Portuguese has a small family of intensifiers that beginners tend to reduce to just one — muito — and keep stretching it to cover every situation. The trouble is that native PT-PT speakers move fluently between muito, bastante, imenso and a few others, and each of them carries a slightly different flavour. Learning the contrast is one of the fastest ways to stop sounding stuck in a beginner register.
This page maps out the main intensifiers, how they agree (or don't), where they sit in the sentence, and the nuance that distinguishes them in European Portuguese specifically. Some of what follows diverges sharply from Brazilian usage — bastante and imenso in particular behave differently on the two sides of the Atlantic.
The quick answer
Muito is the neutral workhorse: very, a lot, many. Bastante in PT-PT tilts toward quite, rather, pretty, and can also mean enough. Imenso is a very PT-PT colloquial intensifier meaning a huge amount / loads. Reach for muito by default; reach for bastante when you want to downshift slightly in intensity ("quite good") or signal sufficiency ("enough"); reach for imenso when you want to sound unmistakably Portuguese.
Muito — the neutral intensifier
Muito does double duty as an adverb (invariable) and as an adjective / pronoun (agreeing with the noun it modifies or replaces). Getting this split right is where most errors live.
Muito as an adverb — invariable
Before an adjective, verb, or another adverb, muito means very or a lot and never changes form.
Estou muito cansada depois do trabalho.
I'm very tired after work. (even though *cansada* is feminine, *muito* stays as *muito*)
O exame foi muito difícil.
The exam was very difficult.
Falas português muito bem.
You speak Portuguese very well.
Muito as an adjective — agrees with the noun
Before a noun, muito becomes a quantifier and agrees in gender and number: muito / muita / muitos / muitas.
Tenho muita fome, vamos almoçar?
I'm very hungry — shall we have lunch?
Comprámos muitas laranjas no mercado.
We bought lots of oranges at the market.
Não bebo muito café, só de manhã.
I don't drink much coffee, only in the morning.
Muito as a pronoun
Standing alone, referring back to something already mentioned, muito still agrees.
Queres bolo? — Sim, mas não me dês muito.
Do you want cake? — Yes, but don't give me a lot.
Trouxemos muitos, podes levar um.
We brought lots (of them), you can take one.
Bastante — quite / rather / enough
This is where PT-PT and BR part company. In European Portuguese, bastante has two related senses that you need to keep apart:
- "Quite / rather / pretty" — a slight downshift from muito. It intensifies, but more moderately.
- "Enough / sufficient" — the original Latin sense (bastante is historically from bastar, "to suffice").
In Brazilian Portuguese, bastante often means plain a lot / very, almost synonymous with muito. In PT-PT that reading is much weaker — Portuguese speakers who want to say very good will say muito bom, and keep bastante bom for quite good / pretty good.
Bastante = quite / rather
O filme foi bastante interessante, gostei.
The film was quite interesting, I enjoyed it.
Ela fala bastante bem inglês, para uma pessoa que nunca viveu fora.
She speaks English pretty well, for someone who's never lived abroad.
O restaurante é bastante bom, mas um bocado caro.
The restaurant is quite good, but a bit pricey.
Compare:
O filme foi muito interessante.
The film was very interesting. (stronger — unqualified praise)
O filme foi bastante interessante.
The film was quite interesting. (milder — good but with an implicit reservation)
Bastante = enough / sufficient
In this sense, bastante answers how much is needed? It often appears with ser or with a negated clause.
Já chega, já tenho bastante!
That's enough, I've got plenty!
Não trouxemos comida bastante para toda a gente.
We didn't bring enough food for everyone. (slightly formal)
Cinco euros são bastantes para um café e um pastel.
Five euros is enough for a coffee and a pastry.
Agreement: bastante as adjective vs adverb
Before a noun, bastante is an adjective and varies in number only (never in gender): bastante / bastantes.
Há bastante gente na rua.
There are quite a lot of people in the street.
Tenho bastantes livros sobre esse assunto.
I have quite a few books on that subject.
Before an adjective or adverb, bastante is an adverb and stays invariable.
Estão bastante satisfeitos com o resultado.
They are quite pleased with the outcome. (bastante stays the same even though *satisfeitos* is plural masculine)
Chegámos bastante tarde ao jantar.
We arrived quite late to dinner.
Imenso — a very PT-PT flavour
Imenso literally means "immense", but in modern European Portuguese it is an everyday colloquial intensifier meaning loads, a huge amount, tons. It is marked PT-PT informal — Brazilian speakers use it much less and tend to find it slightly archaic or bookish. A non-native learner who works imenso into their speech suddenly sounds a lot more Portuguese.
Imenso as an adverb — invariable
Gosto imenso da tua camisola nova.
I really love your new jumper.
Obrigada, ajudaste-me imenso.
Thanks, you've helped me loads.
Estou imenso cansado, tive uma semana complicada.
I'm absolutely knackered — I've had a tough week.
Imenso as an adjective — agrees
Before a noun, imenso behaves like muito and agrees: imenso / imensa / imensos / imensas.
Tenho imensa fome, já nem me aguento de pé.
I'm starving, I can barely stand up.
Vieram imensas pessoas à festa.
Loads of people came to the party.
Há imenso trabalho para fazer antes de sexta.
There's tons of work to do before Friday.
The other intensifiers at a glance
Muitíssimo — very, very much
The superlative of muito, used for extra emphasis. Agrees when quantifying a noun.
Muitíssimo obrigada pela tua ajuda!
Thank you so very much for your help!
Há muitíssima gente à espera lá fora.
There are a great many people waiting outside.
Extremamente / Extraordinariamente — extremely
Formal register. Used in writing, reviews, journalism, and slightly elevated speech.
O espetáculo foi extremamente bem recebido pelo público.
The show was extremely well received by the audience.
Tão — so (exclamatively)
Tão is grammatically a different animal: it never stands alone, and it typically introduces an exclamation or a comparison (tão... que...). English so is the closest equivalent.
Que dia tão bonito!
What a lovely day!
Ele é tão simpático que toda a gente gosta dele.
He's so nice that everyone likes him.
Demasiado — too / too much
Signals excess, not just high intensity. Often negatively charged.
O café está demasiado quente, ainda me queimo.
The coffee is too hot — I'll burn myself.
Há demasiados carros na cidade.
There are too many cars in the city.
Before a noun, demasiado agrees: demasiado / demasiada / demasiados / demasiadas.
Comparison table
| Intensifier | Rough English | Register | Agreement |
|---|---|---|---|
| muito (+ adj./adv./verb) | very / a lot | neutral | invariable |
| muito/muita/muitos/muitas (+ noun) | a lot of / many | neutral | agrees |
| bastante (+ adj./adv.) | quite / rather / pretty (PT-PT) | neutral | invariable |
| bastante/bastantes (+ noun) | quite a lot of / enough | neutral | number only |
| imenso (+ adj./adv./verb) | loads / hugely | PT-PT informal | invariable |
| imenso/-a/-os/-as (+ noun) | loads of / tons of | PT-PT informal | agrees |
| muitíssimo | very, very much | emphatic | agrees as noun modifier |
| extremamente | extremely | formal / written | invariable |
| tão | so (exclamative / comparative) | neutral | invariable |
| demasiado | too / too much | neutral | agrees with noun |
Scaling the intensifiers
Roughly arranged from weakest to strongest:
um pouco (a bit) → bastante (quite) → muito (very) → imenso / muitíssimo (tons) → extremamente (extremely) → demasiado (too — now expressing excess)
A sopa está um pouco salgada.
The soup is a bit salty.
A sopa está bastante salgada.
The soup is quite salty.
A sopa está muito salgada.
The soup is very salty.
A sopa está imenso salgada.
The soup is incredibly salty. (PT-PT informal)
A sopa está demasiado salgada.
The soup is too salty. (too salty to eat — excess)
Walking through tricky examples
1. Estou _ cansado. → before an adjective → adverb → muito (invariable) or bastante (also invariable) or imenso if you want PT-PT colour.
2. Há _ pessoas aqui. → before a noun → adjective → agrees → muitas pessoas / bastantes pessoas / imensas pessoas.
3. Obrigada, ajudaste-me _. → modifies the verb ajudar → adverb → muito / imenso. (Bastante works but sounds weaker.)
4. O café está _ doce. → before the adjective doce → adverb → muito / bastante / demasiado (if excess).
5. Tenho _ fome. → before the noun fome (fem.) → agrees → muita fome / bastante fome / imensa fome.
Common mistakes
❌ Há muito turistas no centro.
Incorrect — before a plural noun, *muito* agrees: *muitos turistas*.
✅ Há muitos turistas no centro.
There are lots of tourists in the centre.
❌ Estou muita cansada.
Incorrect — *muito* before an adjective is an adverb and stays invariable, even when the adjective is feminine.
✅ Estou muito cansada.
I'm very tired.
❌ Estou bastante cansadas.
If the subject is plural, the adjective agrees but *bastante* before an adjective stays invariable.
✅ Estamos bastante cansadas.
We (fem.) are quite tired.
❌ A sopa é bastante boa, então é ótima. [intended: 'very good, so it's amazing']
In PT-PT, *bastante* is a downshift, not an upshift — 'quite good' won't upgrade to 'amazing'. If you mean *very* good, use *muito*.
✅ A sopa é muito boa, é ótima.
The soup is very good, it's great.
❌ Tenho muito fome.
Incorrect — *fome* is a feminine noun, so the quantifier agrees: *muita fome*.
✅ Tenho muita fome.
I'm very hungry.
❌ Gostei imenso do filme, foi muitíssimo bom. [said informally in Brazil]
In PT-PT these are perfectly natural; in BR they sound bookish. Know the regional flavour.
✅ Gostei imenso do filme, foi muitíssimo bom.
I loved the film — it was extremely good. (idiomatic PT-PT)
Key takeaways
- Muito is your default for very and a lot. Invariable before adjectives/adverbs/verbs; agreeing before nouns.
- Bastante in PT-PT is quite / rather / pretty — a downshift from muito — and can also mean enough. It's weaker than muito, not equivalent to it.
- Imenso is a distinctively PT-PT informal intensifier worth adding to your active vocabulary. Agrees with the noun; invariable as an adverb.
- Tão is exclamative (que dia tão bonito!); demasiado signals excess, not just intensity.
- Getting agreement right — muitas pessoas, muita fome, but muito cansada — is the single biggest giveaway between a polished A2 learner and a beginner.
Related Topics
- Quantifier Determiners: muito, pouco, bastante, tanto, váriosA2 — Determiners of quantity in European Portuguese — muito, pouco, bastante, tanto, vários, diversos, numerosos, demais — their agreement, position, and the adverb-vs-determiner distinction that trips up English speakers.
- Indefinite Determiners: algum, nenhum, qualquer, cada, todo, vário, certoA2 — A guided tour of the Portuguese indefinite determiners — words that quantify or identify without being definite: algum, nenhum, qualquer, cada, todo, vário, certo, muito, pouco, outro, mesmo, tanto, and the todo/tudo distinction.