poco
adjetivo
1 (en singular) little; not much
tenemos poco tiempo we have little time; we don't have much time; hay muy poco queso there's very little cheese; there's hardly any cheese; de poco interés of little interest; con poco respeto with little respect; with scant respect
el provecho es poco the gain is small; there isn't much to gain
poca cosa
no te preocupes por tan poca cosa don't worry about such a little thing; poca cosa se podría haber hecho there wasn't much we could have done; comemos, jugamos a cartas, leemos y poca cosa más we eat, play cards, read and do little else o and that's about it; es poca cosa (no mucho) it's not much; (no importante) it's nothing much
somos tan poca cosa we're so insignificant; es muy guapa pero poca cosa she's very pretty, but there isn't much to her
y por si fuera poco and as if that weren't enough; and to cap it all
2 (en plural) few; not many
pocos niños saben que ... few o not many children know that ...; tiene pocos amigos he has few friends; he hasn't got many friends; pocos días después a few days later; compré unos pocos libros I bought a few books
me quedan pocas probabilidades I don't have much chance; todas las medidas son pocas no measure will be enough
pronombre
1 (en singular) (poca cosa)
la reforma servirá para poco the reform won't do much good o won't be much use
una hora da para poco you can't get much done in an hour
con lo poco que me quedaba with what little I had left; ya sabes lo poco que me interesa you know how little it interests me
un poco a bit; a little
—¿tienes frío? —un poco "are you cold?" — "a bit o a little"; he bebido un poco, pero no estoy borracho I've had a bit to drink, but I'm not drunk; voy a dormir un poco I am going to have a little sleep; le conocía un poco I knew him a bit o slightly; necesito descansar un poco I need to rest for a while
espera un poco wait a minute o moment; estoy un poco triste I am rather o a little sad; es un poco lo que yo comentaba that's more or less what I was saying
un poco como
es un poco como su padre he's rather o a bit like his father; lo hice un poco como protesta I did it partly as a protest
un poco de
(referido a tiempo) not long un poco de dinero a little money; dame un poco de vino can I have some wine?; ¡un poco de silencio! let's have some quiet here!
tardaron poco en hacerlo it didn't take them long to do it; they didn't take long to do it
lleva poco trabajando aquí he hasn't been working here long
a poco de shortly after
a poco de haberlo firmado shortly after signing it
cada poco every so often
dentro de poco shortly; soon
poco después shortly after
hace poco not long ago
fuimos a verla hace poco we visited her not long ago; we visited her quite recently
tu hermana ha llamado hace poco your sister called a short while ago
la conozco desde hace poco I haven't known her long; I've only known her for a short while
hasta hace poco until recently
adverbio
1 (con verbos) not much; little
cuesta poco it doesn't cost much; it costs very little; habla poco he doesn't say much
ahora trabaja poco he doesn't work much now; vamos poco a Madrid we don't go to Madrid much; we hardly ever go to Madrid
lo estiman poco they hardly value it at all; they value it very little
2 (con adjetivos: se traduce a menudo por medio de un prefijo)
poco dispuesto a ayudar disinclined to help; poco amable unkind; poco probable unlikely; poco inteligente unintelligent; not very intelligent; sus libros son poco conocidos aquí his books are not very well known here
3 (otras locuciones)
poco a poco little by little; ¡poco a poco! steady on!; easy does it!; a poco (México) ¿a poco? never!; you don't say!
¡a poco no! not much! (familiar); ¿a poco no? (well) isn't it?; ¿a poco crees que ...? do you really imagine that ...?
de a poco (Latinoamérica) gradually
tener en poco
tiene en poco a su jefe she doesn't think much of her boss; tiene la vida en poco he doesn't value his life
poco más o menos more or less
por poco almost; nearly
por poco me ahogo I almost o nearly drowned
a poco que
a poco que pueda if at all possible; a poco que corras, lo alcanzas if you run now you'll catch it
