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Five-minute Spanish Lessons - Lesson 27."Poco" or "Poca" ("a little", "little / "a few").Students of Spanish may hesitate at which one to use. "Poco" and not "poca" is used when it is an adverb. That is, if it is describing another adjective, for example: Es un escritor poco conocido. He's a little-known artist. Though I feel that many native speakers of English might prefer the negative in more colloquial speech: "He's not a very well-known artist". Nos parecía poco interesante lo que dijo. We found what he said of little interest. As above, more colloquial would be: "We didn't find what he said very interesting". Adverbs can also describe verbs so "poco" (not "poca") is used in the following examples: Últimamente, habla muy poco en casa. Recently, she speaks very little at home. Or, as above: Hacía poco para ayudar a su familia. He did little to help his family. or, as above: And note this use of "poco": Desde que sale con María siempre va a los conciertos con ella ¡y con lo poco que le gusta la música! Since he's been going out with Maria, he always goes to concerts with her. And he doesn't even like music!
Use with adjectives."Poco" or "poca" (also in plural: "(unos) pocos", "(unas) pocas" = (a) few) are used as adjectives agreeing with either masculine or feminine nouns: Hay poca cerveza en mi vaso. There's little beer in my glass. The above expressions are like a complaint; ie: Quiero más cerveza. If we mean "some" (a small amount) we use the invariable: "un poco (de)": Hay un poco de cerveza. There is a little beer. For solid foods, in colloquial British English, we also hear: "a bit" (always una poco de): Hay un poco de queso.
More examples of the adjective forms.Se ha olvidado del poco alemán que sabía. He's forgotten the little German that he / she knew. Hoy en día, hay pocas mujeres que prefieren quedarse en casa. These days, there are few women who prefer to stay at home. Le dio unos pocos trozos de pan. He gave him a few pieces of bread. Note that when there is a reference to an object, "poco" must agree: Le ofreció un plato de ensalada pero Juan comió poca. She offered him a plate of salad but Juan ate very little. But here "poco" has a non-specified meaning, an idea, so the masculine is used: Tarzán se conforma con muy poco. Tarzan is satisfied with very little. So, to finish... Jane: Well, don't be long! Tarzan: Don't worry! I'll be back shortly. Jane: I hope so! I've got a bit of snake in the oven. Oh, by the way. I'm nearly out of elephant milk. Make sure you bring me some. Tarzán: Que voy a estrangular unos (pocos) cocodrilos. Jane: Pues, ¡no tardes! Tarzán: ¡No te preocupes! Vuelvo dentro de poco. Jane: ¡Eso espero! Tengo un poco de serpiente en el horno. A propósito, me queda poca leche de elefante. Que me traigas un poco.
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