Mi hermana tiene perros
My sister has many dogs
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Muchos is an adjective and it’s placed before the noun. It talks about a plurality in quantity and amounts. In this case, muchos expresses the amount of dogs that my sister has: many or a lot.
La película estuvo aburrida
The movie was very boring
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As an adverb, muy goes before an adjective or a verb. ‘Muy’ allows you to intensify the action or characteristics presented. In the previous example, aburrida (boring) is the characteristic and it’s intensified by muy.
Vanessa y Lauren son agradables
Vanessa and Lauren are very nice
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Muy intensifies the qualities presented by an adjective. Agradable is the adjective used to describe Vanessa and Lauren. ‘Muy’ can be translated as ‘very’.
En México, gente habla español
In Mexico, a lot of people speak Spanish
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Mucha works with femine singular Spanish nouns and it expresses the quantity or amount of this noun. In this case, it talks about the amount of people that speak Spanish.
Mi novio es alto
My boyfriend is very tall
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Alto is an adjective that we use to describe a person (my boyfriend). By placing muy before ‘alto’, we’re intensifying this quality.
Carla es tímida y no habla
Carla is shy and she doesn’t speak a lot
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When placed after a verb, mucho works as an adverb and it doesn’t have a plural or feminine form since it’s qualifying an action. In this case, mucho expresses the amount of talking that Carla does.
Te dije veces que no me gusta el chocolate
I told you many times that I don’t like chocolate
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In this case, muchas is placed before the feminine and plural noun ‘veces’. As a result, it’s expressing the amount of times that I said something.
Ayer me comí tacos
Yesterday I ate a lot of tacos
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Muchos is used to express amounts and quantities. In this case, it helps us measure and express the amount of tacos that I ate. When it comes to talking about amounts, you can use an exact number or you can work with an adjective of quantity.
Tus primos comen rápido
Your cousins eat very fast
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As an adverb, muy allows you to intensify how an action is being done. In this case, we describe that your cousins eat fast and we emphasize this caractheric by using ‘muy’.
No hablo bien español
I don’t speak Spanish very well
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Muy works with both verbs and adjectives and intensifies how an action is done. In this example, the action is ‘hablar español’ and muy intensifies the fact that the subject is not very good at it.
El boleto de avión me costó dinero
The plane ticket costed me a lot of money
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Mucho is an adjective that works with masculine singular nouns in Spanish. We use it to express the quantity of something. In this case, the amount of money.
Sandy viajaba cuando era joven
Sandy used to travel a lot when she was young
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When placed after a verb, mucho qualifies an action. This example expresses the amount of times that Sandy used to travel. Since we don’t have an exact number of trips, we can just say mucho.
Te quiero
I love you very much
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Unlike English, in Spanish there’s no structure such as ‘very much’. Instead, we only use mucho or muchísimo. Mucho expresses the degree or level with which an action is performed, in this case, we express the degree of ‘love’.
gracias por ayudarme con mi tarea
Thank you very much for helping me with my homework
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Gracias is a feminine plural noun. As a result, you need to use muchas. Remember that muchas is an adjective that expresses amounts and quantities: in this case, your gratefulness.
En mi cumpleaños quiero flores
On my birthday, I want a lot of flowers
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Muchas allows you to measure the amount of something. In this case, the quantity of flowers that I want for my birthday. Depending on the context, muchas can be translated as ‘many’ or ‘a lot of’.
Quiz Results
| Question | Answer Given | Correct Answer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mi hermana tiene ______ perros | |||
| La película estuvo _______ aburrida | |||
| Vanessa y Lauren son _____ agradables | |||
| En México, _____ gente habla español | |||
| Mi novio es ___ alto | |||
| Carla es tímida y no habla ______ | |||
| Te dije _____ veces que no me gusta el chocolate | |||
| Ayer me comí _____ tacos | |||
| Tus primos comen _____ rápido | |||
| No hablo ____ bien español | |||
| El boleto de avión me costó _______ dinero | |||
| Sandy viajaba _____ cuando era joven | |||
| Te quiero _____ | |||
| ______ gracias por ayudarme con mi tarea | |||
| En mi cumpleaños quiero _____ flores |
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