Adverbs of quantity tell you how much or to what degree something happens or exists. They're also called intensifiers and degree adverbs. This category includes several high-frequency words like muy, mucho, poco, and bastante, and it's worth learning the position rules carefully because they're a little different from other adverbs.
The Core Set
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| muy | very |
| mucho | a lot, much |
| poco | a little, not much |
| un poco | a little bit |
| bastante | quite, rather, enough |
| demasiado | too much, too |
| más | more |
| menos | less |
| tan | so (with adj./adv.) |
| tanto | so much (with verb) |
| casi | almost |
| apenas | barely, hardly |
Estoy muy cansado.
I'm very tired.
Trabaja demasiado.
He works too much.
Position
Adverbs of quantity usually come before the word they intensify:
- Before an adjective: muy alto, bastante caro, demasiado difícil
- Before an adverb: muy rápido, bastante bien, demasiado tarde
- After a verb they modify: come mucho, estudia poco, trabaja bastante
La película fue bastante larga.
The movie was quite long.
Hablas demasiado rápido.
You talk too fast.
Ella estudia mucho.
She studies a lot.
Muy vs. Mucho
This is the single biggest quantity-adverb pitfall in Spanish. Both translate as "very" or "a lot," but they're used in different slots:
- muy goes before adjectives and adverbs
- mucho goes after a verb (as an adverb) or before a noun (as a determiner, where it agrees)
You can't swap them. See Muy vs Mucho for a full breakdown.
Es muy inteligente.
He's very intelligent.
Come mucho.
He eats a lot.
Poco and Un Poco
Poco means "not much" or "little" with a negative feel — there isn't enough of something. Un poco means "a little bit" with a positive or neutral feel.
Habla poco.
He doesn't talk much.
Habla un poco.
He talks a little.
The difference matters. Estoy poco cansado sounds strange; use Estoy un poco cansado ("I'm a little tired") instead. Poco pairs with negative or reduced quantities, un poco expresses a small amount.
Bastante: Enough or Quite?
Bastante can mean either "enough" or "quite/rather," depending on context. As an intensifier before an adjective it usually means "quite."
Ya comí bastante.
I've already eaten enough.
El libro es bastante interesante.
The book is quite interesting.
Demasiado
Demasiado means "too (much)" in the sense of excess. Before adjectives and adverbs it's invariable. As a determiner before a noun, it agrees (demasiada gente, demasiados problemas).
Hace demasiado calor.
It's too hot.
Llegaron demasiado tarde.
They arrived too late.
Tan and Tanto
Tan is used before adjectives and adverbs: tan bonito, tan rápido. Tanto is used after a verb: habla tanto. As a determiner before a noun it agrees: tanta gente, tantos libros.
¡Es tan bonito!
It's so pretty!
No trabajes tanto.
Don't work so much.
Casi and Apenas
Casi means "almost." Apenas means "barely" or "hardly." Both usually go before the verb.
Casi me caigo.
I almost fell.
Common mistakes
❌ Ella es mucho bonita.
Wrong: mucho cannot modify an adjective — use muy.
✅ Ella es muy bonita.
Correct: muy before adjectives.
❌ Hay muy gente en la calle.
Wrong: gente is a noun — use mucha.
✅ Hay mucha gente en la calle.
Correct: mucha agrees with the feminine noun gente.
❌ Tengo un poco de frío.
Wrong: un poco de is for uncountable positive things; frío uses just un poco.
✅ Tengo un poco de frío.
Actually acceptable — but tengo algo de frío or tengo un poco de frío are both fine.
❌ Es demasiado muy caro.
Wrong: demasiado and muy cannot stack.
✅ Es demasiado caro.
Correct: demasiado alone means 'too much'.
Where to Next
- Muy vs Mucho — the classic confusion
- Comparative and Superlative Adverbs — más, menos, and friends
- Adverb Position — the big picture on placement
Related Topics
- Adverbs OverviewA1 — An introduction to Spanish adverbs, what they modify, and the main categories you'll encounter
- Muy vs MuchoA2 — The classic confusion — when to say very and when to say a lot in Spanish
- Comparative and Superlative AdverbsB1 — How to say faster, better, and as fast as possible using Spanish adverbs
- Adverb PositionA2 — Where adverbs go in a Spanish sentence, with the main tendencies and the flexibility you have
- Mucho, Poco, Bastante, DemasiadoA2 — The main quantifiers for 'a lot', 'little', 'enough', and 'too much'