Trouble From VOA. Waiting for your answer

Today I heard the following sentence from VOA:

"The research involved poor to middle-income countries in Africa"

I don't understand this word" poor". Poor is an adjective. Here how it is used and what dose it mean?  Or how to understand "inmolved poor to "?

Thanks a lot. waiting for your answer.

As I understand it, here it means "The research involved poor countries and middle-income countries in Africa". It says "poor to middle-income" to emphasize gradation of income in these countries.

As for "inmolved"... Are you sure it's spelled right?

You are right, poor is an adjective. In this context it means having little or no money or income.

An antonym would be "rich" or "wealthy"

 The sentence is saying that the reasearch involved countries in Africa with a range of income levels. The income levels ranged from poor to middle-income. 

The preposition "to" is used to show the range. For example, I could say that I teach my first class from 7:30 to 8:15.

Hello, Lady and Mr.Qkisseberth, thanks so much for your answers to my question. Now I know the use of the word "poor" in that VOA sentence.

If it were not for both of you, I may get confused forever.

Good luck to you two!

Thanks so much.

hello guys

poor is adjective and it means having less money  or no money

the sentence may be ambigious  coz  two adjectives are used  so this creates sometimes problems 

it means  the research involve  1- poor  2- middle income    (countries)

iam sure you know that  poor and  middle income not the same meaning  and level .

c u soon

Now that the word "poor" has been explained in the earlier postings, it might also be helpful to know that some people object to the word "poor" being used in this context, saying that it's patronizing. They prefer to use adjectives such as "low-income" (especially by the socialist folks).

thanks so much for Mr.tif and Mr.abu's replies to my question.

I just don't know how to thank you for your great help. on my way to study english and spanish, I have some trouble.  but your great help can make me study in a higher speed.

thank all of you, so much. especially Mr.tif.

i also konw the means of poor in thin sentence.