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"a bit, a little" in seven languages

Meaninga bit, a little

Spanish

un poco

/un ˈpoko/

inherited

French

un peu

/ɛ̃ pø/

inherited

Italian

un po'

/un pɔ/

inherited

Short for un poco, which is also used.

Portuguese

um pouco

/ũ ˈpoku/

inherited

Romanian

puțin

/puˈtsin/

other source · of uncertain origin (perhaps a Latin *PUTTĪNUS)

Catalan

una mica

/ˈunə ˈmikə/

other source · Latin MĪCA 'crumb'

Un poc (PAUCUM) exists, but una mica 'a crumb' is the everyday choice in Barcelona.

English

a bit

/ə bɪt/

native English · Old English bita 'a bite'

'Few' is the textbook Indo-European cousin of PAUCUM.

English → Italiana bit, a littleun po'Not relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: paucity.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

PAUCUM‘little, few’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

AU shrank to o in poco; French wore it further to peu, and spoken Italian clips poco to po'. All three take 'of' before a noun: un poco de, un peu de, un po' di.

English relatives: paucity

Sound laws at work

AU becomes o

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esHablo un poco de italiano.
  • frJe parle un peu italien.
  • itParlo un po' di italiano.
  • ptFalo um pouco de italiano.
  • roVorbesc puțină italiană.
  • caParlo una mica d'italià.
  • enI speak a bit of Italian.

More in Little words

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