100 Most Important Spanish Adverbs

Spanish adverbs aren’t too difficult to understand, especially if you already know a bit about Spanish adjectives. Adverbs are words that describe verbs, adjectives or other adverbs. For example, in the sentence “She walked very slowly past the house,” both “very” and “slowly” are adverbs.

Learning about adverbs will let you understand more details and descriptions in Spanish sentences, and also help you communicate with more nuance in your own Spanish speech and writing.

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What Are Adverbs?

Adverbs are the words that are used to modify other words in a sentence, usually verbs (action words), adjectives (descriptive words) and sometimes other adverbs.

In Spanish, just like in English, there are dozens of adverbs that come in a variety of categories. An adverb can be used to define the frequency, speed, style, intensity or perspective of something. Adverbs also let you describe where something is or the direction it’s moving in.

Many of these adverbs are formed in a similar pattern to words you probably already know, which will make them fairly easy to recognize.

How to Create Adverbs in Spanish

In English, adverbs are often created by adding “-ly” to an adjective. In Spanish, adverbs are created by adding “-mente“ to the feminine form of the adjective. 

Here are a few examples:

• accidentalmente (accidentally)
• hermosamente  (beautifully)
• constantemente  (constantly)

Remember that not all adjectives have an exclusively feminine form, so sometimes they will just remain as they are. For example, claro (clear) will change to clara but alegre (happy) will not have to change:

• claramente (clearly)
• alegremente (happily)

As in English, this can’t be done with every adjective in Spanish, but it will work with a substantial portion of them. While some adverbs are not in this format, these are usually such common words that you’ll pick them up quickly.

100 of the Most Common Adverbs in Spanish

There are quite a few reasons you’ll need adverbs in a sentence, so there are many different categories that they fall under.

Here are some adverbs that will help you describe the place, frequency, manner, degree and time of an occurrence.

While you can find more outside of these categories, this list includes many of the most frequently used adverbs that you may encounter in almost every sentence in Spanish!

Adverbs of place

Adverb	Meaning	Example
aquí	here	Mi novia está aquí. (My girlfriend is here.)
allí	there	Siempre dejo mis gafas allí. (I always leave my glasses there.)
en algún lugar	somewhere	Recuerda que en algún lugar del mundo hay alguien que te piensa. (Remember that somewhere in the world there's someone who thinks about you.)
en ninguna parte	nowhere	Ya no venden esta sopa en ninguna parte. (They don't sell this soup anywhere anymore.)
en todas partes	everywhere	El amor está en todas partes, solo necesitas saber dónde buscar. (Love is everywhere; you just need to know where to look.)
cerca	close, around	¿Sabe si hay un banco por aquí cerca? (Do you know if there's a bank nearby?)
lejos	far	No me gusta viajar lejos de casa. (I don't like traveling far from home.)
arriba	up	Melissa está arriba en su cuarto. (Melissa is upstairs in her bedroom.)
abajo	down	Espera abajo mientras termino de vestirme. (Wait downstairs while I finish getting dressed.)
enfrente	in front	El teatro está enfrente de la tienda de juguetes. (The theater is in front of the toy store.)
detrás	behind	¿Quieres saber qué hay detrás de la cortina? (Do you want to know what's behind the curtain?)
alrededor	around	Me encantaría hacer un crucero alrededor del mundo. (I'd love to take a cruise around the world.)

Adverbs of frequency

Adverb	Meaning	Example
siempre	always	María siempre llega tarde los lunes. (María is always late on Mondays.)
nunca	never	Nunca en mi vida había visto un edificio tan enorme. (Never in my life had I seen such a huge building.)
a veces	sometimes	A veces pienso que nunca compraré el carro de mis sueños. (Sometimes I think I'll never buy the car of my dreams.)
usualmente	usually	Usualmente comemos en ese restaurante, pero hoy hemos decidido cocinar. (We usually eat in that restaurant, but we've decided to cook today.)
rara vez	rarely	Rara vez escucho música, pero cuando lo hago, siempre es pop. (I rarely listen to music, but when I do, it's always pop.)
a menudo	often	Juan y yo nos encontramos a menudo porque vivimos en el mismo pueblito. (Juan and I meet often because we live in the same small town.)
constantemente	constantly	No tienes que estar enojado constantemente. (You don't have to be angry constantly.)
diariamente	daily	Luisa entrena diariamente, incluso si está enferma. (Luisa works out daily, even if she's sick.)
semanalmente	weekly	Veo esta serie semanalmente, ¿y tú? (I watch this series weekly. What about you?)
mensualmente	monthly	¿Es cierto que debemos pagar la subscripción mensualmente? (Is it true that we have to pay the subscription monthly?)
anualmente	annually	El festival se celebra anualmente cerca de la laguna. (The festival is held annually near the lagoon.)

To learn more Spanish adverbs of frequency, check out this post:

Adverbs of manner

Adverb	Meaning	Example
solo/sola	alone	No me gusta vivir solo en esta casa. (I don't like living alone in this house.)
juntos/juntas	together	¿Podemos ir juntos al doctor mañana? (Can we go together to the doctor's tomorrow?)
bien	well	A Juan le gusta dormir bien la noche antes de un examen. (Juan likes to sleep well the night before an exam.)
mal	badly, poorly	Juan durmió mal anoche, así que hoy se siente muy cansado. (Juan slept badly last night, so he feels very tired today.)

Adverbs of degree

Adverb	Meaning	Example
más	more	Llueve más en agosto que en febrero. (It rains more in August than in February.)
menos	less	Quedan menos de tres horas para que termine el año. (There are less than three hours left until the end of the year.)
poco	little	Su enamorada está comiendo muy poco porque no le gusta la sopa. (His girlfriend is eating very little because she doesn't like soup.)
poquito	little bit	No me gusta bailar, pero ayer bailé un poquito en la fiesta. (I don't like dancing, but yesterday I danced a little bit at the party.)
mucho	a lot	Ana ha estado pensando mucho sobre lo que dijiste en la reunión. (Ana has been thinking a lot about what you said at the meeting.)
demasiado	too (as in, too much of something)	La casa es demasiado cara y no podemos permitírnosla. (The house is too expensive and we can't afford it.)
muy	very	Antes era muy perezoso, pero ahora soy muy activo. (I used to be very lazy, but now I'm very active.)
mejor	better	Hiciste un buen trabajo, pero creo que puedes hacerlo mejor. (You did a good job, but I think you can do it better.)
peor	worse	Nuestro equipo jugó peor que nunca durante el partido del domingo. (Our team played worse than ever during Sunday's match.)
bastante	enough, quite	La comida de este restaurante es bastante buena. (The food in this restaurant is quite good.)
casi	almost	La caja está casi llena porque tienes muchos juguetes. (The box is almost full because you have a lot of toys.)

Adverbs of time

Adverb	Meaning	Example
aún	still	Aún recuerdo el primer oso de peluche que me compraste. (I still remember the first teddy bear you bought me.)
ya	already	Ya hemos recibido la postal que mandaste desde Ipanema. (We've already received the postcard you sent from Ipanema.)
hoy	today	Aunque no lo creas, hoy hemos entrenado durante tres horas. (Believe it or not, today we trained for three hours.)
ayer	yesterday	Llevo enfermo desde ayer. Creo que tengo gripe. (I've been sick since yesterday. I think I have the flu.)
mañana	tomorrow	Queremos ir a la playa mañana. ¡Venga con nosotros! (We want to go to the beach tomorrow. Come with us!)
ahora	now	Ahora solo debes añadir un poco de agua y esperar 24 horas. (Now you just have to add a bit of water and wait for 24 hours.)
pronto	soon	Tan pronto como llegue a casa, me daré un baño de agua caliente. (As soon as I arrive home, I'll take a hot bath.)
temprano	early	Debo levantarme temprano mañana porque quiero repasar antes del examen. (I have to get up early tomorrow because I want to review before the exam.)
tarde	late	Se está haciendo tarde. ¿Quiere que la lleve a casa? (It's getting late. Do you want me to take you home?)
entonces	then	Desde entonces, Miguel no ha vuelto a ver a su padre. (Since then, Miguel hasn't seen his father again.)
esta noche	tonight	No me espere levantado esta noche porque llegaré tarde. (Don't wait up for me tonight because I'll be late.)
anoche	last night	Anoche se oyó un fuerte ruido al final de la calle. (Last night there was a loud noise at the end of the street.)

Adverbs of affirmation

Adverb	Meaning	Example
sí	yes	Person 1: ¿Has llamado ya a mamá? (Have you already called Mom?) Person 2: Sí, la llamé ayer en la mañana. (Yes, I called her yesterday morning.)
también	also	Me dijeron que ellos también llegaron tarde porque no podían encontrar las llaves del coche. (They told me they also arrived late because they couldn't find the car keys.)
cierto	true	Person 1: Recuerda invitar a Susana a la fiesta. (Remember to invite Susana to the party.) Person 2: Cierto, casi lo olvido. (True, I almost forgot.)
obvio	obviously, of course	Person 1: ¿Ya tienes licencia de conducir? (Do you already have a driver's license?) Person 2: Obvio, aquí está. (Of course, here it is.)
claro	sure	Claro, puedes venir a visitarnos cuando quieras. (Sure, you can come to visit us whenever you want.)
seguro	sure, certainly	Seguro que no habrá una segunda temporada de esa serie. (There certainly won't be a second season of that series.)
asimismo	likewise	Asimismo, no está permitido fumar en los pasillos. (Likewise, smoking is not allowed in the corridors.)
efectivamente	indeed	Efectivamente, la última vez que vine fue antes del accidente de Marcela. (Indeed, the last time I came was before Marcela's accident.)
indudablemente	undoubtedly	Indudablemente, eres uno de los mejores estudiantes de la universidad. (Undoubtedly, you're one of the best students in the university.)
realmente	really, actually	Person 1: ¿Vienes por aquí seguido? (Do you come around here often?) Person 2: No realmente. (Not really.)

Adverbs of negation

Adverb	Meaning	Example
no	no, not	¡No me puedo creer que hayas ganado la lotería otra vez! (I can't believe you've won the lottery again!)
ni	neither, nor	Ni lo sé, ni me importa. (I neither know nor care.)
tampoco	either, neither	Mi papá no vino tampoco porque tenía que trabajar. (My dad didn't come either because he had to work.)
en absoluto	at all, not at all	No estamos contentos en absoluto con los resultados de la última encuesta. (We're not happy at all with the results of the last poll.)
nunca	never	Nunca querés ayudarme cuando lo necesito. (You never want to help me when I need it.)
jamás	never, ever	Jamás olvidaré la primera vez que vi la nieve. (I'll never forget the first time I saw snow.)
ni siquiera	not even	Ni siquiera me dijo que no vendría. (She didn't even tell me she wasn't coming.)
nada	next to nothing, not at all	Ese chico no es nada inteligente. (That guy isn't smart at all.)
de ninguna manera	by no means, in any way	No voy a aceptarlo de ninguna manera. (By no means am I going to accept that.)
en ningún caso	under no circumstances	En ningún caso debemos tomar una decisión precipitada. (Under no circumstances should we make a hasty decision.)

Adverbs of doubt

Adverb	Meaning	Example
quizá/quizás	perhaps	Quizá tenga que volver a casa porque no logro encontrar mi teléfono. (Perhaps I'll have to go back home because I can't find my phone.)
tal vez	maybe	Tal vez nuestro amor es imposible, pero no me rendiré. (Maybe our love is impossible, but I won't give up.)
acaso	perhaps, by any chance	¿Acaso pensás que soy un cajero automático? ¡No te daré más plata! (Do you think I'm an ATM, by any chance? I won't give you any more money!)
igual	anyway, even so, regardless	Igual tenemos que trabajar el domingo. (Anyway, we have to work on Sunday.)
a lo mejor	maybe, probably, at best	A lo mejor Alfonso no sabe que estamos aquí. (Maybe Alfonso doesn't know we're here.)
lo mismo	maybe	Lo mismo vuelvo cansado y me voy a la cama. (Maybe I'll come back tired and go to bed.)
al parecer	apparently	Al parecer, necesito un permiso de obra para renovar la cocina. (Apparently, I need a construction permit to renovate the kitchen.)
aparentemente	apparently	Aparentemente, no todo lo que brilla es oro. (Apparently, all that glitters isn't gold.)
posiblemente	possibly	Posiblemente te elija a ti porque tienes más tiempo libre. (I'll possibly choose you because you have more free time.)
probablemente	probably	Probablemente no es nada serio, pero necesito confirmarlo. (It's probably nothing serious, but I need to confirm it.)

Adverbs of question and exclamation

Adverb	Meaning	Example
qué	so	¡Qué guapa estás, Maricruz! (You're [looking] so pretty, Maricruz!)
cómo	how	¿Cómo es posible que siempre tengas razón? (How is it possible for you to always be right?)
dónde	where	¿Sabés dónde dejé mis libros? No logro encontrarlos. (Do you know where I left my books? I can't find them.)
a dónde	where to	No dijo a dónde quería ir, así que no podemos ayudarle. (He didn't say where he wanted to go [to], so we can't help him.)
de dónde	where from	¿De dónde es tu novia? Habla muy bien español. (Where's your girlfriend from? She speaks Spanish very well.)
hasta dónde	how far	¿Hasta dónde estás dispuesto a llegar para conseguir el premio? (How far are you willing to go to win the prize?)
cuándo	when	¿Cúando fue la última vez que hablaste con Sarita? (When was the last time you spoke to Sarita?)
desde cuándo	since when, how long	¿Desde cuándo vives en México? (How long have you been living in Mexico?)
cuánto	how	¡Cuánto me gustaría ir de vacaciones a Argentina! (How I'd like to go on vacation to Argentina!)
cuán	how	No supe entender cuán ciego estuve todo ese tiempo. (I couldn't understand how blind I was all that time.)

Relative adverbs

Adverb	Meaning	Example
donde	where	Esta es la cafetería donde Juana y yo nos conocimos. (This is the cafeteria where Juana and I met.)
hacia donde	to where, to which	Aquella es la tienda hacia donde se dirigen todos los niños. (That's the shop to which all the children are headed.)
desde donde	from where, from which	Esta es la ciudad desde donde se expandió el virus. (This is the city from where the virus spread.)
al que/a la que	to which	Ese es el gimnasio al que siempre voy. (That's the gym [which] I always go to.)
en el que/en la que	where, in which	Por favor, muéstreme la universidad en la que estudió medicina. (Please, show me the university where you studied medicine.)
del que/de la que	from where, from which	Esta es la ciudad de la que vengo. (This is the city [where] I come from.)
por el que/por la que	through which	¿Me podés mostrar la ventana por la que lanzaste la pelota? (Can you show me the window through which you threw the ball?)
cuando	when	Cuando deje de llover, iremos a la biblioteca. (When it stops raining, we'll go to the library.)
como	as, like, the way	Debemos hacerlo como nos dijo mamá. (We should do it the way Mom told us.)
cuanto	as much as, all	Coman y beban cuanto quieran. (Eat and drink as much as you want.)

If that feels like a lot, it can help to split up words by themes (like we did) and try to find the English words hiding inside them (like the word “annual” in anualmente). 

Another great way to learn adverbs is through authentic videos, and you can find plenty of these on FluentU.

How to Use Spanish Adverbs in Sentences

Adverbs are used for modifying other words in the sentence, so naturally they almost always are located next to the word in the sentence that they’re modifying.

Here are the three situations in which adverbs are used in Spanish:

First is perhaps the most common way adverbs are used, which is to modify verbs. These adverbs describe how an action is being done, and are usually located directly before or after the verb itself.

Ella esperó pacientemente. (She waited patiently.)

Rápidamente corrió hacia la salida. (Quickly, he ran towards the exit.)

Adverbs are also used to modify adjectives, which modify nouns. They most often tell us about the frequency or degree of the adjective and are usually located directly before the adjective they’re modifying.

El servicio es usualmente bueno. (The service is usually good.)

El norte es increíblemente frío. (The North is incredibly cold.)

Finally, adverbs can also modify other adverbs. In this case, they usually go directly before the adverb they’re modifying.

La mujer sonrió muy alegremente. (The woman smiled very happily.)

El lugar está bastante lejos. (The place is quite far.)

If you want to use two adverbs to describe a verb, only the second one will use the standard form for adverbs (with the “-mente” suffix). The first adverb in the sentence will remain an adjective in its feminine form:

Ella habla lenta y suavemente. (She speaks slowly and gently.)

Adverbs that show point of view usually go at the beginning of a sentence. This is the same as the way we do it in English:

Personalmente, no lo disfruto. (Personally, I don’t enjoy it.)

How Native Speakers Use Spanish Adverbs 

We’ve covered the grammatically correct way to use Spanish adverbs, but it’s important to note that native speakers don’t always speak with perfect grammar. 

Just like an English speaker might say something like “He talks super loud” instead of “loudly,” Spanish speakers often leave off the -mente ending as well. 

For example, you might hear something like “Hice el trabajo rapido”  (I did the work quickly) instead of the correct form of the adverb, rápidamente.

While such deviations may occur in casual conversation, formal or written Spanish typically adheres to proper adverb placement and form.

How to Practice Spanish Adverbs

There are tons of resources available for you to further your knowledge and comprehension of Spanish adverbs. And the best part is most of them are free and available online!

Here are a few suggestions to get started:

• Read short stories or passages in Spanish: This post has short stories in Spanish for beginners through advanced learners. There is also a free online international library of lower-level books of all types in both Spanish and English.
• Quiz yourself: Study Spanish has some adverb quizzes available, not only for reading and writing but also for listening and speaking.
• Listen to stories in Spanish: The FluentU Story Spanish channel contains beginner-friendly lessons with stories to put your knowledge to the test.

• Watch lectures online: The YouTube channel Butterfly Spanish gives you the classroom vibe and teaches a wide variety of topics in Spanish, including adverbs. It even accepts suggestions from its viewers for what to teach next! Check out their video lesson on prepositions and adverbs: 

 

With some practice, you’ll be able to use adverbs in Spanish with confidence and ease. 

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)