Nomás is a word you're gonna hear EVERYWHERE.

And I mean EVERYWHERE.

Because it's a VERY colloquial and VERY Mexican way of saying:

👉 just / only (colloquial version)


Huh?

Bear with me. It’ll make sense in a sec.

You see, using nada más instead of solo is a hallmark of Mexican Spanish!

And you can think of nomás as the shorter, more colloquial version of nada más.

Simple (even if it might seem weird at first!).


Oh, and you might also hear nomás being used to mean:

➡️ as soon as / right after

Let’s run through its main uses…

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1️⃣ So, nomás often works like just or only in English:

Nomás uno, por favor.
Just one, please.

Nomás tantito.
Just a tiny bit.

Nomás otro episodio y ya.
Just one more episode and that’s it.

And you’ll also hear it with conjugated verbs:

Nomás voy a calentar la comida.
I’m just going to heat up the food.

Nomás deja termino mi chamba.
Let me just finish my work.

Nomás se está vistiendo.
He’s just getting dressed.

And in a few classic set phrases:

¡Mira nomás!
Would you look at that!

No, pásate nomás.
No, just come in.

Nomás estoy echando un ojo.
I'm just taking a look.

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2️⃣ But it can also mean as soon as / right after:

Nomás llegue a la casa, lo reviso.
I’ll check it as soon as I get home.

Nomás acabe la junta, me lanzo para allá.
I’ll head over there as soon as the meeting ends.

Nomás me levanto, me pongo a hacer café.
Right after I get up, I start making coffee.

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Real examples from Voces de México:

First up, Félix the fruit seller / underground rapper uses it to say he went to high school only on Saturdays (at approx. 02:58):

Y me metí a, a estudiar el bachillerato nomás los, los sábados.
And I started going to high school just on Saturdays.

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Jesús also uses it in his border-crossing story, when he recalls being afraid the coyotes might hurt him just for a few bucks (at approx. 11:20):

No, me van a hacer daño, nomás por unos cuantos pesos, ¿verdad?
No, they're going to hurt me, just for a few bucks, right?

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And Adán the Mariachi uses no nomás to point out that other mariachis have had bad experiences with clients too (at approx. 08:31):

A todos, a todos, ¿eh? No nomás a mí.
It happens to everyone. Not just me.