Poco is an indefinite adjective and pronoun, sometimes also used as a noun and an adverb. It indicates a small quantity of something. It is variable, agreeing with the noun it refers to or replaces.
| Masc. Singular |
Fem. Singular |
Masc. Plural |
Fem. Plural |
Meaning |
| poco |
poca |
pochi |
poche |
little, few, not many
what little, a little of
not much, not very
|
How to use:
As an adjective, poco is directly placed before the noun it refers to. It translates as "little, not much" before uncountable nouns and as "few" before plural nouns:
Examples:
- Ho pochi amici. (I have few friends.)
- Anna ha speso poco denaro per quel vestito. (Anna has spent little money on that dress.)
When referring to time and distance it can translate as "short":
Examples:
- Poco tempo fa. (A short time ago, not long ago.)
- C'è poca strada fra la mia casa e l'ufficio dove lavoro. (There's a short distance between my place and my office.)
Note that Its superlative absolute is pochissimo. It has no comparative, so you have to use meno to make comparatives:
- Pochissimo tempo fa. (A very short time ago.)
- Ne voglio meno (you can't say più poco). (Give me less, please.)
As a noun poco indicates few people or a small amount of something (often of time):
- Pochi capiscono la sua ironia. (Few understand his irony.)
- Basta poco per essere felici. (It doesn't take much to be happy.)
- Siamo rimasti in pochi. (There are but a few of us left.)
- Lavoro in quel caffè da poco. (I've worked in that coffee shop for a short time.)
When preceded by the definite article or the determinative adjective quello, it becomes a noun:
- Quel poco che ho visto mi è bastato. (The little I saw was enough for me.)
Just like molto, poco can be used also as an adverb. In that case it follows a verb, and can precede another adverb / qualifying adjective thus intensify its meaning:
- Anna mangia poco. (Anna eats little.)
- Vivo poco lontano da qui. (I live not far away from here.)
- Anna sta poco bene. (Anna doesn't feel well.)
Some expressions:
- Abbiamo fatto poca strada (fig.). (We haven't gone far.)
- Poche storie! (Don't make a fuss!)
- Poche chiacchiere! (Cut the cackle!)
- Essere un poco di buono. (To be a bad lot.)
- E non è poco! (That's saying a lot.)
- Avere poca memoria. (To have a poor memory.)
- A poco a poco. (Little by little.)
- Basta poco. (It doesn't take much.)
- C'è mancato poco. (That was close.)
- Poco fa. (A short while ago.)
- Fra poco. (Very soon.)
