AdverbsAdverbs

Mosaicos, p. 138Mosaicos, p. 138

Adverbs ≠ Adjectives Adjectives give information about a noun and they agree

in gender and number with the noun they modify.

example: Las mesas son rojas(The tables are big)

Adverbs, on the other hand, give information about a verb, an adjective, or another adverb, and do not agree in gender or number with any word.

example: Antonio y Juan corren rápido(Antonio runs fast)

Adverb or Adjective?Depending on the context, a word could be either an adverb or an adjective.

Examples:

Ana es rápidaIn this case “rápida” agrees in gender and number with Ana; therefore it’s an adjective.

Ana corre rápido In this other case, “rápido” does not in gender or number with Ana; therefore, it’s an adverb.

Adverbs ending in -mente

Spanish also uses adverbs ending in -mente, which corresponds to the English –ly, to qualify how things are done.

To form these adverbs, add –mente to the femenine form of the adjective: to form the adverb of “fast” (rápido/os/a/as), take the femenine form, rápida, and add –mente: rápidamente.

If the adjective doesn’t have a femenine form, simply add -mente: to form the adverb for difficult (difícil): difícilmente.

More on Adverbs Adverbs add information about manner, quantity, frequency, time or

place.

MANNER QUANTITY FREQUENCY TIME PLACE

Bien (well) Mucho (a lot)A veces

(sometimes)Hoy (today)

Detrás (behind)

Mal (poorly)Poco (few,

little)Frecuente

(often)Mañana

(tomorrow)Debajo (under)

Mejor (better)Demasiado (too much)

Siempre (always)

Ayer (yesterday)

Aquí (here)

Peor (worse) Muy (very) Nunca (never) Ahora (now) Allí (there)

Muy mal (very bad)

- -Temprano

(soon)Allá (over

there)

Regular (average)

- - Tarde (late) -

- - -Después

(after)-

Placement of Adverbs

There are some rules regarding the placement of the adverb within a sentence:

When the adverb is modifying a verb, we will place it after that verb.example: Ellas corren rápido

When the adverb is modifying an adjective or other adverb, we will place it in front of the word that is modifying.example: Ellas corren muy rápido

Práctica (cont.)

Are the words in red adjectives or adverbs?

a) Los libros son pequeños.

b) Alicia come muy rápido.

c) Alicia come muy rápido.

c) La familia va al cine frecuentemente.

Práctica (cont.)

Are the words in red adjectives or adverbs?

a) Los libros son pequeños. ADJECTIVE (agreement)

b) Alicia come muy rápido. ADVERB (no agreement)

c) Alicia come muy rápido. ADVERB (modifies “rápido”)

d) La familia va al cine frecuentemente.

ADVERB (ends in –mente)

Práctica (cont.)

Convert the following adjectives into adverbs:

a) Lento (slow)

b) Simple (simple)

c) General (general)

d) Tranquilo (calm)

Práctica

Convert the following adjectives into adverbs:

a) Lento (slow) Lentamente

b) Simple (simple) Simplemente

c) General (general) Generalmente

d) Tranquilo (calm) Tranquilamente

¡Buen trabajo!

Hoy hemos aprendido a usar los adverbios.