49+ Essential Spanish Adverbs To Grow Your Vocabulary & Boost Fluency

How are you learning Spanish so far? Quickly, steadily, or clumsily? Well, your Spanish is about to get a boost, all thanks to this article. Why?

Because you're going to focus on a key grammar topic for everyday conversation. I’m talking about Spanish adverbs! Maybe you spotted the examples in English in the intro.

Grab a pen and a notebook and get ready to learn about:

• What adverbs are
• How Spanish adverbs work
• How many types of adverbs there are
• And more!

What Are Adverbs In Spanish?

Adverbs (adverbios in Spanish) are words we use to add nuances of meaning or to express specific circumstances surrounding an event or action.

These words can refer to:

• a specific place e.g aquí (here)
• moment in time e.g ayer (yesterday)
• an amount of something e.g poco (not much)
• how often something occurs e.g a menudo (often)

The list goes on.

You can use them to modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs and even whole sentences:

• Verb: Yo canto bien (I sing well).
• Adjective: Ellas son muy buenas alumnas (They are very good students).
• Adverb: Él canta tan mal… (He sings so badly…).
• Clauses: Quizás ella viaje al Caribe (Maybe she will travel to the Caribbean).

One key grammar characteristic of Spanish adverbs is that they are invariable words.

So, unlike Spanish adjectives (which need to agree with the noun they modify), adverbs in Spanish stay the same no matter the verb’s person, number, tense, etcetera.

Here’s an example to compare the two types of words:

• Adjectives:
  • El coche rojo (The red car)
  • Los coches rojos (The red cars)
  • La casa roja (The red house)
  • Las casas rojas (The red houses)
• Adverbs:
  • Yo como lentamente (I eat slowly).
  • Ustedes comían lentamente (You ate slowly).
  • Ella comerá lentamente (She will eat slowly).

How To Form Adverbs In Spanish

Just like in English, where most adverbs come with a -ly suffix, Spanish adverbs are recognisable because of their special ending: -mente. There are plenty of ways to create regular adverbs that end in -mente:

1. With the feminine form of an adjective: tranquilo → tranquila → tranquilamente
2. If the adjective ends in -e or in a consonant, just add the suffix -mente: final → finalmente
3. Whenever there’s a sequence of adverbs, you only add -mente to the last one whereas the other ones take the feminine form of the adjective: Comió rápida y torpemente (He ate quickly and clumsily)
4. If an adjective carries an accent mark, the adverb with –mente does it too: cómoda → cómodamente

Spanish Adverbs: Special Cases

However, other Spanish adverbs don’t have a suffix mark that helps us spot them other than understanding which word or clause they are modifying, like lejos (far) or cerca (close).

Some Spanish adverbs also look like adjectives in their masculine singular form, such as bajo, lento and rápido. Even though they look like adjectives, they're invariable, so they never agree with the noun, because they're modifying a verb:

• Mariela habló bajo (Mariela spoke quietly)

Some of these special adverbs can also appear with a -mente suffix, like rápido/rápidamente.

Also, some Spanish adverbs are made up of more than one word, making what’s called an adverbial phrase, like a menudo (often) or a veces (sometimes).

And sometimes a “normal” adverb can be transformed into a phrase with a preposition, like so:

• rápidamente → con rapidez, de manera rápida (in a fast way).

So how can you recognise adverbs that don’t end in –mente, then? One easy way to do so is to put on your detective hat and ask the following questions about the sentence:

• When?: the answer is an adverb of time.
• Where?: the answer is an adverb of place.
• How?: the answer is an adverb of mode or instrument (which tool was used).
• How often?: the answer is an adverb of frequency.

Where Do Adverbs Go In Spanish?

Now that you know what Spanish adverbs are and how to form them, you may be wondering where to put them in a sentence.

Depending on the type of adverb you're using, there are different options. Generally speaking, you put adverbs after the verb they modify, especially adverbs of mode and quantity:

•  Mi prima canta bastante bien. (My cousin sings pretty well.)
• Esteban caminó silenciosamente para no despertar al bebé. (Esteban walked quietly so as not to wake the baby.) 

Unlike in English, when these adverbs modify a compound verb, such as “has visited” they can't be placed between the auxiliary and the main verb:

• Magalí y Nahuel habían limpiado compulsivamente toda la casa. (Magalí and Nahuel had compulsively cleaned the whole house.)
• Magalí y Nahuel habían compulsivamente limpiado toda la casa 

Adverbs can also complement an infinitive that works alongside a conjugated verb. When this happens, the adverb should also be placed after the infinitive:

• Los científicos sugirieron comer poco antes de dormir. (Scientists suggested eating little before bedtime.)

Whenever an adverb modifies an adjective or another adverb, you should put it before these words, not after:

• Los empleados trabajan muy lentamente cuando el patrón no está. (The employees work very slowly when the boss isn't there.) 
• Los empleados trabajan lentamente muy cuando el patrón no está.

There are adverbs that can appear at the beginning of a sentence. This applies to adverbs of mode, time and place:

• ¡Realmente sabes lo que haces! (You really know what you’re doing!)
• Aquí cerca hay un edificio abandonado. (There is an abandoned building nearby.)

When it comes to adverbs of time there's lots of flexibility as they can be the first word of a sentence, come after the verb or even close the sentence:

• Ayer ellos fueron al parque. (Yesterday they went to the park.)
• Ellos fueron ayer al parque.
• Ellos fueron al parque ayer.

Finally, whenever you want to make an affirmative sentence, you can place the adverb between the subject and the verb, but only when it refers to the whole phrase:

• Gimena casi se cae del bote. (Gimena almost fell off the boat.)

However, negative sentences require the adverb no to be placed before the verb, like in English:

• Mi hermano no sabe jugar al tenis. (My brother doesn’t know how to play tennis.)
• Mi hermano sabe no jugar al tenis.

List Of Spanish Adverbs With Example Sentences

As I said, because there are so many different types of adverbs to choose from, here is a list of Spanish adverbs you can use to expand your Spanish knowledge.

Spanish Adverbs Of Mode

1. Bien (Well)

• Yo toco bien el piano. (I play the piano well).

2. Mal (Badly/Poorly)

• Yo canto mal. (I sing poorly).

3. Rápidamente (Quickly)

• Ella trabajó rápidamente. (She worked quickly.)

4. Silenciosamente (Silently)

• Ellos hablan silenciosamente. (They talk silently.)

Spanish Adverbs Of Place

5. Aquí/Acá (Here)

• ¿Estás aquí? (Are you here?)

6. Allí/Allá (There)

• ¡Voy para allá! (I’m on my way!).

7. Cerca (Close)

• Mi escuela está cerca de casa. (My school is close to home.)

8. Lejos (Far)

• ¿La estación queda lejos? (Is the station far away?)

9. Arriba (Above)

• ¡Estoy arriba! (I’m upstairs!)

10. Debajo (Under/Below)

• Pedro está debajo del puente. (Pedro is under the bridge.)

11. Afuera (Outside)

• Vamos afuera. (Let’s go outside.)

12. Adentro (Inside)

• Mis padres están adentro. (My parents are inside.)

13. Atrás/Detrás (Behind)

• ¿Quién está detrás tuyo? (Who is behind you?)

14. Adelante/Delante (Ahead/Forward)

• Ella corre delante de mí. (She runs ahead of me.)

Hit play on the video below to learn more about Spanish adverbs of place.

Spanish Adverbs Of Time

15. Hoy (Today)

• Hoy está soleado. (It’s sunny today.)

16. Mañana (Tomorrow)

• Mañana lloverá, ¿no? (Tomorrow it will rain, right?)

17. Pasado Mañana (The Day After Tomorrow)

• Trabajo pasado mañana. (I work the day after tomorrow.)

18. Ayer (Yesterday)

• Ayer fue feriado. (Yesterday was a holiday.)

19. Anteayer/Antes De Ayer (The Day Before Yesterday)

• ¡Anteayer fue mi cumpleaños! (It was my birthday the day before yesterday!)

20. Antes (Before)

• Yo era cantante antes. (I was a singer before.)

21. Después/Luego (After)

• ¿Vamos a cenar después de clase? (Shall we have dinner after class?)

22. Todavía (Yet)

• Todavía no soy doctora. (I’m not a doctor yet.)

23. Ya (Already)

• Ya saqué turno con el médico. (I’ve already made an appointment with the doctor.)

24. Entonces (Then/So)

• Es feriado, entonces no trabajo hoy. (It’s a holiday, so I'm not working today.)

25. Recién (Just)

• ¡Recién me entero! (I just found out!)

Discover more about Spanish adverbs of time and listen to how they sound in the video below.

Spanish Adverbs Of Frequency

26. Siempre (Always)

• Siempre pago mis impuestos. (I always pay my taxes.)

27. Casi Siempre (Almost Always)

• Casi siempre como pasta. (I almost always eat pasta.)

28. Normalmente (Normally)

• Normalmente se duerme a las 9. (She normally goes to sleep at 9.)

29. Usualmente (Usually)

• Usualmente tengo jaquecas. (I usually have headaches.)

30. A Menudo (Often)

• Vengo aquí a menudo. (I often come here.)

31. A Veces (Sometimes)

• A veces van al teatro. (They sometimes go to the theatre.)

32. Casi Nunca (Almost Never)

• ¡Casi nunca juego al fútbol! (I almost never play football!)

Spanish Adverbs Of Quantity

33. Más (More)

• ¡No puedo más! (I can’t handle it any more!)

34. Menos (Less/Few)

• Ella está comiendo menos. (She’s eating less.)

35. Mucho (A Lot)

• ¿Trabajas mucho los findes? (Do you work a lot on the weekends?)

36. Poco (Not Much)

• Patricio habla poco, ¿no? (Patricio doesn’t talk much, right?)

37. Bastante (Quite)

• Caminó bastante ayer. (She walked quite a bit yesterday.)

38. Nada (At All)

• ¡No me dices nada! (You don’t tell me anything!)

39. Muy (Very)

• Ella está muy sola. (She is very lonely.)

40. Tan/Tanto (So/So Much)

• ¡Te extraño tanto! (I miss you so much!)

Spanish Affirmative Adverbs

41. Sí (Yes)

• Sí, quiero. (Yes, I do.)

42. Además (Besides)

• Estoy cansado. Además, me siento mal. (I am tired. Besides, I don’t feel well.)

43.También (Also/Too)

• Vi una película y también un musical. (I watched a film and also a musical.)

44. Efectivamente (Indeed)

• Efectivamente, trabajo de 9 a 5. (Indeed, I work from 9 to 5.)

Negative Spanish Adverbs

45. No (No)

• ¡No quiere verte! (She doesn’t want to see you!)

46. Nunca/Jamás (Never)

• Nunca fui a Europa. (I’ve never been to Europe.)

47. Tampoco (Either/Neither)

• No quiero bailar y cantar, tampoco. (I don't want to dance and sing either.)

Check out the video below to learn more about the adverbs tampoco and también.

Spanish Adverbs Of Doubt

48. Quizás/Quizá (Maybe)

• Quizás está enferma. (Maybe she’s sick.)

49. Tal Vez (Perhaps)

• Hablemos con Carla, tal vez sepa qué hacer. (Let’s talk to Carla, perhaps she knows what to do.)

How To Master Spanish Adverbs

So, now that you know all about Spanish adverbs, the next step is to start noticing and using them.

The best way to master any aspect of Spanish, including adverbs, is to follow the rules of StoryLearning and read books in Spanish or Spanish short stories.

As you read, not only will you have fun, you'll also come across Spanish adverbs again and again in context. Thanks to this method, you'll pick them up in no time.

Prefer listening to reading? I've got you covered too. Check out the StoryLearning Spanish Podcast, with 150-episode long stories narrated by native speakers and filled with vocabulary of all kinds for you to boost your skills.

And if you still need a bit of help, no worries, my comprehensive Spanish Uncovered courses are there to help you master Spanish thanks to stories, not rules. Click here for a free 7-day trial of the course of your choice.

Olly Richards

Creator of the StoryLearning® Method

Olly Richards is a renowned polyglot and language learning expert with over 15 years of experience teaching millions through his innovative StoryLearning® method. He is the creator of StoryLearning, one of the world's largest language learning blogs with 500,000+ monthly readers.

Olly has authored 30+ language learning books and courses, including the bestselling "Short Stories" series published by Teach Yourself.

When not developing new teaching methods, Richards practices what he preaches—he speaks 8 languages fluently and continues learning new ones through his own methodology.