How do you say “enough” in Spanish? Suficiente (enough/sufficient), bastante (quite a bit/more than enough), and ¡Basta! (that’s enough!) can all mean “enough.” However, each of these Spanish words have nuanced meanings that you’ll need to know to use them correctly.
Learn how each of these words’ meanings shift through contextual examples and how to communicate clearly when you’ve had enough—whether it’s food or noise!
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Suficiente (adjective)
Imagine you’re making plans for a fiesta (party) or evento (event). You’ll want to make sure you have the right amounts of food, drinks, and supplies for everyone attending. You might say:
- No hay suficiente café para todos. = There isn’t enough coffee for everyone.
- Hay suficientes bolígrafos para todos. = There are enough pens for everyone.
- ¿Sabes si tenemos suficiente torta para todos los invitados? = Do you know if we have enough cake for all the guests?
- No hay suficientes sillas para todos. = There aren’t enough chairs for everyone.
If the word suficiente is used to modify or describe a noun, it’s a Spanish adjective. It follows the expected pattern by agreeing with the noun in number. This means you’ll add an “s” if the noun is plural. You won’t need to worry about different forms for grammatical gender, since adjectives that end in “e” keep the same spelling for both masculine and feminine.
Bastante (adjective)
Bastante is another way to say “enough” in Spanish. You would use it in the same way as the adjective suficiente. Once you realised you didn’t have enough supplies for your event, you made sure to rectify the situation and now there’s enough of everything to go around:
- Ahora hay bastante café para todos. = Now there’s enough coffee for everyone.
- Sí, tenemos bastante torta para todos los invitados. = Yes, we have enough cake for the guests.
- Encontramos bastantes sillas para todos. = We found enough chairs for everyone.
In these contexts, the meaning of bastante is clearly “enough,” but this versatile and sometimes vague word can also convey other meanings. It can be translated as:
- quite a lot of/a fair amount of
- Cuesta bastante dinero. = It costs quite a lot of money.
- quite/rather/prettyfairly/sort of
- Soy bastante atlético, pero no me gusta correr. = I’m fairly athletic, but I don’t like to run.
- Toco el piano bastante bien. = I play the piano pretty well.
- quite a lot
- Me gustó bastante el libro. = I liked the book quite a lot.
As the word bastante can be translated in a number of ways, you’ll have to take the tone and context into consideration to determine its meaning. Sometimes bastante will be used to convey that something is slightly more or better than merely “enough” or “sufficient.”
Suficiente (pronoun)
If somebody asks you if you have enough of something in Spanish, you don’t need to repeat the noun when you respond. The meaning of suficiente while acting as a Spanish pronoun is also “enough.” Remember to use either the singular or formal form to match the noun.
- ¿Sabes si tienes suficiente dinero? = Do you know if you have enough money?
- Sí, tengo suficiente.= Yes, I have enough.
- ¿Hay suficientes tazas para todos? = Are there enough cups for everyone?
- Sí, hay suficientes. = Yes, there are enough.
You could negate your phrase to say there is “not enough” in Spanish, or you could use the adjective insuficiente (insufficient/not enough).
‘Enough’ in Spanish as an adverb
According to Spanish parts of speech, los adverbios (adverbs) are words that modify or describe a verb or another adjective. You’ll see this in a few different ways in Spanish, including lo suficiente, suficiente, lo suficientemente, which may all translate to “sufficiently” or “enough.”
- La planta podría haber crecido bien, pero no la regaste lo suficiente. = The plant could have grown well, but you didn’t water it enough.
- Estoy nervioso porque mañana tengo un examen y no estudié lo suficiente. = I’m nervous because tomorrow I have a test and I didn’t study enough.
- Hiciste lo suficiente como para aprobar el examen… = You did enough to pass the test.
- Soy casi lo suficientemente alto como para andar en bicicleta.= I’m almost tall enough to ride a bike.
- Cuando seas lo suficientemente mayor, lo entenderás. = When you’re old enough, you’ll understand.
- No eres lo suficientemente grande para hacer esto.= You’re not big enough to do this.
How do you say you’ve eaten enough in Spanish?
You’ve enjoyed a delicious dinner and your host offers you more. How do you let them know that you’ve had enough in Spanish? Perhaps, you haven’t quite had enough and you’d like some more. Here’s what to say:
- ¿Usted ha comido suficiente? ¿Deseo un poco más? = Have you eaten enough? Do you want a little more?
- Estoy satisfecho/a, gracias. = I’ve had enough/I’m satisfied, thank you.
- He comido suficiente, gracias. = I’ve eaten enough, thank you.
In a casual conversation, you might hear expressions like these.
- ¿Has comido suficiente torta? = Have you eaten enough cake?
- No, quiero un poco más de torta. = No, I want a little more cake.
- Comí suficiente. Estoy bien. = I ate enough. I’m ok.
- No comí suficiente. Tengo hambre. = I didn’t eat enough. I’m hungry.
You’ll notice in the examples that depending on the formality of the relationship you have with your hosts, you may need to use more formal phrases of address like usted vs. tú.
¡Basta! and other ways to express irritation
When people or situations get exasperating, how do you say “enough!” or “That’s enough!” in Spanish? You have a few options. If you’re truly annoyed, add the uniquely Spanish word ya, which defies translation but adds a bit more strength to your Spanish interjection. Any of the following phrases will communicate that you’ve had enough.
- ¡Basta!
- ¡Suficiente!
- ¡Ya basta!
- ¡Ya está bien!
- ¡Ya es suficiente!
- ¡Ya vale!
Expressions with ‘enough’ in Spanish
Idiomatic expressions and set phrases are a big part of learning Spanish. Adding these expressions to your Spanish repertoire will make you sound bastante inteligente (quite intelligent).
| Spanish | English |
| Basta de hablar de… | Enough about… |
| bastante bien | well enough |
| como era de esperar | sure enough (as predicted) |
| con bastante frecuencia | often enough |
| con tiempo/con antelación | early enough |
| curiosamente | funny enough |
| de sobra | more than enough (more quantity than needed) |
| Entiendo/Entendí perfectamente. | Enough said. (I’ve understood what you’re implying) |
| estar harto/a de | to have had enough of (to be exasperated) |
| lo justo de (algo) | just enough of (something) |
| más que suficiente | more than enough |
| pronto/muy pronto | soon enough (before you know it) |
| Queda claro. | Enough said. (It’s clear to me) |
Say ‘enough’ in Spanish without doubting yourself
Memorizing vocabulary isn’t suficiente in most cases when you’re trying to learn Spanish. To gain confidence, you’ll want to hear those words in authentic contexts and see how native speakers use the expressions. Having conversations with Spanish-speakers is a great way to gain confidence.
Rosetta Stone can help you hablar con bastante fluidez (speak rather fluently) with tools like the TruAccent speech recognition engine so you know you’re pronouncing it correctly.
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