caer bien

Spanish

Etymology

Compare Catalan caure bé.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /kaˌeɾ ˈbjen/ [kaˌeɾ ˈβ̞jẽn]
Syllabification: ca‧er bien

Verb

caer bien (first-person singular present caigo bien, first-person singular preterite caí bien, past participle caído bien)

(transitive, idiomatic) to please, be nice, make a good impression (a person)
Synonyms: agradar, simpatizar

Antonyms: caer mal, caer gordo, caer pesado

Gerardo siempre ha caído bien
Gerardo always has been nice (to people)

No les caigo bien a tus padres
I don't please your parents
(transitive, idiomatic) to promote or make for good or proper digestion (food)
Synonym: hacer buen provecho

Antonyms: caer mal, caer de peso

Tu caldo me cayó muy bien
Your broth resulted in a good digestion for me
(transitive, idiomatic) to make happy, make laugh, satisfy, please (news, advice, announcement)
Synonym: agradar

Antonyms: caer mal, caer de peso

La noticia no le cayó bien al jefe, y está de mal humor
The news didn't make the boss happy, and he's in a bad mood

Usage notes

Caer bien and caer mal can be used to show whether a person likes or dislikes another person. In this sense, caer bien is used like gustar, but in a friendship way, with the person being liked as the subject of the sentence instead of the object. Therefore, the verb is conjugated to reflect the subject.

Me cae bien tu amiga.

I like your friend.

("Tu amiga" is the subject, so the verb is conjugated in the third person and not the first person.)

Me caen bien tus amigas.

I like your friends.

("Tus amigas" is the subject, so the verb must be plural.)

A Juan le cae bien mi amigo.

John likes my friend.

The prepositional phrase a Juan is used because it is not possible to write Juan cae bien mi amigo. Whenever a person's name is used instead of a personal pronoun, the person's name must be preceded by the preposition a. A redundant pronoun such as le is also needed. This sentence can also be written as Mi amigo le cae bien a Juan.