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SPANISH ADVERBS
Spanish adverbs This page will quickly give you a good understanding of the major issues around Spanish adverbs. Like adjectives, there are a myriad of adverbs which enrich most of the sentences you read. We will look at the ways adverbs are formed, positioned and how comparatives are used. You will learn all the popular adverbs in current use today. Definition An adverb gives further information to a sentence when combined with a verb, another adverb or an adjective. They answer the questions: where, when, how, how much, how long, in what manner or cirumstances, to what degree. Formation of adverbs There are several different ways adverbs can be formed and some are irregular so you just have to learn them. Don't be alarmed this just requires a bit of concentration and work! (1) Many adverbs are formed from adjectives, especially if referring to how the action is taking place. If the related adjective ends in the masculine -o or feminine -a, the -mente is added to the feminine ending. Many Spanish adjectives in the masculine end in -o. These change to end in -a in the feminine, and -s is added to both in the plural.
(2) Adverbs can be formed from other adjectives with different endings by simply adding -mente to the end of the word
(3) If there are two or more adverbs together in the sentence ending in -mente, then it is dropped on all but the final adverb. Completó el curso fácil, rápida y hábilmente - He completed the course easily, quickly and skillfully. (4) There are many popular adverbs which just need learning. See table at bottom of page for a list of all the most commonly used adverbs. (5) It is very common to construct adverb phrases from nouns combined with 'con' and also from adjectives by using 'de manera'. La profesora trabajo con patiencia con el estudiante - the teacher worked patiently with student. Ella juego el partido de manera hábil - She played the game skillfully. (6) Some adverbs are made up of more than one word, and some of these are classed as 'adverbial expressions'.
(7) Sometimes adjectives and nouns are used as adverbs. In these cases there is no agreement with the subject.
Position of Adverbs Adverbs are always placed close to the related word and can be before or after depending on the situation. You can be guided by the following. (1) Generally adverbs come after the verb. El condujo rapidamente al centro - He drove quickly to the town centre. (2) They normally go before adjectives they are describing. No son generalmente tarde a la escuela - They are not usually late for school. (3) If emphasis is required, the adverb is placed before the verb. Nunca van de vacaciones - They never go on holiday. (4) Compound tenses can never be separated by an adverb. El ha jugado futbol siempre - He has always played football. Comparison of Adverbs The comparative and superlative forms are used when you want to express a degree of comparison with verbs.The superlative forms are exactly the same as the comparatives, but it is usually quite clear from the context of the sentence, which form is being used. There are four ways of handling the comparative and superlative forms:- (1) Less than, fewer, least, fewest menos + adverb + que eg Ella corre menos rapidamente que su hermana - She runs less quickly than her sister (2) Equal comparisons: As + adverb + as tan + adverb + como Ella corre tan rapidamente como su hermana - She runs as quickly as her sister (3) More than, more, most mas + adverb + que Ella corre mas rapidamente que su hermana - She runs more quickly than her sister (4) In Spanish, where there is a second clause acting as part of the comparison which has a verb but no noun, then the construction, de lo que is used. Ella corre mas rapidamente de lo que piensas - She runs more quickly than you think. (5) A final common form is tanto como - as much as eg Ella no sabe tanto como tú - She doesn't know as much as you There are four popular adverbs with comparatives which don't follow the rules above. They are: bien, mal, mucho, poco.
Listing of other popular adverbs not mentioned above
If you can spend an hour or two studying the above points you will grasp most of what you will ever need to know on Spanish adverbs. Go on, just do it! See here for other interesting grammatical topics like spanish adverbs. |
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