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Adverbs from the Spanish in Texas Corpus
An adverb is a word that modifies 1) a verb 2) an adjective or 3) another adverb. In English, many adverbs end in -ly. In Spanish, many adverbs end in -mente.
Afortunadamente estamos en El Paso.Fortunately we are in El Paso.
Adverbs that Modify Verbs
Adverbs answer questions about the action: how? when? and where?
When: Mi sueño es estudiar enfermería más tarde.
My dream is to study nursing later.
Adverbs that Modify Adjectives and Adverbs
While adverbs often are used to modify verbs as seen in the examples above, they can also modify other adverbs as well as adjectives.
Adverb modifying an adjective:
En español es una palabra completamente diferente o a veces la palabra ni existe, y por eso, es interesante el espanglish.In Spanish, it is a completely different word or sometimes the word does exist and that’s why Spanglish is interesting.
Adverb modifying another adverb:
Ellos hablan el español muy bien.They speak Spanish very well.
Common Adverbs
Following is a list of frequently used adverbs, categorized by type:
Manner
- bien well
- mal badly
- rápidamente quickly
Time
- a menudo often
- a veces sometimes
- siempre always
- nunca never
- temprano early
- tarde late
- pronto soon
- hoy today
- ayer yesterday
- ahora now
- ya already
- mañana tomorrow
Place
- dentro inside
- fuera outside
- aquí/acá here
- allí/ahí/allá there
Quantity or Degree
- mucho a lot
- muy very
- demasiado too much
- bastante enough
- poco not much
Sequence
- primero at first
- luego then, next
- entonces then, so
- por lo tanto thus
- finalmente finally
A very common adverb is así, this way, so, like that and it is used throughout the Spanish-speaking world. However, in some communities alternate forms of this adverb appear, for example asín in Southern Spain, or asina, widely used in Texas.
Yo sabía que era Hispanic. Asina: Hispanic.
I knew I was Hispanic. This way: Hispanic.
Adjectives vs. Adverbs
Remember that adjectives modify nouns and adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. In the following sentence, there are two adjectives mexicanas and bonitas both of which modify the noun tradiciones and one adverb muy which modifies the adjective bonitas.
And Mexican traditions are very nice.
It is common in spoken and informal English for speakers to use adjectives, such as good, in place of adverbs, such as well to modify verbs.
| With an Adjective | With an Adverb |
|---|---|
| Juan writes good | Juan writes well |
| You need to drive slow in a school zone | You need to drive slowly in a school zone |
In Spanish, adjectives are rarely used to modify verbs; using the adverb is normally favored.
| With an Adjective | With an Adverb |
|---|---|
| Juan escribe bien. | |
| Necesitas manejar lentamente en una zona escolar |
