Muy vs. Mucho
In Spanish, choose between muy and mucho depending on the type of word that follows.
Intensifying Adjectives with Muy
Use muy (very) before an adjective. It is invariable, meaning it never changes form to match gender or number.
Quantifying Nouns with Mucho
Use mucho (much, many, a lot of) before a noun. Because nouns have gender and number, mucho changes its ending to match the noun it quantifies.
| Singular (a lot of / much) | Plural (many) |
|---|
| mucho / mucha | muchos / muchas |
Putting Them Together
Remember the rule: muy pairs with adjectives, and the variable mucho pairs with nouns.
A little, quite: poco, un poco, bastante
Poco means little, not much, and it sounds negative:
Un poco means a little, a bit, and it sounds positive. Before an adjective, always use un poco: estoy un poco cansado.
Bastante means quite or quite a lot. It goes before an adjective or after a verb:
All the …: todo + article
Todo agrees with the noun (todo, toda, todos, todas) and the article always follows it: todo el día (all day), toda la semana (all week), todos los días (every day).
Never drop the article: todos días is wrong.
La gente is singular
La gente (people) is a singular noun in Spanish, so its verb is singular: La gente *es muy simpática aquí. Mucha gente **vive en el centro. English says *people are; Spanish says la gente es.
