Indefinite adjectives are used to quantify nouns in a vague or imprecise way. There are quite a few indefinite adjectives in Spanish, and in this section I wil try to cover a few of them:
Algún, alguna, algunos, algunas (some)
- En algún libro tiene que estar lo que buscas.
(What you are looking for should be in some (or other) book.)
- Pregunta en algún centro de información.
(Ask in an information centre.)
- Algunos periódicos y algunas revistas publican artículos de interés.
(Some (as in "a few") newspapers and a few magazines publish interesting articles.)
Cierto/a/os/as (certain)
- No deben consultarse ciertas obras por inútiles.
(Certain works are useless and should not be consulted (used as reference.))
- Cierto escritor me envió esta novela.
(A certain writer sent me this little book.)
Otro/a/os/as (another/some other)
- Le acompañaba otra persona que yo no conocía.
(He was with another person whom I did not know.)
- José se puso otros zapatos.
(José put on some other shoes.)
- Ponnos otras dos copas. (Give us two more glasses.)
- Compraré este otro coche. (I shall buy this other car.)
- Marcos tiene otros muchos libros para ti.
(Marcos has many other books for you.)
- Ven otro día. (Come another day.)
Note also the following very common uses of otro:
- Otra vez. (again.)
- El otro día ( the other day.)
Cualquier (any)
- Cualquier libro es mejor que el que compraste.
(Any book is better than the one you bought.)
- Tomaremos cualquier resolución.
(We will pass any resolution (whatsoever.)
- No se trata de que me compres cualquier libro, sino un libro bueno.
(I don’t want you to buy me any book, just a good book.)
There is also "cualquiera", which is used after the noun, and conveys insignificance or unimportance:
- No se trata de un chico cualquiera.
(It’s not just any guy.)
Varios/varias (several)
- He recibido ya varias postales tuyas.
(I’ve already received several postcards from you.)
- Saludé a varios amigos. (I said hello to several friends.)
Partitives
Partitives describe an imprecise quantity or part of something and, in the singular, tend to be used with mass nouns. All have forms for masculine, feminine, singular and plural:
mucho/a = much
muchos/as= many |
poco/a = little
pocos/as = few |
tanto/a = so much
tantos/as= so many |
demasiado= too much
demasiados/as=to many |
- Este problema presenta mucha dificultad.
(This problem presents much/a lot of trouble.)
- Dispongo de poco tiempo. (I have little time (to spare).)
- Este ejercicio requiere demasiada paciencia. (This exercise requires too much patience.)
- Tanto sol no es bueno. (So much sun is not a good thing.)
- Tiene otras muchas cualidades. (He has many other qualities.)
- Jaime ha perdido las pocas fincas que le quedaban. (Jaime has already lost the few farms he had left.)
- Me queda muy poco dinero. (I have very little money left.)
- Tiene tanta inteligencia como su padre. (She/he has as much intelligence as her/his father.)
Note also the following diminutive and superlative forms which are a feature of
Spanish:
poquito/a, poquísimo/a = very little
poquitos/as, poquísimos/as = very few |
tantísimo/a = so very much
tantísimos/as = so very many. |
muchísimo/a = very much
muchísimos/as = very many |
|
- Ponme poquita leche. (Give me very little milk.)
- ¡Qué poquísima leche me has puesto! (What a tiny drop of milk you’ve given me!)
Poco and mucho combine with the noun “vez” to act as adverbs of time:
Pocas veces = rarely
Muchas veces = frequently
Bastante/bastantes (quite a lot, a fair amount)
- Perdimos bastante tiempo. ( We lost a fair amount of time.)
- He estado en Francia bastantes veces. ( I’ve been to France on quite a few occasions.)
Note that masculine and feminine have the same form.
Más (more), menos (less)
Both these forms are invariable.
- Volvieron con más hombres. (They came back with more men.)
- Tienen más hombres pero menos fuerza. (They have more men but less strength.)
