Types of Adverbs in Spanish Grammar

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Types of adverbs in Spanish

We classify Spanish adverbs according to the type of information they give us: time, place, manner, quantity and many more.

Learn about types of adverbs in Spanish grammar with Lingolia, then put your knowledge to the test in the interactive exercises.

Example

Zeichnung

Ayer estuve en un concierto con unos amigos. Raúl y yo llegamos tarde, por eso los demás quisieron esperarnos dentro. Estaban ya bastante cerca del escenario. Pero allí se apretujaban los fans, así que Raúl y yo nos quedamos detrás.

Cuando comenzó el concierto, los fans empezaron a chillar tan fuerte que apenas se entendía una palabra. Pero el público del concierto era mayoritariamente chicas jóvenes que ya en la primera canción empezaron a desmayarse. Poco después pudimos llegar hasta donde estaban nuestros amigos.

Adverbs of place

Adverbs of place express a location, place or address.

They answer the questions ¿dónde?, ¿a dónde? and ¿desde dónde?

Common Spanish adverbs of place include: aquíhere, abajodown/below, allá(over) there, allíthere, al ladonext to, arribaabove, cercanear, debajounder, delantein front, dentroin(side), derecharight, detrásbehind, encimaon top, fueraoutside, lejosfar (away)

Examples:
Las butacas más baratas están muy lejos del escenario.The cheapest seats are very far away from the stage.
Nuestros asientos están delante de la orquesta.Our seats are in front of the orchestra.

Adverbs of time (temporal adverbs)

Temporal adverbs indicate time, duration and frequency.

They answer the questions like ¿cuándo?, ¿cuánto tiempo?, ¿con qué frecuencia?, ¿para/desde/hasta cuándo?

Common adverbs of time in Spanish: ahoranow, actualmentecurrently, a menudooften, antesbefore, ayeryesterday, despuésafter, hoytoday, jamásnever, luegothen, mañanatomorrow, nuncanever, por finfinally, prontosoon, raramenterarely, siemprealways, tardelater, tempranoearly, siemprealways, yaalready

Examples:
Nunca he ido a la ópera. I’ve never been to the opea.
Ayer fui a un cine de marionetas.Yesterday, I went to a puppet show.

Adverbs of amount/degree

Adverbs of amount or degree show the intensity of a verb or adjective. They answer the question ¿cuánto?

The most common Spanish adverbs of degree are: algosome, bastantequite, casialmost, cuántohow much, demasiadotoo much, másmore, menosless, muchoa lot/really, nadaat all, poconot much/little, suficienteenough

Example:
Me gusta mucho el teatro.I really like the theatre.

Adverbs of manner (modal adverbs)

Adverbs of manner indicate how an action is performed. They answer the questions ¿cómo? and ¿de qué manera?

The most common Spanish adverbs of manner are: altoloudly, asílike this, bajoquietly, bienwell, deprisaquickly, de repentesuddenly despacioslowly, difícilmentewith difficulty, especialmenteespecially, estupendamentewonderfully, fácilmenteeasily, malpoorly, mejorbetter, peorworse, rápidamentequickly, regularaveragely, sinceramentesincerely, solamentesolely

Several adverbs of manner are adverbial expressions: a gatason your hands and knees, a escondidassneakily, punto por puntopoint by point, etc.

Example:
Los actores interpretaron la obra estupendamente.The actors performed the play wonderfully.
En una escena, salieron del escenario a gatas.In one scene, they left the stage on their hands and knees.

Interrogative adverbs

Interrogative adverbs are question words. They all take an accent.

The Spanish interrogative adverbs are: cómohow, cuándowhen, cuántohow much, (a)dóndewhere (to), por quéwhy and quéwhat.

Example:
Me pregunto cuánto tiempo dura la obra.I wonder how long the play lasts.
¿Dónde son nuestros asientos?Where are our seats?

We can also use these adverbs in exclamations.

Example:
¡Qué buenos actores!What good actors!

Adverbs of affirmation

We use adverbs of affirmation to emphasise (or sometimes soften) a statement.

Common adverbs of affirmation in Spanish: ciertamentecertainly/indeed, ciertocertainly, claroclearly/of course, efectivamenteeffectively, exactoexactly, obviamenteobviously, seguramenteprobably, do for emphasis, tambiénalso, verdaderamentetruly/really, etc.

Example:
Ciertamente, el día del estreno se agotaron las entradas.Indeed, on the day of the premier the tickets were sold out.

Adverbs of negation

Adverbs of negation allow us to make negative sentences.

The Spanish negation adverbs are: en absolutonot at all, jamásnever, negativamentenegatively, nono, nuncanever, tampoconeither, etc.

Example:
Yo tampoco he entendido el final.I didn’t understand the ending either.

Adverbs of doubt

These adverbs cast doubt or uncertainty on an action.

Common Spanish adverbs of doubt: a lo mejormaybe, posiblementepossibly, probablementeprobably, puedecan, puede sercan be, quizá(s)perhaps, seguramenteprobably, tal vezmaybe, etc.

Example:
A lo mejor viene el alcalde a ver la representación.Maybe the mayor will come to see the performance.

Relative adverbs

Relative adverbs are linking words: they connect a relative clause to a main clause.

Relative adverbs are almost identical to interrogative adverbs (question words), the difference is that relative adverbs do not take an accent.

The table below shows the different relative adverbs in Spanish.

Relative Adverb Translation Example
cuanto whatever
as much as
Come cuanto quiere.She eats whatever she wants.
donde, adonde where El bar donde nos conocimos ha cerrado.The bar where we met has closed.
El lugar adonde vamos es Patrimonio de la Humanidad.The place where we are going is a World Heritage Site.
como as
like
Baila como sabes.Dance like you know how.
cuando when La semana pasada, cuando volví de vacaciones, llovió sin parar.Last week, when I got back from vacation, it rained non stop.

Adverbial expressions

Some of the adverbs are actually adverbial expressions (las locuciones adverbiales).

These are basically adverbs that are made up of two or more words.

Typical adverbial expressions include: a más no poderwith all your strength, al máximoto the maximum, a marespouring, a todo pulmónat the top of your lungs, a vecessometimes, de neuvoagain, en absolutoat all/absolutely, por suerteluckily, tal vezmaybe.

Example:
Los protagonistas cantaron a todo pulmón.The actors sang at the top of their lungs.