A2
Adverbs in -mente
How Spanish forms adverbs with -mente, the accent that survives, and the adjectives that work as adverbs unchanged.
Take the feminine form of the adjective and add -mente.
| lento → lenta → lentamente | slowly |
| rápido → rápida → rápidamente | quickly |
| fácil → fácilmente | easily |
Adjectives with no separate feminine — those ending in -e or a consonant — take -mente straight on.
Habla más lentamente, por favor.
speak more slowly, for favour
Please speak more slowly.
The accent stays where it was
Fácil keeps its accent in fácilmente, and rápido keeps it in rápidamente. The word ends up with two stressed syllables, which is unusual in Spanish and is exactly why the accent is not dropped.
facilmente
fácilmente
The original accent survives. Rápidamente, prácticamente and últimamente work the same way.
Two together: only the last takes the ending
Habló lenta y claramente.
he-spoke slow and clearly
He spoke slowly and clearly.
The first stays in the bare feminine form. This looks like an error and is the rule.
Spanish often avoids -mente altogether
The ending is heavy, and con plus a noun is frequently preferred.
Lo dijo con cuidado.
it he-said with care
He said it carefully.
Con cuidado, con frecuencia, de repente, en general — all more natural than their -mente equivalents in speech.
Some adjectives are adverbs already
Hablar alto, trabajar duro, jugar limpio. No ending, no agreement.
No hables tan alto.
not you-speak so loud
Don’t talk so loudly.