Adverbs in Spanish

1. Adverbs in Spanish

2. Formation of Adverbs • Adverbs are words that describe, or modify, verbs, adjectives or other adverbs. • He ran quickly."quickly" describes how he ran • She spoke more slowly than he."slowly" describes how she spoke"more" modifies slowly

3. The use of -mente. Most Spanish adverbs are formed by adding -mente to the feminine singular form of the adjective. This ending corresponds to -ly in English. AdjectiveFeminine FormAdverb claroclaraclara mente constanteconstanteconstante mente difícildifícildifícil mente Note: When an adjective has a written accent, the adverb retains it.

4. El uso de “con” • Another way to form an adverb is to use the preposition con + the singular form of the noun. cuidadoso - cuidadosamenteor con cuidadoperfecto - perfectamenteor con perfeccióncariñoso - cariñosamenteor con cariño (carefully) (with care) (perfectly) (with perfection) (affectionately) (with affection)

5. Atención: Some adverbs do not follow any pattern of origination, and must simply be memorized. Here is a list of some common ones: peorworsepocolittlesiemprealways bastantequitedemasiadotoomalbadly muchoa lotmuyverynuncanever

6. When two adverbs modify the same verb, only the second one uses the -mente ending. Note that the first adverb is the same as the feminine singular form of the adjective. • Juan trabajalenta y cuidadosamente.Juan works slowly and carefully. • El chico le hablóclara y cortésmente.The boy spoke to him clearly and courteously. • El autorescribiórápida y fácilmente.The author wrote quickly and easily.

7. Positions of Spanish Adverbs: • If a Spanish adverb is modifying a verb, we place the adverb after the verb: • Tujuegasbien(you play well) • No adverb can be placed between two verbs like in English, it should be placed after the two verbs: • Vamosa jugaraquí(let's play here) • When an adverb is modifying another adverb or an adjective, the adverb will be placed before the adverb/ adjective it modifies: • Escribesmuybien(you write very well).  

8. Adjectives used as Adverbs: Certain adjectives can be used as adverbs. alto, bajo, barato, claro, derecho, fuerte, rápido hablar alto - to speak loudly hablarbajo- to speak quietly hablarfuerte - to speak loudly costar barato - to be cheap costar caro - to be expensive verclaro - to see clearly nadarrápido - to swim rapidly