Do you remember adverbs? They’re those words that give us info about a verb, adjective, etc.
In English, we usually make adverbs by adding ly to an adjective. In Spanish, we use mente instead.
The most common type of adverb we can create adding ly or mente is the one that describes how someone does something (adverb of manner). Let’s take the example of someone dancing. All the following words describe how she danced:
| Person and Verb | Adverbs of Manner |
|---|---|
| She danced | happily |
| passionately | |
| sadly | |
| beautifully | |
| energetically |
Here you have the Spanish version:
| Persona y Verbo | Adverbios de Modo |
|---|---|
| Ella bailó | felizmente |
| apasionadamente | |
| tristemente | |
| bellamente | |
| enérgicamente |
The possibilities are endless! So, I will merely provide you with three lists showing the patterns we must follow to create these adverbs.
1. Adverbs created from adjectives ending in a consonant
You merely need to add mente to the adjective from which you want to create the adverb:
| # | Adjetivo | Adverbio | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | común | comúnmente | commonly |
| 2 | fácil | fácilmente | easily |
| 3 | formal | formalmente | formally |
| 4 | general | generalmente | generally |
| 5 | natural | naturalmente | naturally |
2. Adverbs created from adjectives ending in e
You merely need to add mente to the adjective from which you want to create the adverb:
| # | Adjetivo | Adverbio | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | constante | constantemente | constantly |
| 2 | FIRME | FIRMEMENTE | FIRMLY |
| 3 | frecuente | frecuentemente | frequently |
| 4 | simple | simplemente | simply |
| 5 | suave | suavemente | softly |
3. Adverbs created from regular adjectives:
Remember regular adjectives? They are the ones whose masculine version ends in o, and their feminine version ends in a.
In this case, we must use the feminine version to make the adverb. Let’s check out a few examples!
| # | Adjetivo | Adverbio | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | abierto | abiertamente | openly |
| 2 | afortunado | afortunadamente | fortunately |
| 3 | claro | claramente | clearly |
| 4 | completo | completamente | completely |
| 5 | cuidadoso | cuidadosamente | carefully |
| 6 | lento | lentamente | slowly |
| 7 | maravilloso | maravillosamente | wonderfully |
| 8 | raro | raramente | rarely |
| 9 | rápido | rápidamente | quickly |
| 10 | sincero | sinceramente | sincerely |
