Phrase · 💡 Giving advice and recommendations
Más te vale llegar puntual; al jefe no le gusta esperar.
You'd better be on time; the boss doesn't like to wait.
B2advisinginformalAudio · coming soon
Why every word is where it is
Más1adverbmore (más te vale)te1object pronoun(to) youtú · 2nd sing. · indirect objectvale1verbis worthvaler · present · 3rd sing.llegarverbarriveinfinitivepuntualadjectiveon timesing.;alprepositionto theajefe2nounbossmasc. · sing.noadverbnotle2object pronoun(to) himél · 3rd sing. · indirect objectgusta2verbpleases (likes)gustar · present · 3rd sing.esperarverbwaitinginfinitive.
- vale → te: iobj
- llegar → vale: agree
- le → jefe: ref
- esperar → gusta: agree
Word for word: “It is worth more to you to arrive punctual; to the boss waiting is not pleasing.”
Why it's built this way
The notes match the numbers above.
- 1Más te vale + infinitive = you'd better…: it sounds more like a warning than más vale que.
- 2al jefe no le gusta: with gustar, the person goes with a and is repeated by le. Gustar and similar verbs; también / tampoco →
Variations
- Más vale que llegues puntual; al jefe no le gusta esperar.