¿Cuántos o Cuántas? What’s the Amount in Spanish?

Knowing how to talk about the amount in Spanish is important if you want to cook, shop, and express yourself. Some of the translations can be tricky, particularly the difference between cuanto without an accent and cuánto with an accent. Today we’ll check out this difference, as well as some popular quantity-related words and measurements so you can talk about how much you love learning Spanish!

Is There a Difference Between How Much and How Many in Spanish?

In English, we use words such as much, many, more, less, and fewer. These words have grammatical significance, and learning when to use them is, in my opinion, a challenging lesson for any student. 

Luckily, words that express the amount in Spanish are easy to understand! You won’t have to worry about using the right word, with the exception of the accent mark in cuántos and cuántas.

What’s the Difference Between Cuantos and Cuántos?

There are four ways you can write this word, without taking conjugation into account:

Cuánto / Cuánta

The word cuánto has an accent whenever you’re asking a question about the amount in Spanish or you’re making an exclamatory statement.

Examples:

Interrogative

¿Cuántos años tiene tu mascota? — How old is your pet? 

¿Cuántas veces te lo tengo que repetir? 

Exclamatory

¡Cuántas aves adornan a ese árbol! — Lots of birds are adorning that tree! 

¡Cuántos cuentos contaba mi abuelo!

Subordinate Clause

No sé cuánto tiempo tardará en llegar. — I don’t know how much time it will take to come. 

Mira cuánto tiempo has dedicado a correr. — Look at how much time you’ve dedicated to jogging. 

Cuanto / Cuanta

The words cuanto and cuanta lack an accent when you’re using the amount in Spanish as adjectives, pronouns, or adverbs. 

Adjectives

Cuantos más pisos subimos, más me mareo — The more stories we ascend, the dizzier I get.

Pronouns

Esta donación ayudará a todos cuantos fueron afectados por el huracán. — This donation will help everyone who was affected by the hurricane.

Adverbs

Si tienes hambre puedes servirte cuanta pasta quieras.  — If you’re hungry, take as much pasta as you want.

Knowing when to accent cuanto is something that only advanced Spanish speakers will get right 100% of the time. It’s even a source of confusion for many native speakers, so don’t worry if it takes some time to master. Remember: the surefire way to know when to put an accent on cuánto is to check if the sentence is interrogative or exclamatory. That will get you most of the accents right. The rest just takes practice!

Expressions of Amount in Spanish

Cuánto is not the only way to express quantity in Spanish! Latin Americans are an expressive bunch, so we have lots of ways to express amounts and quantities. Let’s take a look at some examples.

English	Translation	Pronunciation
a lot	mucho	moo-choh
a little	poco	poh-koh
plenty	bastante	bahs-tahn-teh
abundant	abundante	ah-boon-dahn-teh
too much	demasiado	deh-mah-syah-doh
too	muy	mooee
some	algo	ahl-goh
as much as	tanto	tahn-toh
barely	apenas	ah-peh-nahs
more	más	mahs
less	menos	meh-nohs
nothing	nada	nah-dah
all	todo	toh-doh
majority	mayoría	mah-yoh-ree-ah
minority	minoría	mee-noh-ree-ah
half	mitad / medio / media	mee-tahd / meh-dyoh / meh-dyah
double	doble	doh-bleh

Let’s Measure!

Knowing the units of measurement is just as important as knowing the different words to express quantity. These measurements will come in handy if you need to bake a cake, build a deck, or drive a car!

English	Translation	Pronunciation
ounce	La onza	ohn-sah
gram	El gramo	grah-moh
cup	La taza	tah-sah
milliliter	El mililitro	mee-lee-lee-troh
quart	El cuarto de galón	kwahr-toh deh gah-lohn
pint	El medio litro	meh-dyoh lee-troh
gallon	El galón	gah-lohn
pound	La libra	lee-brah
kilogram	El kilogramo	kee-loh-grah-moh
tablespoon	La cucharada	coo-chah-rah-dah
teaspoon	La cucharilla	coo-chah-ree-yah
liter	El litro	lee-troh
centimeter	El centímetro	sehn-tee-meh-troh
meter	El metro	meh-troh
kilometer	El kilómetro	kee-loh-meh-troh
foot	El pie	pyeh
mile	La milla	mee-yah
inch	La pulgada	pool-gah-dah
millimeter	El milímetro	mee-lee-meh-troh
milligram	miligramo	mee-lee-grah-moh

Practice With a Tongue Twister

Learning tongue twisters in Spanish is a great way to improve pronunciation, vocabulary, and fluidity. It’s like a workout for your vocal cords! There is a tongue twister that uses both instances of the word cuántos. Try saying it out loud as you read it!

Cuando cuentes cuentos, cuenta cuántos cuentos cuentas.

porque si no cuentas cuántos cuentos cuentas, 

nunca sabrás cuántos cuentos sabes contar.

If you have a hard time saying this tongue twister, slowing down is a great way to get a hold of it faster. Knowing what the words mean will help too, so here’s a translated version of the tongue twister:

When you tell stories, count how many stories you tell.

Because if you don’t count how many stories you tell,

You’ll never know how many stories you can tell.

If you pay attention to the translated tongue twister you’ll notice the words “how many” appear quite often! The word cuentos means “stories” and combined with the Spanish word contar they make a pretty fun tongue twister!

Exercises

Let’s practice with some exercises! For each sentence, you have to choose between using cuantos with or without an accent. There will be an answer key at the very end! The english translations will give you hints to solve these.

1. ¿ _______ días hay en un mes? — How many days are in a month? (cuantos / cuántos)
2. Iré a traerte en _______ esté listo. — I’ll go pick you up as soon as I’m ready. (cuanto / cuánto)
3. _______ más te tardes preparándote, menos tiempo tendremos en la piscina. — The more time you take getting ready, the less time we’ll have at the pool. (cuanto / cuánto)
4. Recuerda preguntarle a tu papá _______ manzanas necesita comprar. — Remember to ask your dad how many apples he needs to buy. (cuantas / cuántas)
5. Tocaré esta canción _______ veces sea necesario para aprenderla bien. — I’ll play this song as many times as necessary to learn it properly. (cuantas / cuántas)

The answer key is below!

Think Big, Learn Spanish

The best way to solidify the grasp on quantities, measurements, and amounts in Spanish is through conversation and practice. Look for some foreign food recipes online, or strike up a conversation with one of our certified Spanish teachers online with a free class! Remember: ¡Hay que practicar mucho!

Want more free Spanish grammar lessons? Check these out!

• Ir + a + Infinitive: The Near Future Tense in Spanish
• 9 Coordinating Conjunctions in Spanish Essential to Know
• Solo vs Solamente: What’s the Difference?
• A Comprehensive Lesson on Demonstrative Adjectives in Spanish
• Using Diminutives in Spanish for More Colorful Conversations
• A Simple Intermediate Guide to Subjunctive Conditional Spanish
• Cuál vs Qué: What’s the Difference?
• Is it ‘Que’ or ‘De Que’? Find Out Which to Use and When

Answer Key

1. cuántos
2. cuanto
3. cuanto
4. cuántas
5. cuantas