para você.


So, if someone calls for "tudo bom", just go for "tudo bom", but if you are writing or want to impress by a formal Portuguese, go matching verbs and adverbs and watch for the verb "ser" and its process of identification between subject and object. Hasta!

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