little
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pequeño
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poco
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Looking for the phrase a little instead?
little(
lih
-
duhl
)
An adjective is a word that describes a noun (e.g. the big dog).
adjective
1. (size)
a. pequeño
There's a little box outside.Hay una caja pequeña afuera.
b. chico
That car is too little for me.Ese coche es muy chico para mí.
c. chiquito
My niece's shoes are so little!¡Los zapatos de mi sobrina son tan chiquitos!
2. (younger)
a. menor
His little brother is a dentist.Su hermano menor es dentista.
b. pequeño
My little sister is two years younger than me.Mi hermana pequeña es dos años menor que yo.
3. (young)
a. pequeño
When I was little, I traveled a lot.Cuando era pequeño, viajaba mucho.
b. chico
Her kids are too little to go to the movies.Sus hijos son muy chicos como para ir al cine.
4. (not much)
a. poco
There was little milk left, so I bought more.Quedaba poca leche, así que compré más.
5. (trivial)
a. insignificante
Don't get so upset over such a little matter.No te alteres tanto por un asunto tan insignificante.
An adverb is a word that describes a verb, an adjective, or other adverbs (e.g. to run quickly, very tired).
adverb
6. (not much)
a. poco
The students who studied little were relieved that the test was so easy.Los alumnos que estudiaron poco estaban aliviados que el examen estuvo tan fácil.
7. (somewhat)
a. algo
I'm a little angry at you.Estoy algo enojado contigo.
b. un poco
It's a little cloudy.Está un poco nublado.
8. (not often)
a. poco
I go to that store very little.Voy a esa tienda muy poco.
A pronoun is a word that stands in for a noun (e.g. she).
pronoun
9. (small amount)
a. poco
We have little to celebrate at the moment.Hay poco que celebrar en estos momentos.
Copyright © Curiosity Media Inc.
little
A noun is a word referring to a person, animal, place, thing, feeling or idea (e.g. man, dog, house).
Noun
1. (general)
a. el poco
(m) means that a noun is masculine. Spanish nouns have a gender, which is either feminine (like la mujer or la luna) or masculine (like el hombre or el sol).
(M)
a little (bit)un poco
to eat little or nothingapenas comer
he knows very littleno sabe casi nada
a little moreun poco más
a little hot/slowun poco caliente/lento(a)
little by littlepoco a poco
every little helpstodo cuenta aunque sea poco
An adjective is a word that describes a noun (e.g. the big dog).
adjective
2. (small)
a. pequeño(a)
a little girluna niña pequeña
a little houseuna casita
wait a little while!¡espera un poco!
little finger(dedo m) meñique m
little toemeñique del pie
3. (not much)
a. poco(a)
a little money/luckun poco de dinero/suerte
there is little hope/doubt…quedan pocas esperanzas/dudas…
it makes little senseno tiene mucho sentido
An adverb is a word that describes a verb, an adjective, or other adverbs (e.g. to run quickly, very tired).
adverb
4. (general)
a. poco
little knownpoco conocido
little more than an hour agohace poco más de una hora
that's little short of briberyeso es poco menos que un soborno
little did I think that…poco me podía imaginar que…
Copyright © 2006 Harrap Publishers Limited
little [ˈlɪtl]
adjective
1 (small) pequeño; chico; (LAm)
a little house una casa pequeña or chica; (LAm) a little book un libro pequeño or chico; (LAm) she had a little girl yesterday ayer tuvo una niñita; when I was little cuando era pequeña; de pequeña; the little ones (children) los pequeños
The lights were on upstairs, so I suppose she was putting the little ones into bed
2 (short) corto
a little walk un paseo corto; we went for a little holiday nos fuimos para unas vacaciones cortitas
3 (diminutive) (in cpds) -ito
a little book/boat/piece etc un librito/barquito/trocito etc; a little house una casita; a little girl una niñita; una chiquita
just a little gift
a little fish un pececillo; un pececito; a little sip un sorbito; the little woman (wife) la costilla (informal); la parienta (informal); (Esp)
I'm taking the little woman shopping in Bond Street
it's the little man who suffers (small trader) el pequeño comerciante es el que sale perdiendo
he's quite a the little gentleman!
it's just a little something no es más que una cosita de poco valor
4 (younger)
her little brother su hermano menor; su hermanito
modifier
little end (n) (Britain) (Aut) pie (m) de biela
Little Englander (n) (Britain) (Hist) en el siglo XIX, persona con ideas opuestas a la ampliación del imperio británico; (chauvinist) patrioteroapatriotera (m) (f);a patriotera
Taylor was yesterday branded a Little Englander as football bosses lashed out at him over his call for a ban on importing players from abroad
(anti-European) anti-europeoísta (m)
Mrs Thatcher remains a Little Englander, clinging to illusions of national sovereignty in an age of interdependence and integration
little finger (n) dedo (m) meñique; meñique (m)
the little folk (n) (fairies) los duendecillos
little green men the little hand a literary magazine that features experimental or other writing of interest to a limited number of readers
the little people (n) (fairies) los duendecillos
little toe (n) dedo (m) pequeño del pie
little [ˈlɪtl] less (comparative)least (superlative)
pronoun
1 (not much) poco
he knows little sabe poco; to see/do little ver/hacer poco; there was little we could do apenas había nada que hacer; he had little to say poco fue lo que tenía que decir; that has little to do with it! ¡eso tiene poco que ver!
as little as £5 5 libras, nada más
there's very little left queda muy poco
to make little of sth (play down) quitarle importancia a algo
Government spokesmen have made little of the latest setback
(fail to exploit) desaprovechar algo
He made little of his opportunities
they made little of loading the huge boxes (accomplish easily) cargaron las enormes cajas como si nada
little of what he says is true poco de lo que dice es verdad
little or nothing poco o nada
to spend little or nothing gastar poco o nada
he lost weight because he ate so little adelgazó porque comía muy poco
I know too little about him to have an opinion no lo conozco lo suficiente para poder opinar
too little too late muy poco y muy tarde
The move was dismissed in the financial markets as too little, too late Greenpeace has criticised the operation to disperse the original thousand tons of oil as too little, too late
2 (some)
give me a little dame un poco; I had a little of everything comí un poco de todo
I know a little about stamp collecting
little by little poco a poco
however little you give, we'll be grateful agradeceremos su donativo, por pequeño que sea
a little less/more milk un poco menos/más de leche
a little more slowly un poco más despacio
the little I have seen is excellent lo poco que he visto me ha parecido excelente
I did what little I could hice lo poco que pude
every
3 (short time)
they'll have to wait a little tendrán que esperar un poco
after a little There was absolute silence between them. After a little he said, "I think I'd better be going."
for a little un rato; durante un rato
adjective
1 (not much) poco
there is little hope of finding them alive hay pocas esperanzas de encontrarlos con vida; with little difficulty sin problema or dificultad
so much to do, so little time tanto que hacer y en tan poco tiempo
I have so little time for reading tengo muy poco tiempo para leer
he gave me too little money me dio poquísimo dinero
I have very little money tengo muy poco dinero
2 (some)
a little wine un poco de vino; I speak a little Spanish hablo un poco de español
a little bit (of) un poquito (de)
There was only a little bit of cake left we're having a little (bit of) trouble
with no little trouble con bastante dificultad; con no poca dificultad
3 (short)
for a little time or while un ratito
Do you mind if I look around for a little while? after a little time while
adverb
1 (not much) poco
he reads little lee poco; they spoke very little on the way home hablaron muy poco de camino para casa
try to move as little as possible intenta moverte lo menos posible
(as) little as I like him, I must admit that ... aunque me gusta muy poco, debo admitir que ...
a little known fact un hecho poco conocido
little more than poco más que
little more than a month ago hace poco más de un mes
it's little better now he's rewritten it
a little read book un libro poco leído; un libro que se lee poco
it's little short of a miracle es casi un milagro
If he was not quite at his best in the final, it had to be accepted that it was little short of a miracle he was playing at all The casting is little short of miraculous
2 (somewhat) algo
we were a little surprised/happier nos quedamos algo sorprendidos/más contentos
a little better un poco mejor; algo mejor
he spoke a little harshly she reacted a little unreasonably a little too big
a little less/more than ... un poco menos/más que ...
we were not a little worried nos inquietamos bastante; quedamos muy inquietos
3 (not at all)
little does he know that ... he little knows that ... no tiene la menor idea de que ...
4 (rarely) poco
I watch television very little nowadays ahora veo la televisión muy poco; it occurs very little in small companies raramente ocurre or es raro que ocurra en empresas pequeñas
I see him little these days
Collins Complete Spanish Electronic Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
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