BUONO vs BENE

Is it buono or bene?
Which one should you use?
BUONO is an adjective
BENE is an adverb
That means that:
BUONO is used to describe a thing, a person, so basically a noun.
BENE instead is used to describe the way you do something, therefore a verb, an action.
Keep this in mind:
BUONO with NOUNS
BENE with VERBS

BUT…there is one exception!

There's only one big exception to this rule and that is ESSERE (to be) that is the only verb
in Italian that actually takes BUONO. That makes sense because you would use ESSERE
to describe things.
For example, "pizza is good", la pizza è buona.

It makes sense to use BUONO with ESSERE, but again it's the only verb you can use
BUONO with.

REMEMBER
You can't use BENE with ESSERE, never ever.
Examples with buono:

La pasta al sugo è buona → Pasta with tomato sauce is good

I tuoi bambini sono buoni → Your children are good (kind)
Sei troppo buono con me→ You are too kind/good
Ho bevuto un buon vino in Francia → I drank a good wine in France

As you can see we are using BUONO to describe things.

BUONO is used to describe food and beverages AND to say that someone is nice.
So BUONO means GOOD or KIND.
Examples with bene:

Come stai? Sto bene, grazie! → How are you? I am well, thanks!
In Italian we say Sto bene because we're using BENE as an adverb (well).
Io parlo bene l'Italiano → I speak Italian well.
Mia sorella non sa leggere bene ancora → My sister doesn't know how to read well yet.
Ho mangiato bene al ristorante → I ate well at the restaurant.

As you can see BENE can be used with all verbs!

The big problem comes if we use BENE with the verb essere.
For example, if you like a movie and you want to say that it's good, how would you say this?

Il film è bene? 👎 It doesn't work.

Because you wouldn't say in English: The movie is well.

👍 E’ un buon film, E’ un bel film,not bene.

Com'è stata la vacanza? How was your holiday?

È stata bene! → 👎 You wouldn't say that the holiday was well but was good!
You can say: è stata bella, divertente
OR you can use BENE with a verb and say: è andata bene → it went well.
Now you can use bene because you're using it with a verb (andare) and not essere!