muy

/ˈmui/

#41 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

very

Examples

.

The exam was very difficult this time.

agradecido .

I am very grateful for your help.

.

He speaks very fast and I do not understand him well.

.

It was very late by the time we finally got to the hotel.

.

The little boy is very sweet with his grandparents.

.

My brother is very tall and very strong.

Muy intensifies adjectives and adverbs, meaning "very." It must not be confused with mucho, which modifies nouns and verbs. Muy never modifies a noun or verb directly - you cannot say "muy cansancio" (very tiredness) or "trabaja muy" (works very).

A subtle pitfall: muy cannot precede mucho/a/os/as. You say "muchísimo" (using the superlative suffix) rather than "muy mucho." Similarly, you cannot say "muy bien" and then intensify further with "muy muy bien" in formal writing, though in casual speech doubling is colloquially acceptable.

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This word is part of lesson 1.