ANTE TODO Adverbs are words that describe how, when, and where actions take place. They can modify verbs, adjectives, and even other adverbs. In previous lessons, you have already learned many Spanish adverbs, such as the ones below. bien nunca temprano mal hoy ayer muy siempre aquí

The most common adverbs are those which end in –mente. These are equivalent to the English adverbs which end in -ly. fácilmente easily generalmente generally verdaderamente truly, really simplemente simply

fabuloso  fabulosa  -mente  fabulosamente To form adverbs which end in –mente, add –mente to the feminine form of the adjective. If the adjective does not have a special feminine form, just add –mente to the standard form. FEMININE ADJECTIVE FORM SUFFIX ADVERB seguro  segura  -mente  seguramente fabuloso  fabulosa  -mente  fabulosamente enorme  -mente  enormemente feliz  -mente  felizmente

¡ATENCIÓN! El médico nos habló simple y abiertamente. When a sentence contains two or more adverbs in sequence, the suffix –mente is dropped from all but the last adverb. El médico nos habló simple y abiertamente. The doctor spoke to us simply and openly. Yo camino lenta y cuidadosamente. I walk slowly and carefully. Adjectives do not lose their accents when adding –mente. fácil  fácilmente débil  débilmente

Javier dibuja maravillosamente. Adverbs that end in –mente generally follow the verb, while adverbs that modify an adjective or another adverb precede the word they modify. Javier dibuja maravillosamente. Javier draws wonderfully. Inés está casi siempre ocupada. Inés is almost always busy.

Common adverbs and adverbial expressions a menudo often de vez en cuando from time to time a tiempo on time despacio slowly a veces sometimes menos less además (del) in addition to muchas veces a lot; many times apenas hardly poco little así like this pronto soon bastante enough; rather por lo menos at least casi almost rápido quickly con frecuencia frequently

¡ATENCIÓN! Rápido functions as an adjective (Ella tiene una computadora rápida.) as well as an adverb (Ella corre rápido.). Note that as an adverb, rápido does not need to agree with any other word in the sentence. You can also use the adverb rápidamente (Ella corre rápidamente).

Un poco más… Sometimes adverbs that end in “mente” can also be expressed as con + the noun form. frecuentemente = con frecuencia cuidadosamente = con cuidado

¡INTÉNTALO! Transforma los siguientes adjetivos en adverbios. 1. alegre ____ 2. tranquilo ____ alegremente tranquilamente 3. constante ____ 4. regular ____ constantemente regularmente 5. gradual ____ 6. maravilloso ____ gradualmente maravillosamente 7. perfecto ____ 8. normal ____ perfectamente normalmente 9. real ____ 10. básico ____ realmente básicamente 11. frecuente ____ 12. afortunado ____ frecuentemente afortunadamente