How to tell when mucho is an adverb or an adjective?

Question

I understand that mucho can be an adjective meaning "a lot of" or many, or it can be an adverb meaning really, very, or a lot (as in: Quiero ir a Mexico mucho.)

In another thread, Gus asked a question about whether one should say "Tengo mucho hambre" or "Tengo mucha hambre." (hambre is feminine but uses el for its article).

I posted that perhaps either way was correct depending on whether it was considered an adjective modifying hambre (in which case one would use mucha) or an adverb modifying tengo (in which case on would use mucho). But I have no idea if it makes sense to use mucho as an adverb in that case.

Then I got to thinking. What about a sentence like "Quiero mucho hielo?" Since mucho could be an adjective OR an adverb, how do I know if the sentence is saying "I want a lot of ice" or "I really want ice." Or, would mucho not be used as an adverb in such a case? If not, then how does one say "I really want ice?"

Am I overlooking something simple here?

Of course, we would actually say, "I really want some ice" which would be "Quiero mucho algún hielo." Like that it's obvious mucho is a adverb. - webdunce, Dec 20, 2009

So, is it that whenever mucho is used as an adverb there's always some word like algún lurking around??? - webdunce, Dec 20, 2009

Answer 1

Okay, maybe I'm asking the question stupidly. Or, perhaps it is a stupid question. What I am trying to figure out is...

When you see mucho in front of (or just after) a masculine noun, is there a way to tell if it is being used as an adjective modifying the noun or as an adverb modifying the verb.

Quiero mucho hielo.

Is that "I want a lot of ice" or "I really want ice?" Is there a way to tell?

Answer 2

This may not be very helpful but the simplest way to tell if "mucho" is an adjective or an adverb is to look at the word that it is modifying or describing -- exactly as you would in English grammar. If it is modifying a noun or pronoun then it is an adjective. If it is modifying a verb, adjective, or adverb then it is an adverb.

Example: Te quiero mucho. Mucho (alot) is not referring to you (te); it is referring to quiero (love) which is a verb. If it is modifying a verb then it is an adverb.

Example: Usted tiene muchos jugetes. Mucho (many) is not referring to you (usted) or tiene (have); it is describing the quantity of toys (jugetes) that you have. "Toys" is a noun; therefore, "mucho" is an adjective.

Answer 3

As a native Spanish speaker and Spanish instructor I would say that "mucho" is most of the time used as an adjetive. In the sentence: "Quiero mucho hielo"... "mucho" means "I want a lot of of ice"... One of the few situations I can think of when you would use "mucho" as an adverb is when you say something like "Quiero mucho a mis padres" (I love my parents very much). Oh, and I would never say "quero ir a Mexico mucho" :-(

Hope this helps

Answer 4

The problem here is not the editor. He explained his position and he is correct. What surprises me is that no one noticed that a couple of Spanish teachers are teaching to children that "mucho hambre is correct", forget about the editor he was just commenting on my question.

Here is the newapaper editor answer:

"Es correcto decir mucha hambre, porque el adverbio modifica el género, es el mismo caso de decir el azúcar moreno o la azúcar morena, con los adjetivos."

Answer 5

I am going to paste my answer here, Webdunce, good for you to open a thread;.)

HI WEbdunce, you could argue, that in a colloquial conversation this might be possible, or even preferable in certain areas.

However, we are talking about an editor, whose obligation and job is to correct mistakes! And this is a quite flagrant mistake!

This is what we know about mucho:

Palabras como todo, poco, mucho, bastante, nada, algo... pueden funcionar como determinantes, pronombres o adverbios.

Son determinantes si acompañan a nombres.

Son pronombres si se refieren o sustituyen a un nombre.

Son adverbios si modifican a verbos, adjetivos o adverbios.

so, if you ask me, this particular newspaper editor would do us all a favour in finding another job. wink If an editor cannot distinguish between an adverb and an adjective (the case here) , sad...very sad.

this was Gus's thread.

You are right, tengo mucha hambre, this is an adjective, of course, among other reasons, because adverbs do not change gender...this newspaper guy is an idiot, sorry.

El adverbio es invariable, porque no admite morfemas de número ni de género.

Luis lee mucho. Luisa lee mucho. Luis y Luisa leen mucho.