Adverbs are invariable words that complement the meaning of a verb, an adjective or another adverb. Adverbs give information about the place, time, intensity or way in which the action takes place. See the Types of Adverbs page to discover the categories in which Spanish adverbs are classified.
In our courses we will teach you everything about adverbs and how they are used in Spanish. Below we leave you with some basic notions about this type of word and its use in the language.
Spanish adverbs: uses and grades
Usually, adverbs go after the verb or before the adjective or adverb they modify, but they can also go at the beginning of the sentence. The Position section explains the possible places for the adverb in the sentence. Adverbs, like adjectives, can be graduated. The comparative and superlative degrees indicate the intensity with which the verbal action takes place.
Types of spanish adverbs
The types of adverbs respond to the information they provide. In Spanish, adverbs are classified as quantity, place, time, mode, interrogative and exclamatory, affirmation and negation, doubt or possibility and relative adverbs. Adverbs in Spanish can be about time, place, mode, quantity.
Adverbs of quantity: indicate to what degree the action of the verb or the quality expressed by the adjective they complement is given. They answer the question "how much?
Adverbs of place: express a location or an address. They answer the questions "where", "where to" and "from where". The most frequent adverbs of place in English are: here, down, there, there, next to, above, near, below, in front, inside, right, behind, above, outside, far away.
Time adverbs: provide a reference to time, duration or frequency. They answer the questions "when", "how long", "how often", "by when", "since when" and "until when". The most frequent adverbs of time in Spanish are: now, today, often, before, yesterday, after, today, then, tomorrow, never, soon, late, always, already.
Form adverbs express the form in which the action of the verb occurs. They answer the questions: "how" and "in what way". The most frequent are: well, quickly, high, low, slowly, quickly, hardly, excellently, easily, especially badly, better, worse, regularly, etc. They can also be adverbial locutions: on all fours, on the sly, point by point, etc.
Adverbs of doubt or possibility denote insecurity or uncertainty regarding a course of action.
