The two adverbs bene (well, good) and male (bad, badly) are combined with a variety of words in order to express a positive or negative value. Today  we’ll be looking at some of the most common words built with ‘bene’, starting with the greetings:

benvenuto/a/i/e – bene plus venire (to come) = welcome: Siete sempre benvenute in casa mia (You are always welcome in my house)

benarrivato/a/i/e – bene plus arrivare (to arrive) = welcome: Benarrivati! avete fatto buon viaggio? (Welcome! did you have a nice journey?)

bentornato/a/i/e – bene plus tornare (to come back) = welcome back: Bentornata, Maria! Hai fatto una buona vacanza? (Welcome back Maria! Did you have a nice holiday?)

bentrovato/a/i/e – bene plus trovare (to find), formula used to greet somebody whom you happen to meet by chance: Chi si rivede! bentrovato! (Look who’s here! Nice to see you!)

benalzato/a/i/e – bene plus alzarsi (to get up) = Good morning, only used to greet somebody who has just woken up: Benalzato! Hai dormito bene? (Good morning! Did you sleep well?)

Other common adjectives built with ‘bene’ are:

benaccetto/a/i/e – bene plus accettare (to accept) = welcome: speriamo che il regalo gli sia benaccetto (let’s hope that he will appreciate the present; lit: let’s hope that the present will be well accepted by him)

benamato/a/i/e, or beneamato/a/i/e – bene plus amare (to love) = beloved: questa è la mia benamata nipotina (this is my beloved granddaughter)

beneducato/a/i/e – bene plus educare (to educate) = well-behaved, well-mannered: Giorgio è un bambino così beneducato (Giorgio is such a well-behaved child)

benvoluto/a/i/e – bene plus volere (to want) = well-liked, popular: la nuova maestra è benvoluta da tutti gli alunni (the new teacher is well-liked by all the pupils)

benevolo/a/i/e – bene plus volere (to want) = benevolent, kindly, favourable: il suo primo libro è stato accolto in modo benevolo dalla critica (his first book had a favourable reception by the critics)

benvisto/a/i/e – bene plus vedere (to see) = liked, well-thought of: il suo atteggiamento non è benvisto dai colleghi (his attitude is not well-thought of by his colleagues)

benedetto/a/i/e – bene plus dire (to say) = blessed, thank God: benedetta questa pioggia, l’orto ne aveva proprio bisogno! (thank God for this rain, the vegetable garden really needed it!)

benefico/a/i/e – bene plus fare (to do) = beneficent, beneficial, helpful: le tue parole mi sono state benefiche (what you said was helpful to me)

benigno/a/i/e – bene plus Latin ‘gignere’ (to generate) = benign, kind, favourable: la sorte ci è  stata benigna (fate was kind to us)

Finally, here is a list of nouns and idiomatic expressions containing the word ‘bene’:

benefattore/benefattrice – bene plus fare (to do) = benefactor, patron: un anonimo benefattore ha pagato la mensa scolastica per i bambini svantaggiati (an anonymous benefactor paid for school meals for the disadvantaged children)

benessere –bene plus essere (to be) = wellbeing, welfare: praticare lo Yoga mi dà un senso di benessere (doing Yoga gives me a sense of wellbeing)

beneplacito – bene plus Latin ‘placere’, Italian ‘piacere’ (to like) = assent, approval: non mi serve il tuo beneplacito (I don’t need your approval)

benestare – bene plus stare (to be) = authorization: ci vuole il benestare del sindaco (it needs the mayor’s authorization)

bendidio – bene di Dio (gift of God) = abundance: alla festa c’era ogni bendidio (at the party there were all sorts of good things)

bengodi or Bengodi – bene plus godere (to enjoy) = the land of plenty: poveracci, vengono in Italia sperando di trovare il bengodi (poor people, they come to Italy hoping to find the land of plenty)

benservito – bene plus servire (to serve); dare la lettera di benservito originally indicated the reference letter which was given to someone when they left his/her job, but now it’s normally used in the euphemistic expression dare il benservito meaning “to fire someone” or “to dismiss someone”: gli hanno dato il benservito senza neanche farlo parlare (they dismissed him without even letting him explain)