Adverbs are usually used to describe a verb. In other words, they describe actions. This adds more detail. Adverbs can describe how something is being done (quickly, badly, etc) and when, where or how often something takes place.
Most Spanish adverbs end in -mente, like -ly in English, for example:
Most of the time the adverb goes after the verb it is describing. Adverbs are invariable, which means they only have one form and do not change according to gender or number.
An adverb can be formed from almost any adjective in Spanish. Add -mente to the feminine singular form. Here are some examples:
Adjective | Feminine singular form | Add -mente |
---|---|---|
completo (complete) | completa | completamente (completely) |
suave (soft) | suave (no change) | suavemente (softly) |
correcto (correct) | correcta | correctamente (correctly) |
grave (serious) | grave (no change) | gravemente (seriously) |
For example, es importante escribir correctamente (it's important to write correctly).
Change these adjectives into adverbs.
In the same way as with adjectives, adverbs can also be used to make comparisons using más que (more than) and menos que (less than). For example:
Similarly, adverbs can also be used as superlatives. For example: