TOO DIFFICULT, TOO MANY QUESTIONS, TOO MUCH TIME

Demasiado + adjective/adverb = TOO + adjective/adverb:

The fur coat is too expensive.

Question number four is too difficult.

These shoes are too big.

She speaks too quickly.

Demasiado "a secas" = TOO MUCH:

Don Quijote read too much.

I love her too much. (A strange thing to say, but it's possible)

Demasiado + uncountable noun = TOO MUCH + u. noun

He eats too much fruit / cereal.
She drinks too much milk.

There was too much traffic.

He gave us too much homework.

Some politicians earn too much money.

Demasiado + countable noun = TOO MANY + c. noun
She invited too many people.
Do you think there are too many children in this class?
Don't eat too many sweets!

An exception: He gave away too many clothes, and now he's got none. "Clothes" is actually not countable, but it is a special word, because it is both uncountable and plural (something rather unusual). TOO MUCH is never used with plurals, so we say too many clothes.

Common mistakes:

There was too much people >>> There were too many people. ("People" is countable AND plural)

It was too much hot / small, etc. >>> It was too hot / small, etc.  (¡Ni TOO MUCH ni TOO MANY: no acompaña a ningún sustantivo!)

The Jackson family

It's not the Jackson Five I'm talking about, but a different family that travelled to Troy on holiday! Do you remember a little text with gaps I gave you before Christmas?

The Jackson family are ......................holiday in Turkey. They are ...................... at a big hotel in Istanbul. Mark, ...................... sister and their parents like Turkey. It is beautiful, the ...................... is hot and the food is good.    ...................... is a lot to see, ....................... .   Today they are ...................... (use a verb) the city of Troy. They are ...................... on a bus in ...................... of their hotel. There are forty ...................... on the bus and they all ...................... (be careful -- it’s not as easy as it looks) from different countries.

At Troy they all have lunch. Then they ...................... to look at the old city. ...................... an hour, Mark sits under a tree. “I’m ...................... to stop here for a moment,” he ...................... Fay. He sees a flat, yellow stone on the ....................... . He picks it ...................... and ...................... to clean it with his hands. Suddenly there is a white light in his ....................... . Mark closes them. The light is strong. Now ...................... is a loud wind in his ears. He cannot hear ...................... see ....................... .  “What’s happening?” he thinks. Ten seconds later the light and the wind stop. Mark opens his eyes. He is ...................... on a beach. He can see ...................... of ships and men.  ...................... him there is a beautiful city with high walls.

Here are the answers.

Translation no. 10

Some time ago, I asked you to translate these sentences:

1.       Es el hijo del presidente. Su familia tiene bastante dinero.

2.      No tiene dinero bastante para comprar esa ropa.

3.      Come bastante fruta y verduras, pero no bebe suficiente agua.

4.      Averigua las respuestas a estas preguntas. Es bastante fácil.

5.      Siempre está cansada porque viaja demasiado.

6.      Hacía mucho calor en el aula porque había demasiada gente.

7.      Se tarda media hora porque hay demasiado tráfico por las mañanas.

8.     ¿Cuánta tarta te apetece comer? Nada, no tengo hambre.

9.      ¿Qué cenaste anoche? Nada, no tenía hambre.

10. No almorcé porque no había nada en el frigo.

Here's the key, together with some comments.

Translation no. 9

Some time ago, I asked you to translate these sentences:

1.              ¿Qué miras?  Nada.             

2.             ¿De quién te ríes? De nadie.

3.          ¿Dónde puedo comprar sellos? En ningún sitio. No hay oficinas de correos aquí.

4.             ¿Sabe alguien la respuesta a esa pregunta?

5.             La gente quiere pasárselo bien en todas partes.

6.             ¿Tiene todo el mundo su diccionario encima de la mesa?

7.             Creo que hay alguien detrás de la puerta.

8.            Hay algo de ropa sobre la cama, pero no hay (nada) en el ropero.

9.             Todo el mundo quiere a alguien.

10.         No te preocupes, todo está bien.

Here's the key, together with some comments.


On the recording, this is the answer to 8:
There are some clothes on the bed, but there isn't anything in the wardrobe.


This would mean: no hay nada en el armario (=ninguna cosa, está vacío, no hay ni ropa ni nada de nada).


You could also say: there aren't any in the wardrobe (there aren't any clothes = no hay nada de ropa : there are no clothes, but maybe there are other things in the wardrobe)

Enough is enough!

¡Esto sí que son voces! Donna Summer y Barbara Streisand estaban hartas de su penosa vida amorosa, como algunos estaréis hartos de no tener claro cómo se dice "bastante". Gritad como ellas: "Enough is enough" (¡=ya basta!). Coged carrerilla con la cancioncilla, que luego viene la explicación.

Y ahora a ver si nos aclaramos:

What exactly does this mean? Come bastante fruta.
a) una buena cantidad de, mucha
b) la suficiente (quizá no sea mucha, pero es suficiente)

Consider these groups of sentences:

"Bastante" = similar to "muy": QUITE + adjective / adverb
Vine bastante despacio. Por eso tardé tanto. ...quite slowly
A mí me pareció bastante fácil.   ...quite easy
Su último disco es bastante bueno.   ...quite good
Los hoteles allí son bastante caros.  ...quite expensive


"Bastante" = similar to "mucho": QUITE A LOT OF + noun
No estaba lleno, pero había bastante gente.   ...quite a lot of people
Había bastante fruta en la nevera, pero poca carne.   ...quite a lot of fruit
Ha tenido bastantes novias. No sé con cuál estará ahora.   ...quite a lot of girlfriends
No te sé decir cuánto, pero sé que gana bastante (dinero).   ...quite a lot (of money)


"Bastante" = suficiente: ENOUGH + noun, adjective + ENOUGH
No hay sillas bastantes para todos.   ...enough chairs
Tenía dinero bastante para comprar todo lo que quisiera.   ...enough money
No es lo bastante grande.  It isn't big enough.

¡De nada!

NOTHING, NOT...ANYTHING = lo contrario de "algo", nada de ninguna cosa en concreto, nada en términos absolutos.

NONE = nada (uncountables) / ninguno (countables), referido a algo ya citado (con un sustantivo implícito)


What did you read? NOTHING. (I read nothing, I didn't read anything). No hay referencia a nada.
How many books did you read? NONE. (I read none, I didn't read any, I read no books). La respuesta alude a "books".
How much money did you spend? NONE. (I spent none, I didn't spend any, I spent no money).
What's in the cupboard? NOTHING. (There is nothing, there isn't anything)
Are there any blankets in the cupboard? No, there are NONE. There aren't any, there are no blankets.
How many children did they have? NONE. (They had none, they didn't have any, they had no children).
What do you want? NOTHING. (I want nothing, I don't want anything).


Remember that the one-word answer to these questions can't be ANYTHING, ANY or ANYONE because these words don't carry a negative meaning. It's only when they are combined with a negative word, usually a verb, that they "become" negative.

The Spanish word "nada" (to be precise ""nada de"), can also be translated as "NO", as you can see in some of the examples above, when it is used with uncountable nouns:
Nada de dinero = no money.
No había nada de leche = there was no milk.
No queda nada de ropa limpia = there are no clean clothes left.


By the way, "de nada" is don't mention it or you're welcome or that's all right.

Now I ..., then I ...

Listen to some phrases and notice how the -ED is pronounced. Pay special attention to the way the last sound of the verb is linked to the first sound of the next word: all the examples link final consonant to initial vowel.

The verbs in phrases 1-10 end in a voiceless sound, so the past is pronounced /t/; in 11-20 the final sound is voiced, so the -ED is /-d/

1. WORK AT HOME ... ... 
2. LIKE ORANGES ... ... 
3. ASK EASY QUESTIONS ... ... 
4. LOOK AT EVERYTHING ... ... 
5. COOK EVERY DAY ... ... 
6. WATCH IT EVERY DAY ... ... 
7. PRACTISE IN THE MORNING ... ... 
8. TALK ABOUT EVERYTHING ... ... 
9.  FINISH AT SIX ... ...
10. DANCE ON SUNDAYS ... ... 
11. ANSWER A LOT OF QUESTIONS ... ...
12. PLAY IN THE GARDEN ... ... 
13. REMEMBER EVERYTHING ... ...  
14. OPEN IT AT NIGHT ... ...
15. LIVE IN SPAIN ... ... 
16. CLOSE IT IF I’M TIRED ... ... 
17. PHONE IN THE AFTERNOON ... ...
18. STUDY IN MY ROOM ... ...
19. STAY IN VALLADOLID ... ...
20. TRAVEL IN SUMMER ... ... 

Finally, in the following examples, the infinitive of the verb already ends in /-d/ or /-t/, so you add an extra syllable when you pronounce the past tense. You will hear the present/infinitive and the past followed by the word IT. The verbs are: hate, visit, decide, want, need, paint, start, suggest