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Which one is correct? Is it correct to use "muito" in the feminine? Does it follow the gender of the following substantive?

Qual das duas seria a forma correta? É correto usar "muito" na forma feminina? Segue a forma do substantivo seguinte?

Yuuza
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2 Answers2

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No, when muito is an adverb like in this case, you don’t make muito agree with the word it modifies, so muito pouca gente. Only when it’s an adjective does it agree with its noun — so for example, muitas amigas.

From Concordância Nominal (noun agreement) at www.portuguese.com.br:

4- Muito, pouco, caro, barato, longe, meio, sério, alto

São palavras que variam seu comportamento, funcionando ora como advérbios (sendo assim invariáveis), ora como adjetivos (variáveis).

That is,

These are words that vary their behavior, acting sometimes as adverbs (being therefore invariable), sometimes as adjectives (variable).

Não, quando muito é advérbio como neste caso, não é variado para combinar com a palavra que modifica, assim muito pouca gente. Só quando ele é adjetivo faz concordar com o seu substantivo; por exemplo, muitas amigas.

Community
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tchrist
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  • Adverb? But where is the verb? – bfavaretto Aug 01 '15 at 00:51
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    @bfavaretto Adverbs do not have to apply to only verbs alone. They can also apply to other modifiers, so to adjectives and other adverbs. That’s what’s happening here: in muito pouca gente, the word pouca is an adjective that matches number and gender of gente. But muito here means “very” not “much”, and so it is an adverb that applies to the adjective pouca. Since it is here an adverb, this time it is invariable. – tchrist Aug 01 '15 at 00:55
  • You're right, I seem to have forgotten about this fact a long time ago :( – bfavaretto Aug 01 '15 at 01:11
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In this particular case,"muito" is an adverb, and adverbs never vary in gender or number.

Centaurus
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  • Hey, didn’t I say that already? :) Welcome to Portuguese.SE! – tchrist Aug 04 '15 at 01:32
  • @tchrist Although the question was already answered, it's good to have another answer that reinforces it, so that it's sure that the answer to the question is really such. Also, remember that currently we need more answers per questions (not that we need to just repeat answers, but try to complement in some way, if possible). – Yuuza Aug 04 '15 at 02:37
  • @BrunoLopes Agreed. We would like a better answer-to-question ratio. – tchrist Aug 04 '15 at 02:41
  • @tchrist Yes, you did say that and much more. My bad. Then again, I simplified it in 16 words. :-) – Centaurus Aug 04 '15 at 16:16