muita

Muita is the feminine singular form of the Portuguese quantitative determiner muito, used before feminine nouns to indicate a large amount, degree, or extent. It agrees in gender and number with the noun it accompanies, as in muita água, muita gente, muita paciência. The corresponding forms for other genders and numbers are pouco? No: masculine singular is muito, masculine plural is muitos, and feminine plural is muitas. Muita cannot be used as an adverb; when expressing degree with verbs or adjectives, the adverb muito is used instead (por exemplo: eu gosto muito de música).

In practice, muita is common in everyday Brazilian and European Portuguese and appears in a wide range of contexts, from physical quantities to abstract notions. It can modify a wide range of feminine nouns, such as muita coisa (a lot of things), muita pressa (a lot of hurry), or muita satisfação (a lot of satisfaction). It also participates in negated or restrictive constructions, as in não tenho muita fome (I’m not very hungry) or não há muita coisa a fazer (there isn’t much to do).

Etymologically, muita comes from the same root as muito, descended from Latin multus, meaning “much” or “many.” The form reflects standard gender and number agreement rules in Portuguese grammar. While closely related to other quantifiers like tanta/tanto, muita specifically targets feminine nouns, with as-yet straightforward parallels: muito with masculine nouns and muitas/muitos with feminine/plural nouns.