Adverbs of Degree: A Little, A Lot, etc.

Advérbios de grauAdverbs of degreeCommunity Slow audio Play audio , also called advérbios de intensidadeadverbs of intensityCommunity Slow audio Play audio , tell us about how intensely something occurs. For the most part, Portuguese adverbs of degree operate just like English adverbs in terms of their placement and usage.

Word Order

Portuguese adverbs of degree are usually placed before the word they’re modifying if it’s an adjective or adverb, and immediately after the word they’re modifying if it’s a verb.

Degree

We’ll look at 5 of the most frequent adverbs of degree, which are ordered below from the lowest to the highest degree:

• NadaNothing, at allCommunity Slow audio Play audio Adverb, Singular
• PoucoFew, littleCommunity Slow audio Play audio Quantifiers, Singular, Masculine
• BastanteEnough, veryCommunity Slow audio Play audio Determiner, Singular, Masculine
• MuitoReally, a lotCommunity Slow audio Play audio Adverb
• DemasiadoToo muchCommunity Slow audio Play audio Adjective, Singular, Masculine

Nada

Nada translates to nothing when it is the object of a sentence, as in O João não deu nada.John gave nothing.Community Slow audio Play audio . But as an adverb of degree (when modifying verbs that don’t require an object), nada more closely corresponds to the phrase “at all”.
You will notice in the examples below that this double negative formulation (não…nada) is allowed in Portuguese, whereas in English we would use “not…at all”.
Eu não corro nada.I don't run at all.Community Slow audio Play audio
Eu não gosto nada disso.I don't like that at all.Community Slow audio Play audio

Pouco

Pouco is the equivalent to few or little in English. As an adverb, it refers to doing the action at a low level, so it could roughly translate to “not much”.
Hoje treinei pouco.Today I didn’t train much.Community Slow audio Play audio
Ela estudou pouco para o teste.She studied little for her test.Community Slow audio Play audio

Bastante

Bastante means enough or sufficiently.
Já comemos bastante.We’ve eaten enough already.Community Slow audio Play audio
Curiously, nowadays you will also come across contexts in which bastante is used to mean “very” or “quite”. For example:
Estou bastante cansado.I’m very tired.Community Slow audio Play audio
We will talk more about bastante later on.

Suficiente

Suficiente functions as a synonym of bastante.
Não tenho coragem suficiente.I don't have enough courage.Community Slow audio Play audio

Muito

Muito is the equivalent to, depending on context or emphasis, the English words “really” or “lots”, or the adverbial phrases “a lot” or “quite a few”. In general, it means that the action is done to a high degree.
Parabéns, fico muito feliz por vocês!Congratulations, I’m really happy for you!Community Slow audio Play audio
Gostei muito deste bolo.I enjoyed this cake a lot.Community Slow audio Play audio

Demasiado/Demais

Demasiado and demais are synonyms and they are equivalent to the English adverbial phrase “too much”. Both terms are used in Portugal, while only demais is commonly used in Brazil.
Isto é demasiado.This is too much .Community Slow audio Play audio
Bons amigos nunca são demais.Good friends are never too much.Community Slow audio Play audio