Unit 6: Pronouns (Part 1), imperfect tense, adverbs
6.7 Adverbs
Many Spanish adverbs, as you have already seen, are formed by adding the suffix -mente to the feminine form of the adjective.
| Cristina habla rápidamente. | Cristina speaks quickly. |
| Iban a comer inmediatamente. | They were going to eat immediately. |
| Hacen el trabajo cuidadosamente. | They do the work carefully. |
As in English, many times the adverbs in -mente (corresponding to those in English -ly) are avoided by the use of prepositional phrases.
| por lo general | generally, in general |
| por fin | finally |
| con esperanza | hopefully, with hope |
| sin duda | doubtless(-ly), without a doubt |
| por suerte | luckily, with luck |
| por desgracia | unfortunately |
When two or more adverbs ending in -mente are used together, the suffix is dropped on all but the last:
| Milagros hablaba clara, rápida y precisamente. | Milagros spoke clearly, quickly and precisely. |
Especially in speech, in both Spanish and English the adjective form (masculine singular) in Spanish may be used instead of an adverb (Como rápido, I eat quick[ly]), though this is not an impediment to comprehension.
