# poco or po'



## duckie

When is po used instead of poco?


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## pizzi

*po'* is the shorter form for *poco *= po'(co)


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## duckie

I was just wondering when one uses po and when one uses poco, because it seems to depend on the words it's referring to..


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## ElaineG

untold said:


> That's it right there  . I just wanted to add a suggestion from my prof. and that's to just say poco when speaking, just to make it clear what you mean.


 
Hey Untold,

Welcome to WRF.  Please remember to try to write using the most correct English you possibly can when posting here.  Our Italian friends depend on us to learn how to write English, including punctuation and where we put capital letters.

Thanks so much, and glad to have you here,

Elaine 
Moderator


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## claudine2006

È poco simpatico. (you can't say È po' simpatico)
È un poco noioso = È un po' noioso


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## duckie

Ok, so un poco or un po' 

Does it sound formal to say un poco?


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## MünchnerFax

The two forms are not interchangeable.

You may say only the long form, _poco_, when you mean a small amount of something (English _little_ or _few_):

_C'è poca benzina nel serbatoio.
C'erano pochi spettatori al concerto.

_The short form _un po'_ is only to be used as to indicate an uncertain quantity (English _a bit of_):

_Metto un po' di sale nell'acqua per la pasta.
Ho avuto un po' da fare questa settimana._

Compare:_
Ho avuto poco da fare_ = I had little to do
_Ho avuto un po' da fare = _I had quite a lot to do

Hope it helps...
Ciao


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## claudine2006

duckie said:


> Ok, so un poco or un po'
> 
> Does it sound formal to say un poco?


No, it doesn't. But "un po'" is a little more informal.


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## duckie

MünchnerFax,

Why does ho avuto un po' da fare = I had quite a *lot* to do?

claudine, ok - I'll probably stick to poco for now then until I've figured out everything a little better


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## Alxmrphi

I think it's missing the English "quite"

I had a bit to do
I had quite a bit to do

They both mean, to an Italian "a bit" and "a lot" respectively, I think this is the case.


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## duckie

Ah.. that's very tricky.


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## Alxmrphi

Providing I am right, of course, please wait for a confirmation!


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## MünchnerFax

Maybe _a lot_ was too exaggerated and might have confused you; I'm sorry if it's so. _Un po'_ works like the English _a bit_, but actually indicates an uncertain amount of something. This uncertain amount is anyway more than the small amount indicated by _poco_ alone... I realise this is just a terrible explanation, I think you can get the meaning by having some examples and just practising.

From my example:
_
Ho avuto poco da fare_... so I had plenty of spare time to do something else.
_Ho avuto un po' da fare_... so I didn't have time to phone you.

Other examples:

_C'è poca benzina nel serbatoio..._ we'll have to refuel as soon as possible.
_C'è un po' di benzina nel serbatoio..._ we can reach Milan without stopping.

_Ti è piaciuta la festa? - Poco_... it was boring.
_Ti è piaciuta la festa? - Un po'_... there might be better parties, but we had some fun anyway.

Hope I've made it a bit clearer (..._un po' più chiaro!_) rather than confusing you more!
Ok, another go with this one:
_Ora è poco più chiaro_ - Very little has changed from before
_Ora è un po' più chiaro_ - I didn't get it completely, but I understood enough to use the two forms correctly.


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## duckie

That helps a lot, thanks!

I understood the sentences except maybe for the last two examples, is this right?

1) Now it's a little bit clearer
2) It's a bit clearer now (it's very subtle, but that does indicate that things are somewhat clearer and have therefore improved).


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## claudine2006

MünchnerFax said:


> _Ora è poco più chiaro_ - Very little has changed from before
> _Ora è un po' più chiaro_ - I didn't get it completely, but I understood enough to use the two forms correctly.


I don't get the first one.
I've heard "Ora è molto più chiaro" or "Ora è un poco/un po' più chiaro" but never "Ora è poco più chiaro".


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## SleepingLeopard

Ciao a tutti,

Here's a silly little question:

I'm simply wondering if _po' _is an acceptable word to write in a very formal letter, or if I should write out the word _poco._

Grazie


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## Stiklas

Try thinking of "poco" as the English "not much"- 


> _Ho avuto poco da fare... _I had not much to do-_  so I had plenty of spare time to do something else.
> _ _Ho avuto un po' da fare... _I had a bit to do- _so I didn't have time to phone you.
> 
> _ _C'è poca benzina nel serbatoio... _there's not much gas in the tank- _we'll have to refuel as soon as possible.
> _ _C'è un po' di benzina nel serbatoio..._there's a bit of gas in the tank- _we can reach Milan without stopping.
> 
> _ _Ti è piaciuta la festa? - Poco..._not much- _it was boring.
> _ _Ti è piaciuta la festa? - Un po'..._a bit- _there might be better parties, but we had some fun anyway._


That would make this last one:


> _Ora è poco più chiaro - _now it's not much clearer- _Very little has changed from before
> _ _Ora è un po' più chiaro -_now it's a bit more clearer- _I didn't get it completely, but I understood enough to use the two forms correctly._


Hope that helps...


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## gatto

SleepingLeopard said:


> Ciao a tutti,
> 
> Here's a silly little question:
> 
> I'm simply wondering if _po' _is an acceptable word to write in a very formal letter, or if I should write out the word _poco._
> 
> Grazie


I'm afraid the answer to this question is _it depends_...
You have some contest, or is it just a general question?


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## Necsus

SleepingLeopard said:


> I'm simply wondering if _po' _is an acceptable word to write in a very formal letter, or if I should write out the word _poco. _


As gatto said (yes, again ), it depends. Anyway they are not exactly he same: _po'_ is always preceded by article and it is used to soften or intensify the meaning.


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## SleepingLeopard

gatto said:


> I'm afraid the answer to this question is _it depends_...
> You have some contest, or is it just a general question?


 
Hi,

It's for a letter I'm writing, but have not completed yet. The sentence is going to be something similar to: "We need a little more time to consider your request". This is a very formal letter, written from one company to another.

For "a little" in a sentence like this, does "un po'" sound too informal? It sounds strange to me to say "un poco" in Italian (it makes me feel like I'm mixing up my Italian and Spanish ).

Thank you very much.


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## gatto

To me, it seems appropriate to use 'un pò' in this case.
'Abbiamo bisogno di un altro pò di tempo/di un pò più di tempo...'


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## Necsus

SleepingLeopard said:


> "We need a little more time to consider your request". This is a very formal letter, written from one company to another.
> 
> For "a little" in a sentence like this, does "un po'" sound too informal? It sounds strange to me to say "un poco"  in Italian


I'd simply say "abbiamo bisogno di più tempo (/di qualche giorno/ settimana in più) per valutare la vostra richiesta".


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## SleepingLeopard

Perfetto!  Grazie mille, Gatto e Necsus.


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## Necsus

Figurati...!


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## gatto

SleepingLeopard said:


> Hi,
> 
> It sounds strange to me to say "un poco" in Italian (it makes me feel like I'm mixing up my Italian and Spanish ).
> 
> Thank you very much.


I agree with Necsus on the translation for your letter, but not about his remark about "un poco".
I know you probably meant it referred to this particular case, but it should be remarked that IN GENERAL, you can find it used in a number of expressions like: 
un 'poco di buono'
un poco alla volta (also _un pò alla volta_)


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## Necsus

gatto said:


> I agree with Necsus on the translation for your letter, but not about his remark about "un poco".
> I know you probably meant it referred to this particular case  eheheh...


 because 





> For "a little" *in a sentence like this* [...] It sounds strange to me to say "un poco"


 but obviously I didn't make myself enough clear, my fault.


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## SleepingLeopard

Grazie a tutti e due per le spiegazioni agguinte di "un poco". Ho detto sempre "un po'", e non sapevo se "un poco" sia usato. Molto interessante!

Ciao


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## gatto

E' stato un piacere, specie fare la ramanzina a Necsus


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## Necsus

SleepingLeopard said:


> Grazie a tutti e due per le spiegazioni aggiuntive su "un poco". Ho detto sempre "un po'", e non sapevo se "un poco" fosse usato. Molto interessante!
> Ciao


 Prego, SleepingLeopard!



gatto said:


> E' stato un piacere, specie fare la ramanzina a Necsus


 Precisazioni e puntualizzazioni sono sempre utili (e benaccette) quando non pedanti o autocelebrative.


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## gabrigabri

Hi!

In a formal letter I wouldn't use "un po'" (or un poco), just something more formal (as above suggested). You should use other words to explain it:

f.e. abbiamo bisogno di più tempo
abbiamo bisogno di maggior tempo


Po' vs. Poco
In my opinion, you can't interchange them:

Ho un po' di fame is for me 99% better than "ho un poco di fame".
È un po' stanco = è un poco stanco (that sounds from Naples only to me?)


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