"The dog is man's best friend."

Translation: El perro es el mejor amigo del hombre.

[CherryMuffin]

why is "el perro es el amigo mejor del hombre" not accepted?

[amoussa]

Some adjectives like "mejor", "peor" need to be placed in front of the noun. Others can change the meaning of the noun depending on its placement like "Es un viejo amigo" (He is a long-time friend) and "Es un amigo viejo" (He is an elderly friend)

[CherryMuffin]

thanks :)

[lisaandtim]

It's true! I learned this by talking to a Costa Rican lady I just met at the gym. She called me her nueva amiga, and explained exactly what amoussa explained with the adjective viejo.

[noekiii]

In spanish class we learn that we can use mejor both before and after the noun. It should not make a difference

[pkocal]

following your example, how does putting the word mejor after the noun change its meaning?

[spanishtim]

For mejor, I don't believe it does change the meaning, but it would be like saying "friend best" instead of "best friend".

[AtaraxianSpa]

It might be implying that you have a worst friend when placed after.

[Orhan1]

I entered the exact same sentence!

[suewoods5946]

Why does it need to be "del hombre" instead of just "de hombre"? Why is "el" necessary before hombre in this case?

[rmcgwn]

Not sure if I have the answer to this sentence but it appears that el is required because " It is used to identify a type, genre or specie group" which I take means referring to man as a specific group.

[--shaun--]

"... amigo de hombre" would be friend of man - I don't think this means anything, maybe a friend of humanity, not sure, I have never seen it used.
"... amigo del hombre" would be friend of the man = man's friend.

[JGarrick62]

Perhaps because del (or de la) is customary to indicate the possessive. Hopefully a native speaker will chime in, because I'm just guessing.

[bethanybrg]

I said "del humano", since "dog is a man's best friend" is a general statement and man is intended to mean "humanity". Thoughts anyone?

[jackknife89]

my general understanding is that in English the phrase refers specifically to males, since diamonds are a woman's best friends.

[DouglasTho]

LOL the song says they are a girls best friend :) but I think it would apply to women as well :)

[John_Payne]

Man's best friend refers to mankind, not really a specific man. Would their be a way to say El perro es el mejor amigo de (mankind)? Not sure of the word for mankind. Maybe humanidad?

[webpilot]

I used "los hombres" and got it marked wrong for being plural. If they are talking about a singular man then an article is required in English. DL's sentence (in the context that they intend) is wrong in this question.

[MJMGruver]

Couldn't you use "lo mejor" for the best, instead of el mejor?

[rmcgwn]

I believe because we are using mejor as an adjective to amigo that 'lo' won't work. Lo Mejor would be when the adjective is actually being used as a noun.

[MJMGruver]

That makes sense. Thank you!

[BeauB]

Why can i not say mas mejor?

[rmcgwn]

BeauB - mejor can mean better or best so adding más would not be necessary. Hope this helps.

[BeauB]

gracias :)

[redeyeryan]

and here I thought since we were using "el gente" so much in this lesson, that they meant "people" when they said "man"

[The.Other.Caleb]

La gente.

[JohnCzapla]

so basically it depends on how the word is used

[JessPkt]

Can you use "el hombre" to mean mankind in spanish? I am surprised that this has the same meaning.

[LeonMarkla]

A man's best friend is often how this is stated so should "de un hombre" have been accepted?

[hermel86]

Why "del hombre" and not "al hombre"

[AtaraxianSpa]

Which exact dog is man's best friend? Was it Cujo? I think we have an example here where definite articles in English sometimes don't mean a specific thing. Why isn't the translation taking this into account?

[Dleehii]

Got it wrong because I confused mejor and mayor. I would up saying the dog is man's older friend lol