Nomás: just, go ahead, right

Explanation

Nomás (often heard as nomá') softens or delimits: pase nomás ('go right ahead'), aquí nomás ('right here'), así nomás ('just like that / so-so'), tranquilo nomás. The exact shade — permission, minimization, reassurance — depends on tone.

Common across the Andes, it pairs with imperatives to make them friendly (siéntese nomás) and with place/time words to mean 'just' (ahorita nomás vengo). It's one of the most useful particles for sounding natural in Bolivia.

Position and stacking matter: nomás sits right after what it limits and chains happily with the other Andean particles (pasa nomás pues, aquicito nomás). As a standalone answer, así nomás means 'so-so / nothing special' — a very common reply to ¿cómo estás? — and tone is everything, since a flat nomás can also sound dismissive.

Examples

Related rules

• Pues (pue', ps): the all-purpose tag
• Politeness in Bolivia: usted, titles, indirectness