Using demasiado, bastante, suficiente, poco, tanto and mucho to express quantity in Spanish (quantitative pronouns)

Written by qualified Spanish expert Silvia Piriz BA

Last updated: 2023-11-09

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Expressing quantity in Spanish

Poco (little), mucho (much), demasiado (too much), bastante (enough, quite a lot), tanto (so much), suficiente (enough) all express a non-defined quantity.

Note that in Spanish these adjectives agree with the noun they refer to.
When they function as pronouns, the nouns they refer to will have been mentioned before, but they still agree with the noun.

Let's see how to use them!

Poco, poca, pocos, pocas = little / not much / few / not many

-María come poco pan. -Sí, come muy poco.-María doesn't eat much bread. -Yes, she eats very little.

-Me parece que en esta casa entra muy poca luz. -Tienes razón, entra muy poca.-It seems to me that in this house there's very little light. -You're right, there's not much.

-Tengo pocos caramelos. -Sí, tienes pocos.-I have few candies. -Yes, you have few.

-¿Tienes suficientes sillas para todos? -No, tengo pocas.-Do you have enough chairs for everyone? -No, I [only] have a few.

Poco and poca are used to replace a singular noun to express little/not much (of), while pocos and pocas are used to replace a plural noun to express few/not many (of):

Quantitative Adjective	Masculine	Feminine
Singular	poco little/not much	poca little/not much
Plural	pocos few/not many	pocas few/not many

Mucho, mucha, muchos, muchas = much / a lot of / many

-Alberto come mucho queso, ¡le encanta! -Es verdad, Alberto come mucho.-Alberto eats a lot of cheese, he loves it! -True, Alberto eats a lot.

-¡Nosotros tenemos mucha energía! -Sí, vosotros tenéis mucha.-We have a lot of energy! -Yes, you have a lot.

-¿Es cierto que ellos tienen muchos coches? -Sí, ellos tienen muchos.-Is it true that they own many cars? -Yes, they own many.

-He oído que ella tiene muchas amigas. -Sí, ella tiene muchas.-I heard that she has many female friends. -Yes, she has many.

Mucho and mucha are used to replace a singular noun to express much/a lot of, while muchos and muchas are used to replace a plural noun to express many/a lot of:

Quantitative Adjective	Masculine	Feminine
Singular	mucho much/a lot of	mucha much/a lot of
Plural	muchos many/a lot of	muchas many/a lot of

Demasiado, demasiada, demasiados, demasiadas = too much / too many

-Tenemos demasiado dinero. -¡Es fantástico tener demasiado!-We have too much money. -It's fantastic to have too much!

-Hay demasiada fruta en la nevera.-Sí, hay demasiada.-There is too much fruit in the fridge. -Yes, there is too much.

-En Londres hay demasiados días grises. -Estoy de acuerdo, hay demasiados.-There are too many grey days in London. -I agree, there are too many.

-¡Tenemos demasiadas reglas en mi colegio! -¡Sí, demasiadas!-We have too many rules in my school! -Yes, too many!

Demasiado and demasiada are used to replace a singular noun to express too much (of), while demasiados and demasiadas are used to replace a plural noun to express too many (of).

Quantitative Adjective	Masculine	Feminine
Singular	demasiado too much (of)	demasiada too much (of)
Plural	demasiados too many (of)	demasiadas too many (of)

Tanto, tanta, tantos, tantas = so much / so many

-Tanto dinero no da la felicidad.-Es cierto. Tanto no da la felicidad.-So much money doesn't bring happiness. -It's true, so much doesn't bring happiness.

-Tanta luz no es buena para sacar fotos. -No, tanta no es buena.-This much light is not good for taking photos. -No, this much is not good.

-Me he comido 10 caramelos! -¿Por qué tantos?-I ate 10 sweets! -Why so many?

-No puedes poner tantas manzanas en la cesta.-¿Por qué no puedo poner tantas?-You cannot put so many apples in the basket. -Why can't I put that many?

Tanto and tanta are used to replace a singular noun to express so much (of), while tantos and tantas are used to replace a plural noun to express so many (of):

Quantitative Adjective	Masculine	Feminine
Singular	tanto so much	tanta so much
Plural	tantos so many	tantas so many

Bastante, bastantes = enough/quite a lot

-¿Tenemos bastante pan para cenar? -Sí, tenemos bastante.-Do we have enough bread for dinner? -Yes, we have enough.

-¿Hay muchas cervezas en el frigorífico? -Sí, hay bastantes.-Are there lots of beers in the fridge? -Yes, there are quite a lot.

Bastante is used to replace a singular noun to express enough (of) or quite a lot (of) while bastantes is used to replace a plural noun to express enough (of) or quite a lot (of).

Quantitative Adjective	Masculine/ Feminine
Singular	bastante enough (of)
Plural	bastantes enough (of)

Bastante / bastantes do not agree in gender: they keep the same form in masculine and feminine!

Suficiente, suficientes = enough, sufficient

-¿Crees que Juan tiene suficiente dinero para ir al cine? -Sí, no te preocupes, tiene suficiente.-Do you think that Juan has enough money to go to the cinema? -Yes, don't worry, he's got enough.

-Pienso que Elisa vio suficientes museos en Londres. -Sí, Elisa vio suficientes.-I think that Elisa saw enough museums in London. -Yes, Elisa saw enough in London.

Suficiente is used to replace a singular noun to express enough (of) or sufficient while suficientes is used to replace a plural noun to express enough (of) or sufficient:

Quantitative Adjective	Masculine/ Feminine
Singular	suficiente enough (of), sufficient
Plural	suficientes enough (of), sufficient

Suficiente / suficientes do not agree in gender: they keep the same form in masculine and feminine!

Bastante and suficiente can both mean enough (of something) so they are interchangeable when used in this way, but only bastante can mean quite a lot (of something).

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