Dicho español · Spanish proverb
«Para tener amigos, hay que ser buen amigo.»
Word for word
To have friends, one must be a good friend.
What it really means
The closest English equivalent: To have friends, you must be a good friend.
Used as advice to someone who complains about lacking friends. It reminds them that friendship requires reciprocity.
Hear it in a sentence
Para tener amigos, hay que ser buen amigo; no puedes esperar todo de los demás.
To have friends you must be a good friend; you can't expect everything from others.
Why learn dichos?
Proverbs like this one are everywhere in spoken Spanish — dropped mid-conversation, usually just the first half, with the rest left for you to complete. Recognizing them is one of the fastest ways to sound less like a textbook and follow real speech. Every Lingocito edition signs off with the dicho del día, so you meet one a day next to news written at your exact level.