¿Do you already know the difference between the two Spanish quantifier: poco/un poco de? If not, our Spanish school, El Rincón del Tándem, will explain you how to use them properly in today’s article. Take a look at it! 🙂
Today we will learn how to use the Spanish quantifiers: poco/ un poco de with uncountable names. Before moving on, take a look at our previous post on the countable and uncountable nouns 😉
Although both poco and un poco de indicate small amount of something, they have different usages.
Let’s take a look at the main difference between these two Spanish quantifiers.
POCO
First of all, the Spanish quantifier poco is an adjective. Therefore, it must agree in gender with the uncountable noun it refers to (poco/poca).
Besides that, when we use the adjective poco + an uncountable noun, we add a negative connotation to the sentence.
Let’s see some examples:
- Queda poca agua = There is little water left
In this case we mean the amount of water is too little. Implicitly, we are saying the amount of water left is not enough for doing something:
- Queda poca agua; no es suficiente para regar toda la huerta = There is little water left, not enough to irrigate the whole garden
- Hay poco espacio en el salón. Este sofá no cabe = There is little space in the living room. This sofa does not fit.
UN POCO DE
Unlike poco, un poco de has a positive connotation. When we use un poco de we focus what we have instead of what is lacking.
Therefore, un poco de can be translated as “some”.
Let’s’ see some examples:
- Queda un poco de mantequilla; podríamos hacer galletas = There is some butter left; we could make biscuits
- Para el desayuno de mañana, hay un poco de mermelada y pan = For tomorrow’s breakfast, there is some jam and bread
Lastly, unlike the adjective poco, un poco de must not agree with the uncountable noun.
We hope you have found this post on the Spanish quantifiers: poco/un poco de, useful 😊
Also, if you want to learn more about the Spanish quantifiers, take a look at this post.
Finally, if you want to study Spanish from scratch or improve your knowledge of the language, El Rincón del Tándem Spanish school gives you the chance to do it by having fun, here in Valencia 😊
Take a look at our Spanish courses!
¡Hasta pronto!
