Expressions of Quantity in Spanish

You need expressions of quantity to be able to express imprecise numbers - otherwise, you would always have to use the exact number to tell how much or how little of something you have!

All of these expressions in Spanish are also adjectives, and therefore must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.

Here are the most common expressions of quantity, in alphabetical order:

Algún, alguna, algunos, algunas [Some/any]
Examples:
Algunos niños fueron al parque. [Some children went to the zoo.]
Algún año, vamos a Francia. [Some year, we are going to France.]
¿Tienes algunas faldas? [Do you have any skirts?]
Note: Typically, when we use "some" in English, it would not be translated into Spanish. A more natural sentence would be ¿Tienes faldas?

Ambos, ambas [both]
Examples:
Ambas ciudades están creciendo. [Both cities are growing.]
Ambos negocios tienen dificultades. [Both businesses are having difficulties.]

Bastante, bastantes [enough]
Examples:
Suficiente, suficientes [Enough]
¿Tienes bastante/suficiente agua? [Do you have enough water?]
¿Todavía no hay bastantes/suficientes estudiantes para ésta clase. [There aren't enough students for that class yet.

Mucho, mucha, muchos, muchas [Much, many, a lot of]
Examples:
Sus abuelos tienen mucho dinero. [His grandparents have a lot of money.]
Muchos estudiantes fueron al concierto. [Many students went to the concert.]

Ningún, ninguna, ningunos, ningunas [No, none, not any]
Examples:
No me gusta ningún de éstos vestidos. [I don't like any of these dresses]
Ningunos de los profesores vinieron. [None of the professors came.]

Poco, poca, pocos, pocas [few, little]
Examples:
Pocos Madrileños hablan inglés. [Few people from Madrid speak English.]
Nos queda poco queso. [We have little cheese remaining.]

Tanto, tanta, tantos, tantas [So much, so many]
Examples:
No hay bastantes papeles porque tanta gente está aquí. [There aren't enough papers because so many people are here.]
¡En octubre, hay tantas manzanas en el supermercado! [In October, there are so many apples in the supermarket!]

Todo, toda, todos, todas [All, every, each]
Examples:
Todos los muchachos juegan al ajedrez. [All the boys play chess.]
Me encantan todas las películas. [I love all the movies.]

Unos, unas [Some]
Examples:
Unos quehaceres son más fáciles que otros. [Some chores are easier than others.]
¿Quieres unas uvas? [Do you want some grapes?

Varios, varias [Several]
Examples:
Hay varias problemas con el diseño. [There are several problems with the design.]
Varios amigos me llamaron hoy. [Several friends called me today.]

Related Links:
Adverbs in Spanish
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