muy corto
/mui koɾto/from spelling rules
In Spanish, the phrase for "very short" is muy corto.
The phrase is used to describe something that has a small length or duration. When used idiomatically to mean lacking something (like money or time), the phrase is often followed by the preposition de.
Which one should you use?
While muy corto describes length or duration, it is distinct from muy bajo which is used to describe a person's height.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase must agree in gender with the noun it describes, using the feminine form muy corta for feminine nouns. The phrase must agree in number with the noun it describes, using the masculine plural form muy cortos for masculine plural nouns and the feminine plural form muy cortas for feminine plural nouns.
Did you know?
- In Spain, a café corto is a specific type of espresso with a very small amount of water. This terminology was standardized by a cafe owner in Malaga to simplify customer orders.
- In an electrical context, if someone mentions a corto, they are not referring to length but are actually talking about a 'short circuit'.
- The word corto is a direct cognate of the English word 'curt', sharing the same Latin root meaning 'cut short'.
Examples in context
- Estoy muy corto de dinero.I'm very short of money.This example shows how to use muy corto idiomatically to express a lack of money.Tatoeba #967682 by leoruilova, translation #37860 by CK
- Es muy corto.It is very short.This example uses muy corto to describe the length or duration of something.Tatoeba #1974729 by hayastan, translation #1742322 by belgavox
- Mi discurso es muy corto.My speech is very short.
- El tiempo asignado para la presentación fue excesivamente corto.The time allotted for the presentation was extremely short.
- La película fue súper corta, apenas duró una hora.The movie was really short, it barely lasted an hour.
- Fue un viaje muy rapidito, solo estuvimos allí un par de días.It was a very short trip, we were only there for a couple of days.
- El camino al parque es muy corto.The path to the park is very short.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Mateo and Elena are discussing a film they just watched.
- Mateo¿Te gustó la película?Did you like the movie?
- ElenaSí, pero el final fue muy corto.Yes, but the ending was very short.
- MateoTienes razón, terminó demasiado rápido.You are right, it ended too quickly.
- ElenaEs una lástima, me quedé con ganas de más.It's a shame, I wanted more.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries corto, muy, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
