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The Spanish verb

Irregular verb tables

Five-minute Spanish lessons:

Ways of addressing people in Spanish 1

Ways of addressing people 2

Talking about possession with "whose" in Spanish

Talking about the weather in Spanish

Translating verbs "have" and "be" in Spanish

Spanish imperatives and subjunctives 1

Imperatives and subjunctives 2

Shopping expressions in Spanish

Ways of expressing "to be" in Spanish 1

Ways of expressing "to be" 2

Spanish relative pronouns 1

Relative pronouns 2

Relative pronouns 3

Relative pronouns 4

Relative pronouns 5

Relative pronouns 6

Spanish prepositions 1

Prepositions 10

Prepositions "en" and "con"

Expressing possibility in Spanish

Expressing possession

Expressing quantities 1

Expressing quantities 2

How to use "a little", "little", "a few" in Spanish

How to say "couple" and "pair"

The Spanish word "igual" and related expressions

Expressing "get" in Spanish 1

Expressing "get" 2

Expressing "get" 3

Expressing "can" in Spanish

The future and the subjunctive in Spanish

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Five-minute Spanish Lessons - Lesson 30.

Expressing quantities: a lot / mucho (2).

Here are some more uses of these words. "Lot" in English can refer to a group of people in colloquial English:

My family is a funny lot.

Mi familia es un poco rara.

Ok, you lot (you guys Am.E). Listen to me.

Bien, vosotros /as. Escuchad.

In British English, especially, "the lot" can have this different meaning:

I want the lot of you out of here now!

¡Quiero que todos vosotros /as salgáis de aquí ya!

There's nothing left! They've taken the lot!

¡No queda nada! Se han llevado todo(s)!

Give me ten pounds and you can take the lot.

Dame diez libras y te los puedes llevar todo(s).

Note the translation of "what a lot!" when an English speaker is surprised at a large quantity:

What a lot of cars there are on this road!

¡Cuántos coches en esta carretera!

What a lot of work you've done!

¡Cuánto trabajo has hecho!

What a lot of people on this beach!

¡Cuánta gente en esta playa!

Remember "gente" is a singular word in Spanish.

Then there is the expression: "such a lot", which has a similar meaning to the above:

I hate all this paperwork. It's such a lot of inconvenience.

No me gusta nada todo este papeleo. Es tanta molestia.

Let's now look at some Spanish uses of "mucho" which differ from the meanings in the lesson, mucho 1:

Por mucho que te quejes nadie te va a hacer caso.

Note the subjunctive "quejes" here.

No matter how much you complain nobody will taken any notice of you.

Or...

However much you complain nobody will...

Por muchas cremas que te compres no te vas a poner más guapa.

No matter how many creams you buy you aren't going to get any prettier.

Or,

However many creams you buy you aren't going to get any prettier.

Imagínate. Ganó la quiniela y ahora mucho ji ji ja ja y mucho gastar.

Can you believe it! She won the football pools and now it's all laughs and spend, spend, spend.

I finish with another colloquial expression with "lot" from Tarzan and Jane.

A fat lot of good.

Eso sí que va a servir de mucho. (sarcastic)

Jane: Oh, Tarzan. We're surrounded by giant spiders. We're in for it now!

Tarzan: Don't worry, Jane. I've brought Cheetah. He'll save us.

Jane: That dumb-ass monkey! A fat lot of good he'll be!

Jane: O, Tarzán. Estamos rodeados de arañas gigantes. ¡Estamos perdidos!

Tarzán: No te preocupes, Jane. He traído a Cheetah. Nos pondrá a salvo.

Jane: ¡Ese mono tarado! ¡Él sí que va a servir de mucho!

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