muy
/ˈmui/
Translation
very
Examples
examen .
The exam was very difficult this time.
agradecido .
I am very grateful for your help.
.
He speaks very fast and I do not understand him well.
Muy intensifies adjectives and adverbs, meaning "very." It must not be confused with mucho, which modifies nouns and verbs. Muy never modifies a noun or verb directly - you cannot say "muy cansancio" (very tiredness) or "trabaja muy" (works very).
A subtle pitfall: muy cannot precede mucho/a/os/as. You say "muchísimo" (using the superlative suffix) rather than "muy mucho." Similarly, you cannot say "muy bien" and then intensify further with "muy muy bien" in formal writing, though in casual speech doubling is colloquially acceptable.
Related words
Add to review queue
Track this word in your spaced-repetition queue and be tested on it at the right interval.
Go to my review queueThis word is part of lesson 1.