Adjectivos de Cantidad. Adjectives of Quantity. This tells us how many there are, or how much there is of it. These adjectives, unlike descriptive adjectives, come before the nouns and the most obvious examples are numbers. Dos amigos, tres amigos, cuatro amigos. cinco amigos, and so forth. Numbers just have one form. For example, there's only cinco for five. There is no such thing as "cinca," "cincos," or "cincas." Cinco implies that there are five. The only number that you have to worry about changing forms is uno. You've actually already seen that as uno shortens to "un" to describe a masculine noun, "una" for a feminine noun, and it changes to "unos" and "unas" for some, to describe masculine and feminine plural nouns. Unos and unas mean some.
The most common adjectives of quantity are "mucho" and "poco." "Mucho" means "much" or "a lot of." The feminine form is "mucha." "Poco" means "a little of." The feminine is "poca." Those are the singular forms. In their plural forms they become "muchos/muchas" which mean "many" and "pocos" and "pocas" which mean "few."
A lot of money is mucho dinero. A lot of food-- mucha comida. A little money is poco dinero. And a little food-- poca comida.
Many friends who are all males or who are both males and females in the same group, would be muchos amigos. How do you say "many female friends?" Muchas amigas. Muy bien! Few male friends would be pocos amigos. A few female friends would be pocas amigas.
In Spanish, adjectives of quantity, or amount, always come before nouns.
1a. Numbers
The most obvious are numbers: dos amigos, tres amigos, cuatro amigos, cinco amigos, etc. Numbers just have one form.
EXAMPLE
There is only "cinco" (five); there is no such thing as "cinca," "cincos," or "cincas."The only number that does change forms is the number "one," which we'll discuss later.
1b. Mucho and Poco
The most common adjectives of quantity that are not numbers are the words mucho and poco. The singular form of "mucho/mucha," means "much of" or "a lot of," while the singular form of "poco/poca" means "a little of." When they are in their plural forms, "muchos/muchas" means "many" and "pocos/pocas" means "few."
Note that the masculine plural forms can also refer to a mixed gender group.
EXAMPLE
"Muchos amigos" can refer to a group of male and female friends.| Spanish Adjective and Noun | Number | Gender | English Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| mucho dinero | singular | masculine | much money |
| mucha comida | singular | feminine | a lot of food |
| poco dinero | singular | masculine | a little money |
| poca comida | singular | feminine | a little food |
| muchos amigos | plural | masculine | many male friends |
| muchas amigas | plural | feminine | many female friends |
| pocos amigos | plural | masculine | few male friends |
| pocas amigas | plural | feminine | few female friends |
If you are struggling with a concept or terminology in the course, you may contact SpanishforNursesSupport@capella.edu for assistance.
If you are having technical issues, please contact learningcoach@sophia.org.
Source: This content has been adapted from "Spanish for Nurses" by Stephanie Langston.
