Learn 30 ESSENTIAL SPANISH adverbs and their PRONUNCIATION

6 min video

Adverbs help you say how, when or how often something happens. Learn the 30 useful words and question expressions from Lucía’s lesson, with pronunciation practice, Spanish examples and English translations below.

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Edited lesson transcript

This edited transcript follows Lucía’s lesson, including all 30 words and expressions, their example sentences and English translations. Grammar notes clarify a few simplifications in the video.

0:00 — Introduction

¡Hola! ¿Qué tal? This is Lucía from My Daily Spanish. Today we are learning useful Spanish adverbs and question expressions, and how to pronounce them. Are you ready? Let’s go!

Adverbs add information to verbs, adjectives or other adverbs: for example, when, where or how something happens. Adverbs generally do not change to agree with gender or number. Some words in this lesson also have other grammatical roles, as the notes below explain.

0:33 — Manner

These words express how an action is done.

1. bien — well.
   Los deberes están bien hechos.
   The homework is well done.
2. mal — badly; incorrectly.
   Ella lo escribió mal.
   She wrote it incorrectly.
3. deprisa — fast; quickly.
   Él corre deprisa.
   He runs fast.

1:03 — Place

These words express where something happens.

1. aquí — here.
   Estoy aquí.
   I am here.
2. allí — there.
   Tu gato está allí.
   Your cat is there.
3. cerca — near; nearby.
   Hay una tienda cerca.
   There is a store nearby.
4. lejos — far; far away.
   La universidad está lejos.
   The university is far away.
5. detrás — behind.
   Hay una señora detrás de ti.
   There is a lady behind you.
6. delante — in front; ahead.
   Tengo dos coches delante.
   I have two cars in front of me.
7. arriba — up.
   Mira arriba.
   Look up.

Translation note: Estoy aquí means “I am here.” The video’s on-screen “I’m there” is a typo; Lucía’s spoken English says “I am here.” Tengo dos coches delante means “I have two cars in front of me.”

2:06 — Time

These words express when an action takes place.

1. hoy — today.
   Hoy ha llovido.
   It has rained today.
2. ayer — yesterday.
   Ayer fui a la piscina.
   Yesterday I went to the swimming pool.
3. mañana — tomorrow.
   Mañana he quedado con María.
   I have arranged to meet María tomorrow.
4. luego — later.
   Nos vemos luego.
   We will see each other later.
5. después — afterward; afterwards.
   Después iré a la cafetería.
   I will go to the café afterward.

2:57 — Quantity

These items express quantity. Their grammatical role depends on the sentence.

1. nada — nothing.
   No tengo nada.
   I have nothing.
2. demasiado — too much.
   He comido demasiado.
   I have eaten too much.
3. poco — little; a little.
   Has dormido muy poco.
   You have slept very little.

Grammar note: In No tengo nada, nada means “nothing” and is an indefinite pronoun. It can act as an adverb in other sentences, such as No es nada fácil (“It is not at all easy”). In Has dormido muy poco, muy poco means “very little”; “too little” would add an interpretation about what was needed.

3:24 — Affirmation

Use these words to affirm or add information.

1. sí — yes.
   Sí, soy yo.
   Yes, it is me.
2. también — also; too.
   Yo también voy.
   I am going too.

3:41 — Negation

Use these words to negate a statement.

1. no — no; not.
   No quiero.
   I do not want to.
2. tampoco — neither; not either.
   Yo tampoco voy.
   I am not going either.
3. nunca — never.
   Nunca digas nunca.
   Never say never.

4:07 — Doubt

This word expresses uncertainty.

1. quizás — maybe.
   Quizás mañana vaya al parque.
   Maybe I will go to the park tomorrow.

4:18 — Questions and exclamations

These words and expressions are useful for asking questions.

1. cuándo — when.
   ¿Cuándo vienes?
   When are you coming?
2. cómo — how.
   ¿Cómo estás?
   How are you?
3. dónde — where.
   ¿Dónde estás?
   Where are you?
4. por qué — why.
   No sé por qué.
   I do not know why.
5. quién — who.
   ¿Quién viene mañana?
   Who is coming tomorrow?
6. cuánto — how much.
   ¿Cuánto cuesta?
   How much does it cost?

Grammar note: Quién is an interrogative pronoun, rather than an adverb; its plural is quiénes. Por qué is a two-word expression used to ask the reason. Cuánto can function as an adverb, determiner or pronoun depending on its sentence. These remain useful question words even when their grammatical categories differ.

5:08 — Making adverbs with -mente

There is a useful way to turn many adjectives into adverbs of manner: add -mente. It often works like -ly in English. Use the feminine form when the adjective has one; if it has the same masculine and feminine form, use that form.

• Perfecto → perfecta → perfectamente: perfect → perfectly.
• Frío → fría → fríamente: cold → coldly.
• Inteligente → inteligentemente: intelligent → intelligently.
• Correcto → correcta → correctamente: correct → correctly.

An adverb ending in -mente keeps the written accent of the adjective it comes from. That is why fríamente has an accent, while inteligentemente does not.

5:46 — Conclusion

This is it for today. What would you like to see next on our channel? Tell me in the comments! Like the video and subscribe for more. ¡Hasta pronto!

Try it yourself

Choose five adverbs and write a sentence for each about your own routine. Read them aloud and check the word stress against the video.

Watch the original lesson on YouTube.