no mucho
/no mut͡ʃo/from spelling rules
To say not a lot in Spanish, as in only a small amount, say no mucho.
no mucho works as a short reply to questions about how much of something there is, or how much you did something. A more formal way to say in scarce quantity is En escasa cantidad, and a colloquial way to play something down is Poca cosa, meaning a little thing.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In some Latin American countries, such as Mexico, poquito is an informal way to say not a lot.
How does it change in a sentence?
When it goes with a noun, the word agrees with that noun. Use no mucho with masculine uncountable nouns such as water or time, no mucha with feminine nouns and no muchas with feminine plural nouns, where it means not many.
How do you pronounce it?
no mucho is pronounced /no mutʃo/, with the ch sounding like the ch in church.
Did you know?
- Although it sounds similar to the English word 'much', the Spanish mucho actually shares an ancient ancestor with the word 'crumbling' or 'crumbled'.
- In some Spanish-speaking cultures, saying poca cosa to describe an achievement is a way of practicing modesty, even if the achievement was actually significant.
- When using poquito to mean 'not a lot', speakers often emphasize the smallness by adding more syllables or stretching the vowel to imply an even smaller amount.
Examples in context
- El producto está disponible en escasa cantidadThe product is available in limited quantity
- Hay un número reducido de entradas disponiblesThere is a reduced number of tickets available
- No hay mucho tiempo para hacer esoThere isn't a lot of time to do that
- Hay un número limitado de plazas para el conciertoThere is a limited number of seats available for the concert
- Gasté casi nada de dinero en esa tiendaI spent almost nothing in that store
- Tengo poquito dineroI have not a lot of money
Example conversation
Alejandro and Lucía are talking about a new restaurant.
- Alejandro¿Te gustó la comida del restaurante nuevo?Did you like the food at the new restaurant?
- LucíaNo mucho, la carne estaba muy salada.Not a lot, the meat was very salty.
- AlejandroQué lástima, yo quería ir allí.That's a shame, I wanted to go there.
- LucíaMejor buscamos otro lugar hoy.Better we look for another place today.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries mucho, no, CC BY-SA 4.0.
