Penny
30 October 2014
When, Where, How, In What Way? (A1-B2)
Do not fear the Adverb. Adverbs do what adjectives simply can not. While adjectives describe nouns and pronouns, adverbs describe just about everything else!
An adverb normally changes or describes a verb (AD + VERB = Adverb). They can even do the same for adjectives or other adverbs! Phew! It’s a mouthful! Although hard to explain, adverbs are easy to recognize!
Adverbs in Spanish can usually be recognized by the ending –mente which is equivalent to the English ending –ly.
She writes slowly
Ella escribe lentamente
While not all adverbs end in –mente, many of the other ones that don’t are so common, you have probably been using them and not known it! Bastante, poco, bien, mal – all adverbs!
To ensure you are using adverbs correctly, ask yourself: Am I describing someone or something? In which case you should use an adjective. However, if you are describing how, when, where or why something is done: go forth and use your adverb!
In the following sentence, which is an adverb and which is an adjective?
The poem is good, the poet reads it well.
El poema es bueno y el poeta lo lee bien.
Good or bueno is describing the poem, so they are adjectives. While well or bien describes how the poet reads the poem, so they are adverbs.
Now for the Good News ...
If that has confused you, then rest easy because that’s the hard part. The best bit about adverbs is that they need not be gendered or quantified like adjectives. That means that you don't need to adjust the ending of an adverb to masucline/feminine/singular/plural.
If you think you’ve got this one straight, you probably do. Read a more detailed explanation and then take a short test here to see if you really are adverb-tageous.
Check out the chart below which shows the various categories of adverbs ...
A Poster of Adverb Types!
Las clases de adverbios con los más comunes
Download a Printable Version
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