Q&AAdverbs (-mente)

Adverbs (-mente)

Overview

Adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. An adverb can give information about time, place, manner, or number. They answer the questions: How? How long? How much? When? and Where? Unlike adjectives, however, they do not change according to gender or number, making them invariable.

Simple Adverbs

Most adverbs can be formed from adjectives using the following formula:

feminine singular adjective + -mente (the Spanish equivalent of the English -ly) Adverb "Formula"

dulce + -mente = dulcemente (sweetly)
Me besó dulcemente. (He kissed me sweetly.)
fácil + -mente = fácilmente (easily)
Hice fácilmente el examen. (I easily finished the exam.)
rápida + -mente = rápidamente (quickly)
Corrí rápidamente para escapar los perros. (I ran quickly to escape the dogs.)
romántico + -mente = románticamente (romantically)
Escribe románticamente para ganar su corazón. (He writes romantically to win her heart.)

Adverb Placement

Notice that the adverb usually follows the verb it modifies.

Other Adverbs

There are also lots of adverbs that are not formed by adding -mente to an adjective. This list of words is very helpful for modifying time, place, manner, and number.

Independent Adverbs


Place		Time		Number		Manner
abajo	down, downstairs	ahora	now	bastante	enough	así	so, like this/that/what, thus
acá	over here	anteanoche	the night before last	demasiado	too much	bien	well
afuera	out, outside	anteayer	the day before yesterday	más	more	despacio	slowly
ahí	there	anoche	last night	menos	less	mal	badly
allá	over there	aún	still, yet	mucho	much, a lot	mejor	better
aquí	here	ayer	yesterday	muy	very	peor	worse
arriba	up, upstairs	después	later	poco	litte	alto	high, loudly
cerca	near	hoy	today	suficiente	enough	bajo	low, softly
debajo	under	luego	then, later			rápido	quickly
delante	in front	mañana	tomorrow			lento	slowly
detrás	behind	nunca	never			suavemente	smoothly
fuera	out	siempre	always
lejos	far	tarde	late
		temprano	early
		todavía ya	still already, right now

Examples

Place

El templo está allá. (The temple is over there.)
Alrededor de mi casa hay muchas flores. (Around my house there are lots of flowers.)

Time

Llegaste tarde a clase. (You arrived late to class.)
Todavía no ha comido sus guisantes. (He still hasn´t eaten his peas.)

Number

Comí demasiado anoche. (I ate too much last night.)
Yo estoy muy cansada. (I am very tired.)

Adverb Placement

Adverbs usually come first when they modify an adjective or another adverb.

Manner

Lo siento, pero así soy yo. (I´m sorry, that´s the way I am.)
Estoy bien, gracias. (I´m well, thank you.)

Adverbial Expressions

These phrases function as adverbs in a sentence. Since prepositions also describe the location or timing of something or someone, it is very common for adverbial expressions to consist of a preposition followed by either an adjective or a noun. Below you will find some of the most common adverbial expressions divided by use in manner, time or place.

Adverbial Expressions


Manner		Time		Place
a ciegas	blindly	a veces	sometimes	a la derecha	to the right
a cuestas	at the expense of	al fin	at last	a la izquierda	to the left
a diestra y siniestra	disorderly	al anochecer	at dusk/at sunset	de arriba a bajo	from top to bottom
a escondidas	secretly	de ahora en adelante	from now on	de dónde	from...where?
a oscuras	in the dark	de antemano	beforehand	dentro de	within, inside
a la moda	stylish, fashionable	de día	during daytime	en alguna parte	somewhere
al revés	the opposite	de la noche a la mañana	overnight	en casa	at home
con alegría	happily	de la tarde	afternoon	en cualquier parte	anywhere
con facilidad	easily	de mañana	since morning	en el extranjero	abroad
con frecuencia	frequently	de noche	at night	en ninguna parte	nowhere
con rapidez	quickly	de vez en cuando	every once in a while	en otra parte	elsewhere
con tristeza	sadly	pasado mañana	the day after tomorrow	en todas partes	everywhere
de buena gana	of good will	por ahora	for now	por aquí	this way
de golpe	suddenly	por último	at last	en ninguna parte	nowhere
de memoria	by heart
de mala gana	unwillingly
de prisa	quickly
de pronto	suddenly
de repente	suddenly
en resume	in conclusion
en vano	in vain
por desgracia	unfortunately
por suerte	luckily
sobre todo	above all
sin duda	without doubt
sin razón	without reason