Quantities in Spanish help you talk about how much or how many of something there are. This includes words for amounts, measurements, and modifiers that describe quantity.

Amounts

Basic words for expressing amount or quantity. These can be used alone or with nouns.

Spanish Singular	Spanish Plural	English Singular	English Plural	Spanish Example	English Example
un / una	unos / unas	a / an	some	Quiero una manzana.	I want an apple.
todo / toda	todos / todas	all / every	all / every	Toda la casa está limpia.	The whole house is clean.
mucho / mucha	muchos / muchas	much / many	much / many	Hay muchas personas.	There are many people.
poco / poca	pocos / pocas	little / few	little / few	Tengo poca agua.	I have little water.
bastante	—	enough / quite a lot	—	Hay bastante comida.	There is enough food.
algo de	—	some	—	Quiero algo de pan.	I want some bread.
demasiado / demasiada	demasiados / demasiadas	too much / too many	too much / too many	Hay demasiado ruido.	There is too much noise.

Measurements

Common units of measurement in Spanish for length, weight, volume, and time.

Spanish Singular	Spanish Plural	English Singular	English Plural	Spanish Example	English Example
metro	metros	meter	meters	El cuarto mide tres metros.	The room is three meters long.
kilogramo	kilogramos	kilogram	kilograms	Compré dos kilogramos de manzanas.	I bought two kilograms of apples.
gramo	gramos	gram	grams	Necesito 100 gramos de azúcar.	I need 100 grams of sugar.
litro	litros	liter	liters	Hay un litro de leche.	There is a liter of milk.
mililitro	mililitros	milliliter	milliliters	Uso 50 mililitros de aceite.	I use 50 milliliters of oil.
hora	horas	hour	hours	Estudio dos horas al día.	I study two hours a day.
minuto	minutos	minute	minutes	Espera cinco minutos.	Wait five minutes.

Quantity Modifiers

Words that modify quantity, often used with nouns.

Spanish Singular	Spanish Plural	English Singular	English Plural	Spanish Example	English Example
mucho / mucha	muchos / muchas	much / many	much / many	Tengo mucha tarea.	I have a lot of homework.
poco / poca	pocos / pocas	little / few	little / few	Hay pocos libros.	There are few books.
más	—	more	—	Quiero más café.	I want more coffee.
menos	—	less / fewer	—	Necesito menos azúcar.	I need less sugar.
suficiente	—	enough	—	Hay suficiente comida.	There is enough food.

Quantitative Expressions

Common phrases to express quantity in a complete sentence.

Spanish Singular	Spanish Plural	English Singular	English Plural	Spanish Example	English Example
un poco	—	a little	—	Quiero un poco de agua.	I want a little water.
un montón de	—	a ton of / lots of	—	Hay un montón de gente.	There are lots of people.
una cantidad de	—	a quantity of	—	Compré una cantidad de frutas.	I bought a quantity of fruit.
algo de	—	some	—	Dame algo de pan.	Give me some bread.
nada de	—	none / nothing of	—	No tengo nada de azúcar.	I have no sugar.

Using “de” with Quantities

When you specify what the quantity is of, Spanish uses the preposition de. This is an important grammatical rule.

Spanish Quantity	Spanish Example	English Example
mucho / mucha de	Mucha de la gente llegó tarde.	Much of the people arrived late.
poco / poca de	Poca de la comida está lista.	Little of the food is ready.
algo de	Quiero algo de jugo.	I want some juice.
demasiado / demasiada de	Hay demasiada de la tarea.	There is too much of the homework.

Summary

Use un/una, unos/unas for “a” or “some.”
todo(s)/toda(s) means “all” or “every.”
mucho(s)/mucha(s) means “much” or “many.”
poco(s)/poca(s) means “little” or “few.”
Use bastante for “enough” or “quite a lot.”
Use demasiado(s)/demasiada(s) for “too much” or “too many.”
When specifying what the quantity is of, use de (e.g., mucho de la comida).
Common measurement words include metro, kilogramo, litro, hora, minuto.
Modifier words like más (more) and menos (less) help compare quantities.
Quantitative expressions like un poco de, un montón de, and nada de help specify amounts more naturally.

Now you have a thorough overview of quantities in Spanish, from simple amounts to measurement units and useful expressions. Use this page as a reference whenever you need to talk about quantity in Spanish!

I have a lot of homework.

Tengo menos tarea.

Tengo mucha tarea.

Tengo poco tarea.

Tengo bastante tarea.

Tengo mucha tarea.

'Mucha' means 'a lot of' and correctly agrees with the feminine singular noun 'tarea.' 'Poco' means 'little,' 'bastante' means 'enough,' and 'menos' means 'less.'

I want a little water.

Quiero bastante agua.

Quiero un poco de agua.

Quiero mucho agua.

Quiero poco agua.

Quiero un poco de agua.

'Un poco de' means 'a little of' and is suitable for non-countable nouns like 'agua.' The other options denote different amounts.

Flashcards (1 of 28)

English Singular: a / an
English Plural: some
English Example: I want an apple.

Last updated: Wed Jun 18, 2025